yellowcog - News

ANT+ Entering Old Age

2025-01-08T14:53:46+00:00

ANT+ is entering old age - but not retirement.

Garmin are to end the development of ANT+, or more specifically, ANT+ "Profiles". For those confused with Garmin's terminology - a "profile" sets out how the data should be packaged and interpreted between two ANT+ devices. Common profiles include heart rate straps, muscle oxygenation sensors and bike power meters.

We should maybe mention here what the difference between "ANT" and "ANT+" is. The "+", to the user, says two things: first, this device confirms to the specified ANT+ profile and, second, the device has been fully tested and approved by Garmin's test suite to guarantee conformity to the stated profile. This meant you could go out and buy a couple of ANT+ devices and be sure they would work together if they had the same ANT+ profile logo. So, what is ANT? ANT is the radio communications standard (from radio frequencies and timings up to when to listen, send and reply) that the profile data is transmitted over. In simple terms: ANT is concerned with moving data bytes; ANT+ with information.

This is not a hugely shocking "announcement" since for many years (ten!?) it is clear that it has been taking a backseat to BLE. "BLE is now the standard in everything" is basically true (for phones, yes) but does not necessarily mean another technology doesn't have its place. ANT+ has its place in lots of equipment in systems where looking at your phone might not really be of much use - yes, imagine!

The demise of ANT+ is by mostly being put down to the EU's insistence on encryption of personal data. The perception from developers' (or technical users') point of view could be characterised as "BLE has encryption baked into it whereas ANT+ added too little too late". This is how it feels anyway! It is unfair as ANT+ as a standard can and sometimes does support encrypted data. Its problem was that it was so (enjoyable and) easy to use without encryption that manufacturers didn't support it.

It should be pointed out that yellowcog has never sold ANT+ products (I must repeat this often as Garmin like to keep tabs on us since we are a licensed producer of ANT - but not ANT+ - devices). The reason we don't do ANT+ is firstly the cost, you have to pay Garmin for the privilege, but also we support so many profiles and custom "profiles" that it would slow us down. We interface and adapt to bespoke situations and systems all the time and it is not going to help anyone for us to seal our device software just to put a little ANT+ logo on the box.

Garmin are continuing to support the development of ANT(+) silicon/processors. It is the profiles that are now frozen. Arguably, this is where it's interesting for us all: if we want to do something new and unique then we'll have to work on it together - now that's where the fun begins!

Want What Web 2.0?

2023-01-27T15:19:36+00:00

We have flipped our website on its head so that it is now easier to find answers according to what you want to achieve rather than by use cases and individual products. Our products are now used in more areas and industries so this should help people in different arenas get to the required information and solutions. The site is arranged to mirror the way our Embedded Setup software allows you to configure your devices – although even though the website we now lists more of the options, it is still not exhaustive. It is a balance between being able to find exactly what you need and swamping the site with everything bit of hardware we have made. We have also listed some third-party kit we have used, that might be of interest, along with direct links to the manufacturers’ website. As you browse around, if you do not find exactly what you are looking for, you’ll find enough to want to get in touch. We are always happy to advise on options – no purchase necessary!

End of the road for Pilot-MUX

2023-01-06T09:38:25+00:00

The Pilot-MUX is being discontinued due to core components reaching end-of-life. As anyone who has tried to buy components or electronics over the last few years will know, manufacturing lead-times have ballooned, and some items just never resurface. There are many reasons for these supply issues, but it all comes down to the silicon fabrication houses having focused on their core components at the expense of the more niche parts that companies like yellowcog rely on.

Will there be a replacement? This is going to be customer driven. There are certainly many who use the Pilot-MUX that could now move to using the Pilot-CAN and its siblings. For anyone who may still need the MUX specific features then just get in touch and we’ll see what we can do.

The first ever version was released about a decade ago and was named as the Pilot-Cosworth. It was very much a prototype having far more on-board than was needed but still limited to only RS-232 output. It was designed for the Le Mans 24 hour and its success at the race left yellowcog with a new and interesting product that had now been tested in very demanding circumstances.

From the original prototype the first true Pilot-MUX was released in 2014. The fundamental design allowed for collecting wireless data, such as heart and breathing rates and waveforms such as ECG, and outputting these over serial or CAN bus. At the start, each device was configured in-house and then shipped with a fixed role.

It was the Pilot-MUX that drove the development of the Windows configuration software that allows a near-infinite number of ways to configure our devices. This Pilot-MUX configurability led to custom variant boards which in turn led to today’s flagship product, the Pilot-CAN.

So, what of Bluetooth classic connectivity? There are a few products we still use that are better when using Bluetooth classic, primarily the very popular Zephyr BioHarness. But they are becoming fewer and increasingly obsolete items which, if still valid in the domain, are themselves being updated to Bluetooth LE.

Ten Amazing Years

2020-10-01T12:29:58+00:00

October 2020 marks ten years of yellowcog. We have done a lot of interesting projects, designed stacks of embedded hardware, created some cool algorithms, plenty of Windows software and also the odd app. We have expanded our hardware to share data between CAN, ANT, BLE, Bluetooth, WiFi, GPRS and wired our kit to many different systems. We’ve sold to many different companies, sports and helped universities research not only physiology but wireless communications as well.

But what we’ve done so much more… We’ve worked on four world records including official Guinness World Records™ records. We’ve been invited to islands, beaches, cities, racing tracks, golf courses, crumbling warehouses, F1 teams' headquarters and the world's best universities. We’ve appeared on live TV, recorded TV, international adverts and provided live data to OB trucks and film studios. We’ve hung about in luxury trailers, on racing yachts, been filmed for hours, been in magazines, met famous people, been watched by tens-of-millions of people on the internet. Our equipment has been used in North America, South America, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia (we will give a generous discount to anyone who brings us a project in Antarctica). We’ve monitored people on a range of drugs including ecstasy, amphetamines and LSD (all taken legally for science!). We’ve stood in a field throwing hardware, driven around the English countryside wearing crash helmets, made people jump up-and-down on high-speed cameras, punished past colleagues by making them run for as long as they can – just to collect data. We have employed more women than men to help us with our projects. We’ve worked with drivers from their rooky season to first wins. Conducted medical research at the local pub. We’ve been driven round race tracks by top drivers. We’ve been and exhibited at trade shows. We’ve jumped in and out of IndyCars, rally cars, track cars, Lamborghinis, Lotuses, Audis and simulators. We’ve also paid tax on all our income and not avoided any or used any “schemes” to reduce corporation tax.

Another Guinness World Record!

2019-07-31T00:00:00+00:00

10^th Hole, Real Club de Golf Guadalmina, Malaga, Spain, 25/June/2019

Ok, we still don’t know the rules of the golf, but this project didn’t care much for them anyway. This was a genuine Guinness World Records™ record attempt to get the “The Fastest Hole Of Golf by An Individual” player. We provided monitoring equipment and know-how to get the best data. The rules of the attempt are strict: any number of shots can be made but the same player must make take all the shots in any one attempt. Since the current record is one minute 33 seconds and there are 500 yards to cover from tee to pin means only one thing: RUN!

First up was Guido Migliozzi. He set a great pace at the start but started to flag; his heart rate hitting 165 beats per minute (bpm) before he called off his attempt – not because he couldn’t go on but because he hooked (or possible sliced!) the ball into the rough. Giving up at 50 seconds he said “I don’t run since I was ten years old”!

Next up: Sean Crocker, a very confident start “I’m going to sprint this” and just like Guido thought the task more about the running than the golf: “I don’t think I might have run this much in forever”! After a brilliant first shot and a very fast run and a heart rate of 143 he tells us “I can’t feel my arms” which seems odd! By the end his heart rate hit 206. No record though, taking 1m 41s.

Third up: Paul Dunne. He took it very seriously and hit a perfect drive. “Run Forrest, Run [in translation]”. With a heart rate up to 181 he had the pace and holed it in 1:31. A record? No, he had fouled the ball when throwing his clubs down resulting in a disqualified attempt!

Finally: Thomas Detry. “I’m nervous… I am nervous”. With a heart rate of up to 188 he got close to the green quickly and it even looked like he had it but he just missed and needed a second final putt. He did however still do it in a mere 1m 29s and is now judged by Guinness to be “Officially Amazing”!

Tee Beats Pin

2019-06-10T12:00:00+00:00

GolfSixes, Oitavos Dunes, Cascais, Portugal, June 2019

Possibly one of our favourite trips of recent years. The location, weather and people were great. We’re the first to admit that our knowledge of golf is nil. For those like us, GolfSixes is like the usual game of golf but with a more relaxed and zippier format, a dress-down policy for the players and DJs and entertainment for the spectators. Six rounds of six-hole matches, the top two teams of each group then went onto the next day and points were awarded for wins or draws. With teams being knocked out until the finals. A more relaxed format but no less competitive as the winners get the €200,000 prize.

The project was to measure players heart rate as they teed up and display this on the TV where the presenter, Vernon Kay, could comment on it! For practical reasons we opted for wrist-worn heart rate monitors since there is a lot of twisting of the torso so wrist-worn would be the least distracting.

Since this was a one-off proof of concept, we didn’t have complete sets of duplicate kit at every hole. This meant the only way of collecting physiological data as the players moved from hole to hole was to de-rig, drive a golf buggy furiously from each tee to the next. Add in the crowds of spectators proceeding down the fairway and some deft driving was required!

Pilot-CAN Version 2 Released

2019-03-11T15:57:03+00:00

Pilot-CAN Version 2.0 is now out and has a range of great new features. All the features of the first version are still there but we’ve added even more.

As with version one, measuring vital signs such as heart rate, RR variability, calorie burn and exertion levels are getting them onto a CAN bus is easy; but now there is more!

Bluetooth Low Energy support is now built-in as standard as well as more configuration options and support for more wearables and sensors. Bluetooth Low Energy (a.k.a. Bluetooth Smart or BLE, also sometimes known as BTLE), whatever you want to call it, is a standard for wearables alongside ANT+. With Pilot-CAN V2, either of these protocols can be used to connect to wearables or even relay data from one sensor to a display device or similar. It’s this added flexibility that makes Pilot-CAN not just useful in motorsport but also as a data processor for BLE and ANT messages; the Pilot-CAN also works as a protocol translator, taking in ANT and emitting BLE or visa-versa.

Both configurations and firmware updates are now be done wirelessly, direct from your laptop or PC. You can even store configurations on an iPhone or Android phone and update the Pilot-CAN wirelessly from your mobile – no PC required!

Pilot-CAN was designed for motorsport and yachting, and that is still its main uses: collecting data from wearables and delivering that data to CAN data loggers. For other users the Pilot-CAN is used in similar way but is capable of even more! Hundreds of devices can be linked together over hundreds of meters. This sort of architecture bridges between wireless mesh sensors and wired sensors. The possibilities are limitless!

Key Features

Bluetooth Low Energy (Single Mode)
ANT wireless support
Lower power
Reduced weight
More configurability
Wireless configuration downloads
Wireless firmware updating
Multi-drop CAN messaging
Many new BLE/ANT+ wearables available
CAN bus output for direct connection to motorsport data loggers
Monitor heart rate, heart rate variability, R-R intervals, stress index and energy/calorie burn
Monitor physiological track performance
Improve on-track performance and lap times

Pricing

All these new features and still the same great price: £360 ex VAT.

Yellowcog: Now Bigger and Better

2018-04-19T08:03:35+00:00

We’ve moved to a new home and now have more space – and more kit! If you visited the old office, then you’ll know that every inch of space from floor to ceiling was used. We now have multiple offices, giving us the space to carry out even more projects as well as dedicated area for testing our systems. Our new home is still in Hampshire, but we’re now on the edge of the South Downs just outside the market town of Alton. It's thanks to the proximity of Alton for our broadband being 25x faster than before.

Adding to our existing office space we now have a large dedicated workshop – linked to our office by our own narrow-gauge railway line. The plan is to fully restore the line and add an automated electric shuttle for getting kit (and people) up to the office. There has been a lot to do to get the new office up-and-running, from network cabling to a new security and CCTV system, but we are now back up to full speed and ready for the next awesome project!

One unplanned advantage of the move is the electromagnetic quiet. We are doing so much with WiFi, Bluetooth Smart (BTLE) and ANT wireless that testing in a normal office environment can be frustrating. We are now able to isolate all local sources of 2.4GHz EMC, which means that our test harnesses can be made highly repeatable.

Finally, when you’re visiting us, then we also have a lot more parking and even better links to London Waterloo.

Our new address is:

Yellowcog Ltd
The Aviary
New Odiham Road
Shalden
Alton
Hampshire
GU34 5TB
UK

Race Technology Ltd stocking Pilot-RT

2017-04-25T09:32:00+00:00

Race Technology Ltd now stocking yellowcog kit: our Pilot™-RT heart rate and energy monitoring kit is now available from the Race Technology store. The Pilot™-RT was specifically designed to tightly integrate with their range of data loggers including the incredibly popular DL1. Race Technology have been going since 2002 - everyone in motorsport knows their products which include data loggers, displays, ECU interfaces and video products.

The Pilot™-RT brings Heart rate; Heart rate variability; R-R intervals; Stress index; and energy and calorie burn. The product has two serial ports that communicate using the native Race Technology protocols, just add the Pilot™-RT to the sensor daisy chain and within seconds the vehicle’s data will be augmented with physiological data.

The Pilot™-RT is available exclusively from Race Technology. Here’s the press release:

Driver Heart Rate Integration

Heart rate is an indicator of the physical load a driver is experiencing. Exertion, stress, age, gender and fitness all govern the heart rate and it gives a good indication of how hard a driver is working. The heart rate while on track is also pushed up by the mental strain of racing, fast thinking needs more oxygen.

Compatible with Race Technology data systems, the Yellowcog heart rate interface brings the driver's physiological data into race data analysis. A BLE/ANT+ heart rate strap (supplied) is worn by the driver, and data is sent wirelessly to the interface.

Viewing the heart rate data alongside race data in the Race Technology Analysis software brings driver strain into the spot light. Analysing driver heart rate will illustrate the physical load on the driver during the race, understanding areas of high exertion or strain. Knowing this data allows dedicated drivers to train their body for racing, targeting heart rate zones that will improve their driving performance.

For more information on integrating heart rate to a Race Technology data system, please visit our website here