Mark 2 Firmware 1.1.0.17 Release Notes

Doc Number: ARA2022-00005 Rev A Date: May 23, 2022

Release Overview

This firmware release 1.1.0.17 is a limited release for better operations in the field. It tackles two issues related to battery voltage charging threshold and humidity/temp sensor errors.

The firmware 1.1.0.17 is compatible with Arable Mark 2 hardware Rev 3.94, 3.93, 3.91, 3.1 and 3.0. The Arable Mark 2 Rev 3.91 and above are validated for use with AT&T in the US and globally as well as for Claro in Brazil. Arable Mark 2 Rev 3.1 is to be used for Telstra in Australia.

The new 5W Solar Panel SKU can be used with Arable Mark 2 Rev 3.94 and 3.93 only.

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
Defect Fixes

• The battery voltage charging threshold has been lowered from 2.2V to 1.8V for units C009001 to C010300 that have a Gas Gauge called BQ28Z610-R1. This Gas Gauge can prevent charging if the battery's voltage goes down below 2.2V. This very low battery voltage state can occur if the unit has not been in operation for 6+ months. For any units that are already in this state, then reaching out to Arable Customer Success is recommended as they can support a procedure to jump start the device.
• Some units with firmware 1.1.0.15 and 1.1.0.16 have been shown to experience sensor errors for relative humidity, pressure and Tair within months after initial deployment (i.e. unrelated to long life). These errors come up in case of failure to recover from an error on the communication bus that connects the Temp/Humidity chamber and its associated circuit board with the main Mark. A reset of the device clears this state. As an initial mitigation, 1.1.0.17 is adding an automated reset every 24 hours. Further refinement of this recovery logic is expected to be released with 1.1.0.18 that avoids a complete reset.

Known Issues

• While the firmware version 1.1.0.16 improved the wind max measurements significantly by reducing the sampling interval from 30 sec to 5 sec, we have seen rare cases where higher than expected peaks still show up. This anomaly issue is being worked on and a resolution is expected in the next 1.1.0.18 firmware release.
• 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 Arable Mark 2 firmware uses FIFO (First-In-First-Out) procedure for sending data over the network. If a unit has been active but not reporting for a while, this can create some wait time until the most current data is uploaded to the server.