Doc Number: ARA2022-00006 Rev A Date: July 11, 2022
Release Overview
This firmware release 1.1.0.19 is a general release for better operations in the field. Specifically,
the release improves the handling of anomalies in wind readings and the mitigation of errors in
humidity and temperature sensor reporting. A new command to initiate a reset by Arable
Customer Success was also added in the release. This reset can be used as a quick tool by
Arable Customer Success to do initial troubleshooting and recovery actions before a roundtrip
out to the field is requested.
The firmware 1.1.0.19 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 850-0024 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.
| Date | July 11, 2022 |
|
Device Compatibility |
Arable Mark 2 Rev 3.94, 3.93, 3.91, 3.1 and 3.0 |
|
Module Compatibility |
Quectel BG95M3LAR02A03_01.014.01.014 (AT&T) Quectel BG96MAR02A07M1G (AT&T 02A07_01.016 & Telstra |
| Sensor Compatibility |
Davis Wind Anemometer 6410 and 7911 GEMS PS41 Series Pressure Switch Sentek Drill and Drop Soil Moisture Probe |
| Markets | For Deployment: Argentina (AT&T 2G) Australia (LTE-M Telstra) Brazil (AT&T 2G) and (Claro LTE-M) Canada (LTE-M AT&T) Chile (AT&T 2G) Colombia (AT&T 2G) Ecuador (AT&T 2G) France (LTE-M & 2G AT&T) Germany (2G AT&T) Mexico (LTE-M & 2G AT&T) Peru (2G AT&T) Poland (2G AT&T) Spain (2G AT&T) UK (AT&T 2G) Ukraine (2G-AT&T) Uruguay (2G-AT&T) US (LTE-M AT&T) |
| Impact | High |
| Type | General Release |
| Version | 1.1.0.19 |
List of Changes
New Features
| Description | ID# |
| A new command to remotely initiate a reset of the Mark has been added in 1.1.0.19 in order to avoid requesting a field visit to do an initial recovery attempt. The command will be sent by Arable Customer Success from the Arable backend system and will restart the Arable Mark. |
AR1-T741 |
Defect Fixes
| Description | ID# |
| The priority for the anemometer pulse data collection task (used for wind speed) was increased in 1.1.0.19 alongside with the introduction of an electrostatic interference filter that compares rising and falling pulses for differences. These changes allow the Arable Mark to better handle corner cases where the pulse data collection window closes late and as such create higher wind speed values than it should. The occurrences of these overestimations were less than 0.3% in 1.1.0.17 but were still noticeable as creating spikes in the Arable Web graphs and other time series data representations. |
BUGS-1421 |
| Some units with firmware 1.1.0.15 and 1.1.0.16 had shown to experience sensor errors for relative humidity, pressure and Tair within months after initial deployment (i.e. unrelated to long life). These sensor data gaps came from a failure to recover from an error on the communication bus that connects the Pressure, Temperature & Humidity chamber and its associated circuit board with the main Mark. A reset of the device clears this state and was added in 1.1.0.17 to occur every 24 hours. A further refinement of the recovery logic is now released with 1.1.0.19 that avoids a complete reset and re-initializes the communication bus as soon as the error occurs. |
AR1-T846 BUGS-1375 |
| We have also made an effort on 1.1.0.19 to reduce a firmware data logger reset8 in the Arable Mark. The particular case that was tackled related to a special condition where the Pressure, Temperature and Humidity chamber was not accessible from the data logger for more than 25 minutes and as such triggered a reset8. Our statistics from early deployments of 1.1.0.19 shows that this type of reset is now largely removed. |
BUGS-1458 |
Known Issues
| Description | ID# |
| Even with firmware 1.1.0.19, we have seen rare cases where higher than expected wind speed spikes still show up. In this case, the spikes in wind speed are linked to the hourly communication sync periods. These anomalies occur only on 2G GSM 900 MHz deployments (so outside of North America) and most often relate to installations where the anemometer cable is wired too close to the antenna of the Arable Mark. While we are working with the few customers impacted by this to wire the anemometer cable further away from the antenna, we are also considering adding a logic to detect and filter these anomalies. Occurrences are less than 0.03% of all the wind speed data readings for Arable Marks with firmware 1.1.0.19. |
BUGS-1421 |
| The Arable Mark omits to send any wind speed data in case of zero wind speed in 1.1.0.19 (and in earlier releases as well). That is today shown as missing data in the Arable API, Arable Web and Arable Mobile. A better handling of zero wind speed is planned to be introduced in an upcoming release. |
BUGS-1454 |
| Where we use AT&T roaming and use 2G GSM, we have many cellular carriers to select from. In a few cases, we have seen a bias by the embedded Mark 2 Quectel modem to select networks that on the surface looks favorable, but aren’t when taking into consideration its capability to perform reliable application data transfer. We are actively pursuing to add logic that can take over in these circumstances and steer the modem back to the best network selection from an application viewpoint. |
BUGS-1321 |
| The Arable Mark Quectel modem has capabilities to provide horizontal estimation and precision for its GPS location readings that we have not utilized to its fullest extent yet in the Arable system. We plan to include such information in an upcoming firmware release so that the Arable backend system can make better decisions on which GPS readings to rely on. |
BUGS-1345 BUGS-1236 |
| In order to ensure season-long operations of the Arable Mark 2, it is recommended to deploy with the external Arable Solar panel. | BUGS-630 |
| 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. | BUGS-1188 |
| 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. | BUGS-1005 AR1-T581 AR1-T444 |
| 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. |
BUGS-110 AR1-T48 |