Release 2011.11.09.00 - WOW

(Autonomous Robot Control Software)
Make robots with the easiest robot programming software. Experience user-friendly features that make any robot easy to program.

Change Release Notes

Wondering why there have been so many i2c updates? We have some new i2c controls to support! And it all starts with this release... Firmware 15 WOW!

  • ARC v2011.11.09.00
  • EZ-SDK v2011.11.09.00
  • EZ-B Firmware v15

ARC changes

  • i2cRead now accepts Auto for AutoAck mode. Which acknowledges every read byte except for the last byte
  • i2cRestart command added for special restart
  • New control for i2c Sure Electronics Dual-Axis Magnetic Compass Module. Soon we'll have some directional controls to work with it:)
  • New control for i2c BV4615 RC-5 Infrared Decoder. Control your robot by an infrared remote. Soon you will be able to remote control the EZ-B without the computer connected.

SDK Changes

  • i2cReadAutoAck command added. Reads data from the i2c and acnowledges every byte except for the last byte
  • i2cRead has override for reading just one byte
  • i2cRestart command added
  • WriteBinary command added
  • BV4615 module added for RC-5 Infrared decoding
  • SureDualAxisCompass module added for dual axis magnetic compass

ARC Downloads

ARC Free

Free

  • Includes one free 3rd party plugin robot skill per project
  • Trial cloud services
  • Free with trial limitations

For schools, personal use & organizations. This edition is updated every 6-12 months.

Recommended

ARC Pro

Only $8.99/mo

  • 2 or more PCs simultaneously
  • Includes unlimited skills
  • Cloud backup
  • And much more

Experience the latest features and bug fixes weekly. A Pro subscription is required to use this edition.

Runtime

Free

  • Load and run any ARC project
  • Operates in read-only mode
  • Unlimited robot skills
  • Early access fixes & features

Have you finished programming your robot? Use this to run existing ARC projects for free*.

  • Minimum requirements are Windows 10 or higher with 2+gb ram and 500+MB free space.
  • Recommended requirements are Windows 10 or higher with 8+gb ram and 1000+MB free space.
  • ARC Free known-issues can be viewed by clicking here.
  • Get more information about each ARC edition by clicking here.
  • See what's new in the latest versions with Release notes.

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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
* Per robot project
** 1,000 per cognitive type (vision recognition, speech recognition, face detection, sentiment, text recognition, emotion detection, azure text to speech)

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Netherlands
#1  

He DJ Sures,

I tried to update my EZ-B the firmware is now 12. But when i want to update to 15 it get stuck.

What happens :

Connect to com4 press update board is blinking on starting boot loader and ping. after that i only get the "updating ... (14.720 bytes)" sign.

thats it.

on my laptop i have the software for 12 still running and when i connect everything works. Wall-e still does his thing.

PRO
Synthiam
#2  

I'll need more info. Can you copy and paste the text from the window please? Are you sure the green bar isn't moving across the top? The progress bar? You watched the video?

Netherlands
#3  

Attempting connection on COM4 EZ-B reports EZ-B Firmware V12 Connected Press the UPDATE button to start upgrade Warning: Line 2: Fixing Diff: 4 Warning: Line 462: Skipping Type: 4 Warning: Line 463: Impossible Diff: -7360 Address: 0x0, SB Size: 0x3980 Starting Boot Loader...

sending ping sending ping sending bootloader I am EZ-B BootLoader. Gimmie Firmware!

Updating... (14.720 Bytes)

My other 2 board had al the updates from 12 till 15 and this one was 12 and now willing to update to 15.

PRO
Synthiam
#4  

It's updating perfectly fine. You need to let it finish. Do not stop it from updating. Let the green progress bar complete. Then wait for the message to reboot the ez-b. Do not stop it while updating. You will ruin your ez-b if you stop it while updating. Hence the nice warning message:D

If you click HELP you can watch a video on how to update.

Netherlands
#5  

it's now 40 minutes and i have still the same message. On my other 2 boards it was just a minute to update.

I will try it tonight at home on my other computer.

PRO
Synthiam
#6  

Haha okay 40 minutes is too long:)

Did the green progress bar move across the screen?

Netherlands
#7  

Jep just like normal,

I wanted to show my robot at work, and wrote everything on my computer at home.

I copied my ezb file to my laptop.

At work i installed ARC ( on my laptop ) but on connecting the program said the firmware was older than... You know ( just do the update ).

the only thing i see what is different are :

Firmware on the ez-b and the laptop.

So i will try it first at home.

PRO
Synthiam
#8  

Interesting. Maybe there is a virus scanner at work that is affecting it

Netherlands
#9  

Found it:)

It was the bluetooth stack driver from toshiba. Updated it for a newer one and it's working like a charm:)

ThankS DJ Sures!!!

PRO
Synthiam
#10  

That'a boy!!! Had me a little worried there:)

It's pretty hard to damage the firmware. You'd literally have to power the thing down while it's "Moving from temp memory".

The firmware is saved in a temp memory location until it's completed. At that point, and only that point will it overwrite the program memory area. The bluetooth connection isn't required once the entire program file has been received.

So, it's pretty hard to mess up a firmware update. But please don't try:) Otherwise you'll be sending me your EZ-B for re-programming

#11  

Hey Pabi!o, Im having the same issue but I'm struggling with finding an update to my toshiba BT stack... can you tell me where you got your update?

Thanks

Netherlands
#12  

I have downloaded the whole driverpack from Toshiba.

download linkje

From there i updated the driver for bluetooth.

#14  

Turns out I had the latest driver, even newer than that. Uninstalled it and installed this driver but still had no luck... DJ Sures, can you help me out?