Speed Profiler App

When the unit is powered up, it will search for a speed profile file (.spp) on the inserted SD card. If only one file is present, this file will be loaded automatically. If multiple files are present, the unit will display a speed profile selection menu where you can choose the profile you want to use.

The speed units used in the .spp file will be detected, and Performance Box Touch will update to match.

The application includes a live graph that allows the driver to see forthcoming speed changes and help them keep the speed within the tolerance. The graph scrolls from left to right, plotting GPS speed against time. The current speed is indicated by a white square that remains static. A white trace behind the square will display the speed history.

The X-axis (speed=0) is identified by the blue line. The target speed is identified by the red line. The speed tolerance margin is identified by white lines on either side of the target speed.

The display shows the previous 2.5 seconds and the next 6.5 seconds of the configured profile.

Tap the START button to start the speed profile file (.spp). If you have selected Wait Until Moving in the Test Settings , the test will not start until it detects movement.

Once it has started, you can terminate the test and stop the logging by tapping the RESET button (if applicable).

If you reset the test before it ends, the VBOX unit will not save the score to the _results.txt file but will display RESET next to the test in the SCORE field.

The current speed is indicated by a white square.

The white trace behind the square displays the speed history for the previous 2.5 seconds. The current speed will always be centred vertically on the screen.

The target speed is identified by the red line.

The chart shows the target speed of the previous 2.5 seconds and the next 6.5 seconds of the configured profile.

As it is difficult to drive at precisely the expected target speed, the speed tolerance provides a margin on either side of the target speed line. When the driver stays within this margin area small deviations will not affect the test results.

The speed tolerance margin is identified by white lines on either side of the target speed and you can configure it in the Test Settings.

The chart shows the margin of the previous 2.5 seconds and the next 6.5 seconds of the configured profile. The difference between the actual speed and the target speed tolerance margin will be indicated by an arrow.

Displays the current speed of the vehicle in the units defined in the .spp file.

Displays the target speed of the vehicle in units defined in the .spp file. It will change to the next value 3 seconds before the end of an accel/decel transition. 

If the change is a deceleration, the value will have a red border. 

If the change is an acceleration, the border will be green.

The app will also sound lead-in beeps 3 seconds before the end of a transition to draw the driver's attention to an approaching change in speed. You can configure the beep volume in the Test Settings.

This displays the progress of the test as a percentage.

The 4 LEDs at the top of the unit provide visual feedback in relation to the target speed:

The GNSS Status Indicator (Satellite icon) shows if the unit has a valid satellite lock.

At the end of a test, you will see a results screen. 

If the driver has already been selected, it will show a score associated to that driver, representing the % of test time spent within the tolerance margin.

If you have not selected a driver yet, or if you want to change the selected driver, tap the New Driver button.

Press the Save button to save the score to the '_results.txt' file on the SD card. If you want to exit without saving, press the Cancel button.

The '_results.txt' file has the following format:

[DRIVER NAME] [SPP NAME] [DATE] [TIME] [SCORE] [FILE NAME]

If you have not selected a driver, the results screen will not let you save the score until you select one by pressing the New Driver button.

This button will open the Test Settings where you can find the settings for Wait until moving mode, beeps, speed tolerance, nightmode, speed profile file (.spp) and driver options.

This button will open the General Settings where you can find the settings for units, logging mode, results format and brightness options.

This button will open the Date & Time Settings where you can find the settings for UTC Time offset, Daylight saving, leap seconds, date format, system time/date and sync to GPS.

This button will open the Diagnostics screen where you can find information about the satellites, database version and VBOX unit. This is also where you can coldstart the VBOX unit if required.

This menu contains Wait until moving mode, beeps, speed tolerance, nightmode, speed profile file (.spp) and driver options.

This setting will start the test once the vehicle has started moving and is going faster than 0.8 km/h.

The setting is only valid if the loaded speed profile file (.spp) begins with an acceleration. If you have selected Automatic Logging in the General Settings , it will start logging once it detects movement.

This setting controls the volume of the audible lead-in beeps that are sounded during accel/decel transitions.

You can adjust the beep volume manually over 5 levels. 1 is the quietest and 5 is the loudest.

You can also choose to turn the beeps off.

This setting controls the tolerance of the test in relation to the actual speed and the speed profile detailed in the loaded speed profile file (.spp).

You can choose between 1 and 10 (km/h or mph depending on the Speed Units set in the General Settings).

When you select this mode, you can tap on the Main Screen to toggle between the default display profile and a profile that suits night-time operation.

This area displays the currently selected speed profile file (.spp) that was chosen during the start-up.

You can change the profile by pressing on the New SPP button, which will open the Select Speed Profile menu.

This menu will list all .spp files saved on the inserted SD card. Tap on a profile to select it.

If there is a large number of .spp files available, the list of files could be presented on more than one page. You can navigated between these pages with the Forward and Back arrows in the right corner of the footer, or by swiping left or right.

Add a new profile to the list by removing the SD card from the unit, copying the required file(s) onto the root directory of the SD card, and inserting it back into the unit.

The list of available speed profiles will be refreshed when you insert the SD card back in the unit. If you are already in the Select Speed Profile menu, you must tap the Refresh button at the bottom of the screen to update the list of available profiles.

This area displays the currently selected driver.

You can change or add a new driver by tapping the New Driver button to open the Select Driver menu.

Tap on a driver profile to choose a previously configured driver.

If there is a large number of driver profiles available, the list of names could be presented on more than one page. You can navigate through the pages with the Forward and Back arrows in the right corner of the footer, or by swiping left or right.

You can add a new driver by tapping on the New Driver button. This will open the Name menu where you can use the Up and Down arrows to create a three character alpha-numeric name. Tap on the Confirm button in the bottom right  corner to save the selected name.

Driver names are stored in the saved '_driverlist.txt' file on the root directory of the SD card. You can open this file and edit it on a computer if necessary. This gives you the ability to use names that have more than 3 characters.

The list of available driver names will be refreshed once the SD card is inserted back in to the unit. If you are already in the Select Driver menu, you must tap on the Refresh button in the bottom left corner of the screen to manually update the driver names.

The currently selected driver will also be included in the saved '_results.txt' file when a test is completed.

This menu contains units, logging mode, brightness options, sync to GPS and Nightmode options.

This menu contains date and time settings.

The UTC offset value is set as '+00:00' by default and can be changed, if required, on the screen that is displayed when you press the current value button. Use the Plus (+) and Minus (-) buttons to select the desired time zone offset values (including available 30 and 45 minutes). Pressing and holding a button will fast-scroll through available valid time settings. Minimum: -12:00; maximum: +14:00.

Tap on the Confirm button in the bottom right corner of the footer to save your selected time or tap on the Cancel button in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen to return to the Time Settings screen without saving the selected time.

When 'Enabled', this setting will add +1:00 hr to the local time setting. 'Disabled' by default.

The leap second value is set as '18 s' by default and can be changed if required using the keypad presented when the current value button is pressed. This was increased to 18 seconds as of December 2016 - more information on this is available here. 

To save your selected value, press the Confirm button at the bottom right of the screen, or press the Cancel button at the bottom left of the screen to return to the Time Settings screen without saving.

You can change the date format between DD-MM-YY ( default ) and MM-DD-YY.

This displays the current time and date being used by the system.

They are displayed within the .vbo header file, file date created time stamp, the acceleration history results session header, deceleration history results session header, laps history filename and the gates file (.spl) header. 

This feature will synchronise the internal real-time clock (RTC) to GPS time as long as the unit has obtained GPS time (no GPS time is indicated by a red satellite icon), isn't moving and isn't logging.

When pressed, a synchronisation progress screen is presented.

The Diagnostics screen displays basic information about the GNSS receiver and the VBOX unit.

• Coldstart: Press this button to perform a coldstart on Performance Box Touch. The receiver will clear any data currently stored in its internal memory. It may be necessary to do this when the GNSS engine has locked up or the Performance Box Touch is struggling to acquire a satellite lock.
  
  When you press the button, the unit will make an audible alert and you will see a ‘PLEASE WAIT’ message displayed on the screen, counting down from 3. The number of satellites will then be displayed as '00' and the GPS status will show ‘SEARCHING FOR SATELLITES’ until the unit has acquired a satellite lock. It will take approximately 25 to 30 seconds for the unit to re-acquire the satellite lock.
  
• Satellites: Displays how many satellites the receiver is currently using. The unit can use up to 12 satellites.
  
• GPS Status: This indicates the current GPS lock/RTK status of the unit. When the unit is searching for a valid satellite lock, it will display ‘SEARCHING FOR SATELLITES’. When the GNSS receiver has acquired a satellite lock, it will display one of the following:
  • STANDALONE - The position has been computed from GNSS only.
  • CODE DIFF - The position has been computed from assisted SBAS corrections.

This section displays the device serial number, hardware version number of the unit as well as the version and system version currently used on the unit.

This information is useful in the event you need to troubleshoot a potential issue with the Performance Box Touch device.

This section displays the serial, hardware version and App version numbers of a connected battery. This information is useful in the event you need to troubleshoot a potential issue with the Performance Box Touch battery.

Depending on the Configured Logging Strategy, the Speed Profiler App will log a standard .vbo data file that contains all the standard GPS parameters.

It will also save a results file that will be appended after every test and a driver list.