ANY-maze Help > I/O devices supported by ANY-maze > Test equipment designed specifically for ANY-maze > The Waterwheel Forced Swim Test Tank > Waterwheel Forced Swim Test reference information > The Waterwheel Forced Swim Test configuration window > Reprogramming a Waterwheel Forced Swim Test tank

Reprogramming a Waterwheel Forced Swim Test tank

It's usually unnecessary to reprogram a Waterwheel Forced Swim Test tank manually. Therefore we don't recommend you do this unless explicitly instructed to by ANY-maze Support.

In brief

The Waterwheel Forced Swim Test tank contains a microprocessor which runs some software know as firmware. We will occasionally update this firmware to include new features or to fix problems; however, when we do this ANY-maze will usually recognise that the firmware has changed and automatically reprogram your tank.

Nevertheless, there are circumstances when it may be necessary to reprogram a tank manually, and that's what this window is for.

To reprogram a tank, simply click the Update... button on the tank's configuration window and follow the instructions provided.

Waterwheel Forced Swim Test tank firmware

Inside a Waterwheel Forced Swim Test tank is a microprocessor which runs some software, just like a computer. This software (which is called firmware) is saved in special memory inside the device, and can't be lost (hence the 'firm' rather than 'soft' part of the name).

Of course, like any software, this firmware can be changed to add new features or to fix problems. Updating the firmware in a tank is a process called 'reprogramming', and this is something that the ANY-maze software can do. In fact, not only can it do this, but it will do so automatically if it detects that the firmware is out-of-date. This typically happens when you update your ANY-maze software, as together with the ANY-maze update, we may have included a Waterwheel Forced Swim Test tank firmware update too. If this is the case, then when you first run the updated version of ANY-maze with your tank plugged in, ANY-maze will recognise that the firmware is out-of-date and will simply reprogram it automatically.

Reprogramming a Waterwheel Forced Swim Test tank manually

To reprogram an tank manually, you simply need to click the Update... button on the Waterwheel Forced Swim Test tank configuration window. This will cause the Program Waterwheel Forced Swim Test window to open, where you should click the Program button to actually cause the reprogramming to be performed.

Figure 1. The window used to manually reprogram a Waterwheel Forced Swim Test tank.

Reprogramming is quick and takes less than a minute to perform.

If your computer is switched off or 'crashes' while reprogramming a tank, don't worry. When you restart ANY-maze, it will recognise that the reprogramming was not completed successfully and will automatically program the device again.

ANY-maze help topic T1231