Mark 2 Firmware 1.1.0.15 Release Notes

Release Overview

This firmware release 1.1.0.15 is a general release to support a new hardware revision of the Arable Mark 2 called Rev 3.91 that was created in order to handle the global supply shortage that exists in the electronics components market. The firmware 1.1.0.15 is also compatible with existing Arable Mark 2 Rev 3.1 and 3.0. 

The Arable Mark 2 Rev 3.91 is validated for use with AT&T globally, Verizon in the US and Claro in Brazil. Arable Mark 2 Rev 3.1 is to be used for Telstra in Australia.

The firmware 1.1.0.15 will initially be made available to new Arable Mark 2  Rev 3.91 shipments and as an over-the-air upgrade to similar units in the field. The firmware 1.1.0.15 is also expected to be used with Arable Marks Rev 3.1 or 3.0 over time. 

The use of Arable Mark 2 and Arable Solar with a 20-min sync interval for faster weather alerts is in a limited release as we build more field data for different geographies and conditions. You can reach out to Arable Customer Success at support@arable.com or via the Help icon in the Arable Mobile/Web to enable this on a per unit basis.

List of Changes
New Features

• This firmware release 1.1.0.15 supports a new hardware revision of the Arable Mark 2 called Rev 3.91 that was created in order to handle the global supply shortage that exists in the electronics components market. The Arable Mark 2 Rev 3.1 and 3.0 is also supported by the firmware 1.1.0.15.

Defect Fixes

• The earlier version of the Arable Mark 2 Rev 3.91 firmware used for initial shipments had a forced reset16 every four hours in order to avoid any risks of entering into a blocked state. The underlying risk factor for this blocked state has now been eliminated and as such the reset16 has been removed in firmware 1.1.0.15.
• The initial reading of the compass sensor was failing at startup of the Arable Mark in past releases and that led the sensor LED to show red color. This has now been addressed in firmware 1.1.0.15 so that the normal operation would show green on all four LEDs after deployment.
• The new 1.1.0.15 firmware has a firm cut-off for communicating with the backend at a voltage level of 3.1V in order to alleviate additional reset attempts when the battery voltage is too low.

Known Issues

• In order to ensure season-long operations of the Arable Mark 2, it is recommended to deploy with the external Arable Solar panel.
• The battery percentage value for the Arable Mark 2 can temporarily dip to zero if the system gas gauge resets. It will go back up to its actual value after a few minutes of retraining. At low voltage levels, close to the 3.1kV communications cut-off, the battery voltage can fluctuate widely and preemptively show zero even though it is possible to send data for a few more hours.
• The Mark 2 uses Satellite-based GPS to detect its location. If the unit is placed indoors, where no GPS signal can be retrieved, it will not be able to provide the correct location coordinates. This will in turn impact the user interface display in the Arable Web and the Arable Mobile. While we are exploring back-up capabilities for latitude/longitude retrieval, it is recommended for now to make deployments outdoors for full feature use.
• There can be a small drift of a few seconds between the data collection windows in the Mark 2. This does not prevent the correct operations on the Arable Web and Mobile UI at an hourly time scale, but API users should be aware of this when aligning Mark data with other sources.
• The Max Wind provided by the Arable Mark when using the Davis 6410 Anemometer, is showing a Wind Max that is based on a 30 second sampling rate. This rate is slightly lower than the sampling rate for Wind Gust ( 5 sec sampling rate) and as such can be lower in value. The introduction of a Wind Gust measurement is planned in any upcoming release.