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

The Waterwheel Forced Swim Test configuration window

Introduction

The Waterwheel Forced Swim Test tank configuration window is accessed either by clicking the Configure this device button on the I/O page, or from the Configure... button on the I/O device settings page of the protocol.

The window provides options for:

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Reviewing information about the tank

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Renumbering the tank

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Updating the tank's firmware

Figure 1. The Waterwheel Forced Swim Test tank configuration window.

Tank information

The Waterwheel Forced Swim Test tank configuration window reports the tank's current number (which can be changed - see Renumbering a tank), the version of the tank's firmware (the software inside the device) and the version of the tank's hardware.

The firmware version information is usually of little importance, as ANY-maze will normally update the firmware of a tank automatically if it is out of date, but it can be useful if a tank is not working correctly.

The hardware version is useful, as future versions of the tank may include other features not present in earlier designs.

Renumbering a tank

ANY-maze will automatically number tanks starting from 1. Thus if you only have one tank, it will be tank 1 and you don't need to concern yourself with tank numbering at all.

However, if you have multiple tanks, you may need to renumber them if:

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They are not in the correct physical order - for example, the tanks on your bench are numbered 3,1,4,2 (rather than 1,2,3,4).

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One of your tanks breaks and you get a replacement - in this case, you would probably want to give the replacement tank the same number as the tank that broke.

In the first situation, where the tanks are not numbered in the correct order, you can simply use the Renumber Waterwheel FST tanks button in the ribbon bar on the I/O page (which is included when you have 2 or more Waterwheel Forced Swim Test tanks connected to your PC). This allows you to quickly renumber all the connected tanks by pressing the buttons on the top of the tanks in sequence.

In the second situation, where you want to renumber a specific tank, then you just need to click the Change number button on the configuration window. This will cause the Waterwheel Forced Swim Test tank number window to open, where you can enter the tank's new number. There are two rules about tank numbering: numbers must be between 1 and 99, and all tanks must have different numbers.

Updating a tank's firmware

Inside a Waterwheel Forced Swim Test tank is a small microprocessor which actually controls the tank's functions. This microprocessor runs a program which is known as its 'firmware'. Firmware is usually very stable and may not change during the lifetime of a tank, but it's possible that updates could be created, perhaps to fix a problem or to improve the tank's features. If this happens, then the update will be provided within a new version of ANY-maze and, when you run the new software, it will usually detect that a tank contains an older version of the firmware and update it automatically. So typically, firmware updates are something you don't need to think about - they just happen.

Nevertheless, there may be situations in which a manual update is required, and you can do this from the configuration window by clicking the Update... button. This will open the Program Waterwheel Forced Swim Test window, which will lead you through the process a step at a time.

ANY-maze help topic T1229