ARC 2025.02.01.00 (Pro and Runtime)
Change Release Notes
Get ready for another round of performance boosts, stability improvements, and all-around awesomeness! This update makes ARC smoother, faster, and more reliable. Check out the latest enhancements below!
EZ-B Device Scan Popup Utility Optimization
- The EZ-B Device Scan popup (displayed when clicking the scan icon next to an EZ-B item in the Connection Robot Skill) now runs faster and more reliably. Enjoy improved performance and stability when scanning for devices!
Suppressing EZB Capability Feature Errors
- Previously, if you attempted to read ADC or ultrasonic ping functions without an EZ-B connection, you'd get a frustrating error about the capability not existing. Since there was no EZ-B connected, these errors didn’t make sense. Now, these warnings are suppressed, making for a cleaner, error-free experience until an EZ-B is properly connected.
Soundboard PC & Soundboard EZ-B Enhancements
- Got a large project with lots of audio files? No worries! Both Soundboard PC and Soundboard EZ-B have been improved to use less RAM and handle audio resources more efficiently. Play all the sounds you need without bogging down your system!
Increased -Audio Buffer for RAS Server
- For users running Remote Access Service (RAS) on slower PCs or networks, a rare buffer full error could appear in the logs. We’ve doubled the buffer size from 5 to 10 seconds, ensuring smoother performance even on less powerful setups!
Optimized Save & Open Dialog Memory Leak Fix
- Some robot skills using file dialogs from Microsoft Windows were not disposing resources correctly, leading to small memory leaks. This fix ensures all dialogs are properly disposed, keeping your system running efficiently over long usage periods.
Background Audio Processing Upgrade
- The audio engine and driver system now run background wave events on a dedicated thread, improving stability and efficiency when processing sound input and output. This ensures compatibility with the latest OS features while providing a smoother experience!
DPI Awareness & DirectX Screen Capture Fixes
- DPI Scaling Issues Resolved: A Windows update caused Synthiam ARC to render the UI incorrectly due to DirectX forcing DPI unaware mode. This has been fixed, ensuring ARC scales correctly regardless of Windows settings! This fix may require restarting ARC twice after the upgrade. The first time running this updated ARC will undo the changes that Microsoft Windows made, and the second time will look normal again.
- Smart Screen Capture Selection for RASS: If your Windows scaling is set to 100%, ARC uses the super-fast DirectX capture method. If scaling is anything other than 100%, ARC will automatically switch to the BitBlt compatibility mode to ensure perfect rendering. No changes needed - ARC does it all for you!
- Want to learn more? Check the manual: Remote Access Sharing Guide
UCGraph Component Upgrade
- The internal UCGraph GUI component (used for displaying graphs, such as audio input visualizations) has been optimized to use fewer system resources and run much faster. Enjoy real-time data without lag!
Improved I2C & UART Error Handling
- If you try to write to an I2C device while the EZ-B is not connected, it previously threw an exception. This has been fixed!
- Similarly, attempting to write to a UART device when the EZ-B is not connected also resulted in an exception. This is now resolved!
Blockly Enhancements
- Improved Error Handling: Blockly scripts now handle internal errors better. If there is an internal rendering, file saving, or loading error, it will be captured and displayed to you. Before this update, the Blockly errors will be suppressed and only written to logs.
- Auto-Sized Blocks: When loading a script, Blockly automatically sizes the blocks to fit the window, making everything more readable.
- Always Visible Scrollbar: No more disappearing scrollbars! The toolbox flyout window always shows a scrollbar, ensuring easy navigation. This is useful when using a remote desktop connection, such as the RAS (Remote Access Service) built into ARC.
Script Editor Enhancements
- Faster Loading Time: Editing scripts is now even faster thanks to asynchronous communication with the Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF) browser. Say goodbye to lag while waiting for the script editor to load!
Javascript Engine
- Updated Javascript Engine: The new Javascript engine has been updated to use fewer resources, which results in a faster initialization and runtime.
Ready to Upgrade?
This update packs a ton of improvements to make your robot-building experience smoother, faster, and more reliable than ever before. Download the latest version of Synthiam ARC now and take your projects to the next level!
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Compare Editions
Feature | ARC FREE |
ARC PRO |
---|---|---|
Get ARC for Free | View Plans | |
Usage | Personal DIY Education |
Personal DIY Education Business |
Early access to new features & fixes | Yes | |
Simultaneous microcontroller connections* | 1 | 255 |
Robot skills* | 20 | Unlimited |
Skill Store plugins* | 1 | Unlimited |
Cognitive services usage** | 10/day | 6,000/day |
Auto-positions gait actions* | 40 | Unlimited |
Speech recongition phrases* | 10 | Unlimited |
Camera devices* | 1 | Unlimited |
Vision resolution | max 320x240 | Unlimited |
Interface builder* | 2 | Unlimited |
Cloud project size | 128 MB | |
Cloud project revision history | Yes | |
Create Exosphere requests | 50/month | |
Exosphere API access | Contact Us | |
Volume license discounts | Contact Us | |
Get ARC for Free | View Plans |
** 1,000 per cognitive type (vision recognition, speech recognition, face detection, sentiment, text recognition, emotion detection, azure text to speech)
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Looks like we are back to a normal setup, thanks
WOW, lots of good stuff in this one. Some of it like the Uart error handling has been a headache for a long time. Hopefully maybe even no more rebooting the EZB if I send the wrong Uart command? And I have tons of sound files scattered in tons of soundboards. I'm looking forward to this improvement.
Just when I thought things couldn't get any better. Thanks!
Thanks! We’ve been busy that’s for sure.
Regarding the uart. Sending a wrong command is probably meaning requesting data amount that isn’t there. That will block the ezb.
the uart is a blocking call. Meaning it sits and waits for the amount of data that you specified to receive. If the bytes aren’t there, it will sit forever until something shows up.
that’s normal for how communication works. The reliable way to handle that would be by requesting the amount of data in the buffer first. Or by performing a read all command that reads everything in the buffer.
*Note: we have reused this update release note to include a minor fix that was identified in this thread: https://synthiam.com/Community/Questions/Missing-Method-Exception-with-running-Servo-Pad-Skill-in-ARC-22628
The version of this release was 2025.01.30.00 but we renamed it to 2025.02.01.00 to include the javascript engine fix listed above.
...good stuff guys, keep up the good work...