Post by Admin on Feb 17, 2016 21:59:43 GMT -5
NOTE : we are in final testing phase, I've already produced some CFv8 boards and I'll be working on the user's manual during the first half of January. The boards should be available from the second half of January 2016
(you'll note that it's a classic copy/paste from a previous announcement, but hopefully, there's new stuff below)
Price will increase of a couple of € to compensate the cost of the new sensor, but also mainly the huge general parts cost inflation
NEW FEATURES
- [new]: Triple sensor. Though I keep working ATM on new ideas / use cases for this 3rd sensor, this initial V8 releases provides a first cool feature that uses it ! The choice for a new sensor is also motivated by a better motion signal definition.
- [new]: Dynamic motion flow. A more realistic motion flow limiters (swing and clash parameters in the override config file). Now automated based on the sound that is played
- [new]: PLI with GLYPHS. The Glyph table (used for instance on a 7 segment display) is now available for the PLI. It can display the PLI level as a number or match any representation on a non standard bargraph
- [new]: Sizable PLI from 1 to 8 leds (using the halfdisplay param that now extends from 0 to 7). This allows to have a more complex bargraph composed of a PLI (even a single LED, static if enough power, blinking fast if power is getting low), regular sequenced LEDs, and special accents (blade mirror, crystal chamber pulsing etc).
- [new]: Magic activation using the new sensor. Bring a magnet or a steel piece close to the hilt and it will trigger the saber blade ignition. Pretty cool for demos of your character sabers (Use the Force !), saber thrown in the air by a partner and lit instantly when caught, or for life size mannequin in your man cave. Adjustable threshold.
- Mute-On-The-Boot ported to main volume. When volume is set to 5 (above max, lol) the orientation of the saber defines the volume from max (up) to zero (pointing down).
- [new]: Stab visual fx can now be fully disabled during FoC even with focmix set to full mix. Minor feature from the todo list.
- [new]: Crystal Chamber color profiles added. The same way a blade / foc color profiles overrides the led settings defined in each font, the crystal chamber has its own profile (defined with the rest of the color profile in the override file). This way the crystal chamber pulsing can reflect (or not) the latest selected blade profile.
- [new]: TRIDENT™ support (read dedicated paragraph below). Expected, requested, easy to code, so there you are :-).
- [new]: Tangible, accessory based, on-the-fly (almost) font selection / change / swap.
LEGACY FEATURES
- FOUR (4) color channels and TRUE color mixing (CEx compliant) powered by FlexiBlend™ using the color satellite board or stand alone using a single cell.
- All digital, Dual (now Triple) motion sensor with MotionFusion™. 6 (now 9) DoF system allowing perfect separation of motion classes while using continuous & dynamic measurements along with user definable thresholds (no on-off sensors)
- up to TWELVE (12) sound fonts selectable via our long standing & popular vocal menu
- Font description sound (formerly one-six.wav sounds) now stored in the font itself (font.wav), UNMIXED.
- Real-time mixing of the audio menu background track with the font description sounds
- Skinned Audio User Interface. Former beeps are replaced by user changeable sounds (ok, cancel, beep.wav etc).
- Specific Vocal Menu sound volume
- Mute-on-the-Boot™
- up to 4 pre-power on sounds
- up to 4 combos (4 sounds) with ComboFx™
- SPINS detection (4 sounds) with SpinFx™
- STAB detection (4 sounds) with StabFx™
- Specific Lockup color
- Saber Orientation lockup color control
- EIGHT ( 8 ) accent LEDs (still 32 stages sequence with stop and loop instructions using either 0 or 65535 for the delay)
- Crystal Chamber color mixing on accent LEDs or using PMW signals
- Special Flash on Clash™ mixing engine that allows various LEDs and color schemes to be implemented. That includes the Legacy FoC (aka "On top FoC" the way we defined it in the CFv5.
- Improved file fetching, up to 16 GB µSD card, drag and drop compliant (tested on PC at least)
- Override file access thru R.I.C.E. and re-organization of common parameters for simplified configuration editing and authoring
- Board temperature monitoring within R.I.C.E.
- same dimensions as the CFv6.5 51.4x23.5x7.5 mm
- Just as easy to HACK as the PC2/3 or the CFv6
- 2 On-board Power Extenders (PEx)
- Force and Force Clash effect sound
- 4 blaster sounds
- Up to 4 boot sounds
- *actual* 16 bit DAC for *actual* 16 bit sound output
- Regulated Audio engine, CFV6 loudness and audio quality
- 3A current on the on-board channel #1 (current regulator)
- Bargraph Glyph (audio menu)
AUDIO / FONT SPECIFIC FEATURES (details)
TRIDENT™
Support for secondary mini blades on a cross guard saber like Kylo's one. The CF now supports it with no HW modifications, just configuration. However, that's for a single color saber with FoC. An RGB (or "multicolor) version of this is in the work using an accessory board, just no ETA for now.
TRIDENT™ defines which blades will be delayed during power on, and even (if you want it) during power off.
In a similar way to Foc Mix, tridentm (mix) defines which channels will be delayed. For instance, tridentm=0110 will set the main blade (on board driver) as regular, and channels 2 and 3 will be delayed.
Two delays are provided, one for power on and the other for the power off, though TFA has showed only this feature during ignition only. Set the delay(s) to zero to disable the feature.
Just for the sake of configuration and personal taste, TRIDENT™ also has 2 modes:
** Simple delay for which the non delayed blade will ignite immediately and will spread on the whole power on (or quick on) duration, while the secondary blade(s) will start later and will catch up
** A shifted delay for which the main blade will ignite first to its max *then* the secondary blade(s) will ignite, which seems to be what happens in the movie.
There's little difference (visually) between the 2 if the delay pushes the delayed blade to start close to the end of the power on sound. The delay has to be adjusted to match the moment when the secondary blades start in the power on sound. RICE allows this adjustment in real-time and in a very convenient way.
I've also added 2 mores things : one is that the delayed channels have their flicker recalculated in real time separately from the main blade so that they look more "living on their own". To (eventually) increase this feeling to a drastic point, TRIDENT™ also allows to specify a different flicker depth to the delayed blades, allowing the crossguard to be more "vivid". This obviously combines very well with the pulse effect.
TRIDENT™ will be ported to PC and PRIZM as soon as I have a moment. I have quite a lot on my plate at the moment and I'll have to first produce a few batches of boards before I can spend the required time on firmware alterations and also provide the new RICE version.
Sizable PLI
I got several request for this and I've been wanting to implement this for a long time on my sabers as it's hard to chose between sequenced LEDs, crystal chamber and PLI, so there you go.
Half display (halfd) now defines how you split the bargraph.
If you set half display to 2, your PLI will use accent LEDs 1 and 2, the other accent LEDs will be sequenced accent.
If you also set a special accent mode (accmode=1) along with the half display above, accent 5 to 8 will be used as a blade mirror, leaving accent LED 3 and 4 as regular (sequenced) LEDs. In the accent sequencer, you'll have to pay attention to which LEDs you still have the control on (in this example 3 and 4) as the PLI and the special accents always take over the regular sequenced accents.
Tangible font selection
This is the outcome of a fruitful discussion with Cannibal869 and his combo saber-blaster : what if you could move to another font / saber universe but, just like most our "props that work", with a proper meaning or reason ?
For instance :
- change the crystal for another one => new blade color, new sounds, new everything (classic)
- add a part, upgrade the saber => brighter blade (just an example)
- remove a part, like the crystal => get in broken stage, ancient saber, wacky artifact
- remove a part, lock, dongle => takes you to the saber workshop mode (vocal sound font for diag mode, crystalline workshop font etc)
- use a selector, dial, coding wheel to select your font without going thru the vocal menu
I really like the idea that it goes with an accessory, therefore the tangible interaction with the saber to do something on it. It's similar to other CF features like Power on Force, Magic activation, hum alteration etc.
It works in a very simple way: there are 7 slots defined in a new fonts.txt file in the root directory. Each slot defines a font to move to, if it's not the current one. The slot can be also filled with a dash '-' indicating it's neutral / don't do anything.
Selecting a slot is achieved with a single (new) input on the CF. Adding a resistor between that point and the 3.3V selects the slot. By using different resistors (or a potentiometer) you can "browse" the different slots. The accessory is then anything you like (crystal, greeblie of your choice) with a 2 pin connector and a resistor on it.
Why neutral Slots ?
- it allows to have "gaps" between slots, if you don't need to use them all
- it allows to have a neutral action when you remove the accessory as it will take you most of the time in slot 0.
Example 1 : Font selection with 3 different crystals, the third one selecting iSaber
Slot 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Font - - 4 - 6 - 12
each time the crystal is removed, you return to slot zero which is neutral, therefore, nothing is done to the current font selection, until another crystal is inserted
Example 2 : Place / Remove the accessory switches between a working (font 0) and damaged saber (font 11). Placing the working saber font in the last slot (resistor = 0 ohm = short) makes a very simple selection system.
Slot 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Font 11 - - - - - 0
Example 3 : Multiple font system selection, removing the accessory always leads to font 11 (broken saber)
Slot 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Font 11 - 3 - 5 - 0
Example 4 : inserting an accessory with a short (0 ohm) forces the selection of a particularly font, otherwise the regular menu-selected font is used.
Slot 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Font - - - - - - 0
Even if the font selection system is used (if the file is there and populated with non neutral slots), the access to a specific font remains possible via the menu, so you can still demonstrate / play with your 12 fonts.
If the accessory change triggers a font change while the saber is in idle, it will simply reboot. If it occurs while the blade is on, it will play the power off sound & will reboot in the new font.
