AeroPod, PowerPod and Newton

We are announcing today a major upgrade for the iBike Newton: OS2.

As most of you know, all computer devices include hardware (electronic components and circuit boards) and computer code (the software/firmware that controls the electronics and processes the data). While we have typically referred to the iBike's internal code as Firmware, we believe that Operating System is a better-understood term.

What is being introduced today in OS2 is the first revision of the iBike's original "Physics Engine" (the code that converts iBike sensor signals into cycling measurements including Power, Wind Speed, Hill Slope, and more). The original Physics Engine was written in 2005--an eon ago in computer technology time!

OS2 includes a complete re-write of the iBike Physics Engine, resulting in these major improvements:

1) iBike sensor data is processed 50% faster in the iBike's microprocessor
2) Sensor resolution is increased, resulting in higher measurement sensitivity
3) Wind speed measurement accuracy is significantly improved
4) Power measurements are more accurate, consistent, and significantly smoother, even when filtering is not applied
5) Short-interval power efforts (15 seconds or less) are more accurately measured and recorded in the ride file
6) Snapshot CdA and Continuous CdA measurements (requires Newton+) are more accurate and consistent
7) The second-to-second correlation factor R**2 between DFPM and OS2 ride files is comparable to DFPM/DFPM R**2 (i.e. two DFPMs installed on the same bike). In short, second-to-second iBike power measurements are much closer to those measured by DFPMs.

Once you have installed OS2, you'll see it listed in your Setup screen. You won't need to do any new calibrations; you'll just find that your Newton works better... :

We are really, really excited about the performance of the iBike Newton with OS2, and we hope you share our enthusiasm!

And to answer one question that some of you will likely have: we won't be more specific about how we did it. It is our secret sauce

OS2 is a free upgrade for all iBike Newton products and is available immediately through Isaac software.

Please note that OS2 is not available for iBike Gen I/II/III models.

Sounds like Newton+ profiles need to be re-done. No? Yes?

I was fortunate to be able to ride with the pre-release version of OS2 for a little over a week. I did not re-do any profiles; I simply got on and rode. I don't even do wind offsets prior to a ride. All I do is acclimate to the outdoor temperature and set my starting elevation.

I'm certainly far from being an expert in how Newton+ works, but when I read that "sensor resolution is increased, resulting in higher measurement sensitivity" and that "wind speed measurement accuracy is significantly improved," these sound like things that may go into the calculation of CdA and Crr and perhaps other elements of a profile. In the past, I've had a lot of problems getting my iAero to get reasonably close to measuring power (as well as my resulting TSS, IF, etc.) like my Quarq. And, by the way, I have two Quarqs on two bikes, and I get similar disparate results on both bikes, so I doubt this is a problem with the Quarqs. Boyd was helpful by tweaking my profiles, but now I'm wondering if the Newton+ and OS2 measurement improvements are such that I can get a good profile without going to all the effort of 8 coast downs and a 2-mile out-and-back only to have to have someone tweak my profile.

dtrousdale wrote:I'm certainly far from being an expert in how Newton+ works, but when I read that "sensor resolution is increased, resulting in higher measurement sensitivity" and that "wind speed measurement accuracy is significantly improved," these sound like things that may go into the calculation of CdA and Crr and perhaps other elements of a profile. In the past, I've had a lot of problems getting my iAero to get reasonably close to measuring power (as well as my resulting TSS, IF, etc.) like my Quarq. And, by the way, I have two Quarqs on two bikes, and I get similar disparate results on both bikes, so I doubt this is a problem with the Quarqs. Boyd was helpful by tweaking my profiles, but now I'm wondering if the Newton+ and OS2 measurement improvements are such that I can get a good profile without going to all the effort of 8 coast downs and a 2-mile out-and-back only to have to have someone tweak my profile.

Well, there's an easy way to find out!

The Newton's electronics are a big advancement over the iAero, and OS2 is a big advancement over all prior versions of FW.

Enjoy

Yes, it is a improvement. Like he said, you will notice right away the smoothing(both on the bike and in ISSAC). This has been a big year for Velocomp. Lots of improvements across the board. I have my Newton+ so "dialed in" , I can go on a 3 hour solo ride and it will track a DFPM within 1 watt and NP within 10watts. That was before OS2. I also live in a extremely windy area with cross winds and gusts... The Newton is so far improved in every way over the iAero that it was well worth the upgrade deal. Smaller(but not screen), sleeker, battery and/or lack of, engine, mount, etc.
That being said, after I installed OS2 I went on a ride with 3 friends and drafting is still a issue. I wish it would ask me at the beginning or in the setup screen, do you plan on drafting? Y/N? If you hit yes, then it should ask me, will you be pulling in the drops? Y/N. Because sometime we are tearing legs off and sometimes it's casual. I think with those two questions we can dial in a ride to a perfect TSS, NP, and IF.
But, at the pace Velocomp is setting this year with improvements, I'm not to worried about that. I'm almost at the point where I can chuck the DFPM.

heith wrote:Yes, it is a improvement. Like he said, you will notice right away the smoothing(both on the bike and in ISSAC). This has been a big year for Velocomp. Lots of improvements across the board. I have my Newton+ so "dialed in" , I can go on a 3 hour solo ride and it will track a DFPM within 1 watt and NP within 10watts. That was before OS2. I also live in a extremely windy area with cross winds and gusts... The Newton is so far improved in every way over the iAero that it was well worth the upgrade deal. Smaller(but not screen), sleeker, battery and/or lack of, engine, mount, etc.
That being said, after I installed OS2 I went on a ride with 3 friends and drafting is still a issue. I wish it would ask me at the beginning or in the setup screen, do you plan on drafting? Y/N? If you hit yes, then it should ask me, will you be pulling in the drops? Y/N. Because sometime we are tearing legs off and sometimes it's casual. I think with those two questions we can dial in a ride to a perfect TSS, NP, and IF.
But, at the pace Velocomp is setting this year with improvements, I'm not to worried about that. I'm almost at the point where I can chuck the DFPM.

Please send us some of your ride files. We are always working on improvements; OS2 came into being because of some ride files we received from customers! There's still some unfinished opportunities with drafting; perhaps your ride files will be the key...

10-4

http://www.mediafire.com/view/?19dxczwswgfy3m8 Drafting right after OS2 and Tilt/wind
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?pagl3to726g0bek non drafting

Velocomp wrote: OS2 is a free upgrade for all iBike Newton products and is available immediately through Isaac software.

Please note that OS2 is not available for iBike Gen I/II/III models.

Any chance that this is going to make it to iDash+Power range ?

rcmaps wrote:

Velocomp wrote: OS2 is a free upgrade for all iBike Newton products and is available immediately through Isaac software.

Please note that OS2 is not available for iBike Gen I/II/III models.

Any chance that this is going to make it to iDash+Power range ?

Of course! It's already done; we will be posting app update any day now.

OS2 its a version 1.0.5?
if not i cant find os2 in download page

Its accessed through the Isaac software. If your unit is connected then it should detect it and prompt you that there is a new update available. If not you can manually update it by going to the "device" tab in Isaac and then select FW update. Also make sure to have the latest version of Isaac to be compatible with the new OS2 version in the Newton.

Actually, it's Device/Check Online for Firmware Update...

That will get you hooked into OS2.

heith wrote: That being said, after I installed OS2 I went on a ride with 3 friends and drafting is still a issue. I wish it would ask me at the beginning or in the setup screen, do you plan on drafting? Y/N? If you hit yes, then it should ask me, will you be pulling in the drops? Y/N. Because sometime we are tearing legs off and sometimes it's casual. I think with those two questions we can dial in a ride to a perfect TSS, NP, and IF.
But, at the pace Velocomp is setting this year with improvements, I'm not to worried about that. I'm almost at the point where I can chuck the DFPM.

OK, after downloading OS2 and using ISSAC to help me "check Calibration with dfpm" it seems OS2 is so much more stable that my old calibrations were slightly off when I wrote the above. The Newton is now tracking perfectly again and even Normalized Power is exactly matching my DFPM G3 while doing intervals. I know you guys aren't done, but I think you did it. You came up with something that can truly compete with the most expensive DFPM's for a quarter the price. Congratulations on the Newton+, ISSAC, and OS2.

congrats!! os 2 its a great improvement to newton,now I don't see more abrupt variations ,its more stable.thanks!!

And is it my imagination or are the wind readings more stable as well?

KenS wrote:And is it my imagination or are the wind readings more stable as well?

EVERYTHING is improved. The Physics Engine got a total overhaul...

Tried the OS2 and Isaac 1.05 update.

Still Wind Scaling difference between Newton and Isaac when doing Newton Cal Ride / Isaac Check Calibration.
If using the Newton wind scaling, everything gets totally wrong in Isaac....tailwind shows as headwind.

Is this a bug in Isaac, or in Newton?...
Which factor does Velocomp recommend?...the Newton Cal ride factor, or the Isaac Cal ride factor?

http://www.ibikeforum.com/viewtopic.php ... 534#p14052

We found the bug that is causing differences between calibration factors determined by the Newton, and factors calculated by Isaac.

We will be putting out new FW very shortly; in the mean time, you should use the Newton's numbers; they are correct.

Wind Scaling bug fixed in OS 2.11 !
No wind Scaling difference between Newton and Isaac, and the wind also displays correct in Isaac now

There seems to be a small difference between Newton and Isaac in "Riding tilt" calibration, around 0,1%. Not much.
Did 3 Cal Rides today. Results:
Isaac - Newton
-0.4% - -0.5% (Almost totally flat track. Most reliable track)
-0.4% - -0.2% (bad test track. Round`n round on a big parking lot, to test the wind scaling head/tailwind)
-0.3% - -0.4% (Another almost flat track. A bit false up`n down slopes because of road drainage)

Thanks for fixing the Wind Scaling bug!

The tilt seems to respond very slowly in OS 2.11.

I rode down a 150m hill with avg slope 14%. Yes, measured slope. (11% 0-50m, 17% 50-100 and 14% 100-150m.)
Newton only managed to reach max 9%, and the Isaac shows that the max slope far out on the flat after the hill. (file: At 05:47-06:16)
Isaac elevation says 20m down in 150m length =13.3% (not far away from the measured slope), while the Isaac tilt says avg - 4,3%.....

When riding uphill tilt also react very slow. (file: At 03:38-03:43) I ride uphill a 16% slope. You can see the wattage is max 470w and goes down but the slope still goes up. For some reason the power seems okay. 400w avg at 11 km/h is around 15% slope, but the tilt shows 4,9% here. Max tilt is 7 sec later, when the hill starts to flat out.
.

In 211 there is a bug in the slope calculations. This bug has nothing to do with power calculations.

We've already got this fixed and we will put out an update shortly.

Is the Riding Tilt calibration affected by this bug?
My Riding Tilt number is lower in 2.11. (From -0.7% to -0.4% avg.)

Hard to say; there was a bug. In any event, both numbers are normal.

Loaded the new OS2, wind was reading 14.1 and I could not recalibrate. Re-did a tilt mid-ride and still found that my power went down on climbs, and went up (like 460) on descents. So looks like the stability and ease of use and freedom from endless tweaking with Newton still is not there - this thing is actually worse than Gen III in every way. Inconsistent from one ride to the next - one ride the watts stay pegged at 60-70, the next things seem as normal around 250-400. Had hoped OS2 would fix that.

garrett wrote:Loaded the new OS2, wind was reading 14.1 and I could not recalibrate. Re-did a tilt mid-ride and still found that my power went down on climbs, and went up (like 460) on descents....

Needless to say if you could upload the ride, no matter how bad the data was, it will help figure out what's wrong.

However, I suggest you do a hard reset (left center and right buttons at the same time). Set your date, time, do a tilt calibration and a wind offset. I had a funky thing like that happen not too long ago. I guess it's the same as having to reboot your computer on occasion although Newton is a lot more stable.

Here's the ride file. Looks like elevation and wind flatlined around 20 min into the ride. I tried to recalibrate both at about 55 min into the ride, so something else threw the calibration off at that 20 min mark. Even before the 20 min mark there seems to be an inverse relationship between power and climbing. I did a wind calibration before the ride, but did not do a tilt.

Maybe just a bad day for Newton, but it seems to have more of these than I'm comfortable with; as stated in my earlier post sometimes power is locked at 60-70 watts for the whole ride, next ride it seems as expected. A problem if you're counting on being able to analyze your ride (would have loved to have logged my power on a personal best climb today).

Garrett,

Unfortunately the exact thing happened to me. I already forwarded your previous response and I will forward this ride file to the folks at Velocomp. FWIW my previous suggestion is still valid. Do a hard reset, set the date, time, do a tilt cal and a wind offset. Do another ride and you'll see everything is fine.

Just like every other challenge (bug) that has ever popped up, Velocomp rises to the occasion and finds a solution. Sorry for the inconvenience. I assure you, OS 2.12 is leaps and bounds better than anything previously available. The accuracy, repeatability and fast response are far and away the best ever. I'm dialed in so well that I wonder why I even analyze a ride. The numbers on the Newton are spot on.

Remember, you don't need to keep doing wind offsets. Do one, and for future rides just get on and ride.

Do a hard reset, set the date, time, do a tilt cal and a wind offset.

Thanks for the suggestion. I did the hard reset, will hope everything is stable tomorrow. By the way, learned that hard reset procedure is down, left, right, center buttons.

Remember, you don't need to keep doing wind offsets. Do one, and for future rides just get on and ride.

Did not know that, thanks - same for tilt? Also, is it recommended to do a new out & back cal ride with the OS2 installation?