2.10.0
Release date: May 06 2020
Notice - Deployment life
The expansion to support most major chemistries of AA batteries in Generation3 instruments has permitted a wider variety of deployments. Lithium thionyl chloride (LTC) cells continue to offer the longest recordings, albeit with more challenging sourcing and shipping constraints. At the opposite end of the spectrum, alkaline cells offer the widest availability, trivial shipping, and cheapest cost - but have only a fraction of the energy density.
As part of our continued evaluation of batteries, including long term tests and per-millisecond characterisation of current profiles, we have found that the amount of available energy stored in lithium iron, alkaline, and NiMH cells is less than we had originally estimated.
This means that Ruskin estimates of deployment autonomy have been overstating the deployment lifetime when using these chemistries, by approximately 20% (lithium iron), 20% (alkaline), and 20% (NiMH). There is a possibility that long term deployments that were initiated using those chemistries will not meet your expectations.
The best chemistry, LTC (in either the supplied Tadiran cells, or SAFT replacements that are available) has continued to demonstrate the autonomies that Ruskin predicted. It is only the other cells that are weaker than previously understood.
This new version of Ruskin incorporates the best models of battery capacity that we possess. We are deeply regretful if any previous deployments do not meet the expectations of the estimates we generated and wanted you to be aware of this shortcoming.
Please contact our support team support@rbr-global.com for any questions or concerns regarding this notice.
Notice - 32bit (x86) support to be discontinued in v3.0.0
RBR strives to make the best products available which is why we are continuously improving and updating. It is important for us to stay on top of emerging technologies and integrate them when and where possible. As such we built Ruskin on the industry standard Java platform.
Ruskin is currently built using v8 of this platform however newer versions do exist. We have been reluctant to move to newer versions because they have dropped support for 32bit (x86) systems which we know many of you may still use. Unfortunately it is becoming more difficult to continue to support this technology while producing leading edge products. We have decided to only support 64bit installations as of v3.0.0. The release date for this version is still not determined but it will be in 2021. Once v3.0.0 has been released, there will be no further updates for v2.
Please contact our support team support@rbr-global.com for any questions or concerns regarding this notice.
New Features
- Added support for RBRquartz3 BPR|zero
- Added full support for the pause/resume feature
- Added controls for user selection of K-factors
Added fw 1.117 (104)
Improvements
- Stability and Performance
- RSK-4818 - Density units are now consistent throughout the software
- RSK-5902 - Added a tool tip on the instrument clock indicating clock drift between system and instrument
- RSK-5430 - Live data storage preference is only for legacy instruments
- RSK-6062 - Added web and email links on dialogs where RBR contact details are provided
- RSK-6283 - Updated label for Seawater depth derivation on Parameters tab
- RSK-6386 - Allow removal of attached content before submitting a 'Comment on Ruskin' issue
- RSK-6427 - Calibration dates are always stored in UTC
- RSK-6692 - Updated label for UART real-time mode to indicate it is an OEM option
- RSK-6712 - Improved deployment life estimation for Gen3 instruments
- RSK-6743 - Description template for internal users has been added to the 'Comment on Ruskin' dialog
- RSK-6755 - Layout of the instrument Configuration page has been improved
- RSK-6795 - Improved internal pressure calibration routines
- RSK-6877 - Implemented standardized library for JSON file handling
- RSK-6892 - Improved profile navigation display
- RSK-6910 - Added a retry mechanism to the 'Comment on Ruskin' submission
- RSK-6982 - Improved spacing of labels on axis to be more readable
- RSK-6996 - Instruments in an 'unknown' state are treated as being enabled
- RSK-6997 - Improved automatic mapping of dependent channels during factory configuration of instruments
- RSK-7007 - Prevent firmware upgrades of certain instruments over a serial connection
- RSK-7016 - Improved widget scaling on high DPI monitors
- RSK-7018 - Added a simulation option for the Sequoia LISST-ABS sensor
- RSK-7037 - Improved clock time zone inference when no time zone information is available
- RSK-7041 - Added 57600 baud to the list of rates used to search for instruments
- RSK-7065 - Added label to voltage channel 'current' entry widget indicating it is at 12v
- RSK-7071 - Improved deployment life estimation for Gen3 instruments with serial streaming
Bug Fixes
- RSK-5724 - Parameters tab is missing for RBRsolo instruments
- RSK-6093 - Add more validation to 'Comment on Ruskin' entries before submitting
- RSK-6321 - RSK for exported annotation should not allow file upgrades
- RSK-6568 - Directory names which include extensions prevent opening of RSK files
- RSK-6717 - RSK Overview page does not always display full content
- RSK-6733 - Parameters can be changed while recomputing data
- RSK-6819 - Density value is incorrect in internal configuration files
- RSK-6841 - Missing output format option on older vintage instruments
- RSK-6843 - Failure to handle all responses during factory configuration for RBRsolo3 Tu
- RSK-6859 - Configuration page isn't resizing correctly causing display to be cut off
- RSK-6899 - Parameters tab editors should be disabled while the instrument is enabled
- RSK-6922 - Download button isn't in the correct state if download is triggered from the Navigator
- RSK-6934 - Data analysis table doesn't always match plot in 'mobile' data format
- RSK-6967 - Locale problems prevent updating firmware
- RSK-7017 - RSK files aren't populated if the metadata isn't contained in a single downloaded block