I’ve uploaded a new video showing a 350 meter row with ErgMate to: http://powertwenty.com/ergmate/videos/350MeterRow/350MeterRow.html

There is also a new release that fixes a minor bug when editing the percent heart-rate clip.

An update to ErgMate is available at: http://powertwenty.com/ergmate/update.html.

This fixes problems found with communication to the erg and calling power 10’s and 20’s.

There is no need to download the full version if you’ve installed it once already, the update is much smaller as it does not include the computer voice.

Do download the full version if it is your first time as it contains a high-quality voice.

I am pleased to say that ErgMate 1.0 was released today.

ErgMate is a program used while rowing on the Concept II Indoor Rowing Machine.

It helps you meet your goals by calling out information about the row – such as distance remaining or time to go, just like a real coxswain. It can sequence music for you throughout the piece – start out with a list of songs that are steady and driving, then switch over to something fast for the final 250 meter sprint as your ErgMate calls a final power 20.

Have a look and download a free trial at http://powertwenty.com/ergmate/index.html.

Hope you enjoy it!

Just a quick update. The first release is feature-complete. At this point I am just waiting on the voice vendor to complete an evaluation of the demonstration/trail mode. ErgMate will ship with a high quality voice that is a marked improvement over MS-Mary, Mike, or Sam.

While I’ve not posted any updates in some time (that’s what having a baby will do to you), I have been busy incorporating feedback from the early beta testing. The biggest new feature is a wizard that allows one to create new sequences by simply answering a few questions. You also can now row to music from your iTunes collection in addition to files on disk.

It’s coming! Beta testing revealed that new users can use a hand getting started. There’s going to be a wizard to help new users create sequences.

I was going to post a screen shot of the flow, but that’ not very exciting, so instead here’s a screenshot of the latest version. The icons to the left of each clip indicate the type of trigger that causes that particular clip to play. Rulers represent distance, while the clocks represent time. For example, the first power 10 is triggered based on some time from the end of the row. The chain indicates a simple trigger that plays the clip immediately after the clip before it finishes.

Now that our local ergatta is over, I was able to work on and release a new Beta version of ErgMate.

The first official release will be soon. The program is stable and I am mostly tweaking it and the documentation.

Changes since the last release:
o tweaked power 10 timing – it now calls the stroke number just before the catch in a more reliable manner
o added power 10 / 20 clips that count down ( counting up was already present )
o added heart-rate monitor support
o added ability to select different voices for each status clip
o improved the quality of voice clips
o cleaned up MP3 tag display
o cross-fade works better when sampling clips
o added ability to change sound drivers

Just finished wrapping up the first Beta Version. A little more testing and a few additions to the help file this evening and ErgMate will go beta tomorrow morning. I am stoked. There is a preliminary screencast showing an overview of the application coming too.

Since the last update:
o simulated erg disconnects and closes when connecting to a real erg
o added reset that works with real erg and simulated erg
o updated MP3 tag reading to support ID3v2 tags
o names of state clips are now editable
o fixed README file viewing when setup runs
o cleaned up overall look and feel
o added help file and About box with credits and revision information
o created a screencast

The Beta release is so close I can taste it. My goal is to get the first release to those of you in the Beta program sometime this week. I’ve entered feature-freeze for the first release, which means from this point forward I am just testing and refining ErgMate instead of adding new functionality.

Although intervals are not yet directly supported, you can calculate the start and stop times by hand and configure ErgMate to work based on those times. I did a series of 1 min on / 20 seconds off and then 40 seconds on / 20 seconds off intervals last week. The music would switch from a fast-paced driving tempo to 20 seconds of relaxing ( Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb – appropriate isn’t it? ) during the rest period.

One change in the way clips are played is that if you schedule two clips to play at the same time on the same channel, the 2nd clip will wait and play immediately after the first. Previously the 2nd clip would be skipped if another clip was playing when it was triggered. That worked well for clips scheduled to play every so many meters or seconds, but one-shot events could sometimes be missed. Let me know if you have any opinions on this.

o added preliminary support for PM4s
o fixed bug in real erg slide ratio calc
o tweaked power 10
o added final ergmate icon in different sizes
o created the setup program
o clips now queue up so that if it is time for a clip to play, but one is already playing on the channel, it will wait and play when the first clip is finished
o sample power 10/20s can now be listened to from the edit dialog
o integrated main menu cut/paste/copy
o started work on the screen cast
o added warning dialog when corrupt sound files are selected
o added firmware version checking

Well today I did my second 2K of the season. I knocked 9 seconds off the season’s baseline, but the really cool thing is that it was the first full row I’ve done with ErgMate enabled. The rows have all been simulated until now.

Ergmate played a sequence I call ‘Old School’ as it replicates the old erg tape I used for 2.5K’s back in college.

The music channel was configured to play 3 songs in order ( Welcome to the Jungle, Push It, and Cult of Personality)
and cross-fade to the guitar solo portion of a Metallica song at 210 meters to go. Yes, definitely some old-school music.

The coxswain and coaching channels relayed information throughout the piece. I tend to need a bit of inspiration around 1100 meters remaining, so ErgMate played a clip of a real coxswain saying “Long and Strong.” 750 meters to go is the wall in a 2K erg test, so the coxswain called a power 10 at that point. It also called a power 20 for the final sprint starting at 230 meters to go.

Every 100 meters the coxswain called the split, and the coach announced the estimated finish time every 60 seconds. It called meters at 1000, and 500 to go to note milestones in the piece.

This test revealed a couple of needed tweaks to the program, but all-in-all it worked pretty well.

The final application icons are not in place, but the program configured with this sequence looks something like this (click for full-size):