Auto Start/Stop bugs

[dboyles]

I'm seeing some weirdness/inconsistency with auto start/stop configuration settings. Specifically, auto start seems to trigger sporadically (it starts when it's supposed to, but also at other times) and auto stop hasn't worked yet.

This is with firmware 8-5 and software 6.3.121.

Here's what I did:

• Formatted a CF card
• Did a configuration: Auto start based on speed (>350), auto stop based on speed (<10), pre-trigger time of 1 minute, post-trigger disabled. I also set the timestamp to GMT-5. Saved the setup.bin to the CF card.
• Started DL1, inserted card. The top green light went off for a couple of seconds and then back on.
• Formatted that CF card, then reinserted it into the DL1

Without even moving the car, logging started. This is the run file that was generated. Of course there is some jumpiness to the line, but the maximum speed that I see is 2.9 mph (far below the auto start threshold). Is there some sort of user error that could be causing this?

[jlucas]

Can't open your test.run file. Maybe try zipping it before you upload it to your server or you can just email it to me zipped.

edit: btw, was everything working normally before the setup.bin was applied?

Are you sure you have at least 1min between GPS lock and activating your trigger speed? (this is why I typically don't use the pretrigger time)

[dboyles]

Whoops, the problem with the test.run file was with permissions - fixed now.

Yes on the 1 minute between GPS lock and insertion of the card. I left the system running while I went back inside and formatted the card.

And yes, everything works fine prior to the current setup.bin (with auto start/stop enabled). In fact, I can turn logging off manually and then the auto start will work when I hit ~20 mph (although it won't stop when I fully stop the vehicle). And auto start will still likely turn on at odd moments.

[RTUSA]

Starting with the easy part, the auto stop value is too low, the units are 1/10 kph so 10 is 1 kph or around .6 mph. GPS speed when stationary usually is higher than this, so you need a larger value.

Also - try the autostart w/ no pretrigger time. Is it reliable then? I have found autostart based on a reasonably high speed to be quite reliable, but have not used pretrigger very much.

[RTUSA]

Rereading the last couple of posts, the 1 minute pretrigger time needs to occur after the card is inserted, it wants to fill a 1 minute buffer, and that is held on the CF card.

[dboyles]

Raising the auto stop threshold to 30 (i.e. 3 km/hr) worked like a charm. But after some experimentation I think I'm going to leave auto stop disabled because it seems to take away the ability to manually start logging when the vehicle is stationary (because it immediately stops it).

I do like auto start, which seems to function as expected so long as there is a 1 minute delay between inserting the card and hitting the 35 km/hr speed (where I've got my trigger set).

I know there is a feature request section, but I'll make an unofficial request that the DL1 config tool allow for the pre-trigger (and post-trigger, for that matter) time to be set by specifying a value in seconds.

[dboyles]

At my last autocross event I had some issues with auto start triggering when it shouldn't. I was using the same configuration as before (with the 35 km/hr auto start threshold) but it was triggering between when I powered up and when I got to the start line. I'd even reach down and stop it manually, but I'd get a start trigger again before I even got to the line.

One item of note: The grid was on a slope. Could this cause be the cause of the false trigger?

[RTUSA]

Slope should not matter, the autostart, as I understand it, is triggered from GPS speed (when triggered by speed) with no accelerometer input.

[dboyles]

I'll do some additional tests soon and report back with my results.

[dboyles]

edit: Previous stuff deleted from this post because I figured out the "issue." See below.

Okay, after some more testing it comes down to this: I wasn't understanding what the DL1 was doing.

When I first turn the unit on and put a card in, there is a delay of about 27 seconds before the data logging LED does anything (not sure why this is). After that ~27 seconds has passed, the LED turns solid green for 1 minute (which is what I have my pre-trigger time set as). After that 1 minute, the LED begins blinking, signifying that it's ready to begin logging. But what it's actually signifying is that it's filled the 1 minute buffer and will begin logging as soon as you trigger the start.

I did some on-road testing and found my ideal auto start/stop settings for autocross:
- Auto start/stop both enabled
- Auto start trigger: speed > 500
- Auto stop trigger: speed < 30