II) PerfectPower version history
I) One day in New York
If you have read the All about PerfectPower section, you normally have noted that PerfectPower has the particularity of having a single and unique creator, myself who created and manages this site... and being a lover of this magnificent city of New York in which I settled in November 2021 (even if I frequently return to France for one-off stays) and which I have crisscrossed for pleasure for hundreds of hours (if not more!) since my first stay here in July 1999, I have chosen to present to you in a few photos fleeting moments of a day taken completely at random among my many walking days in this incredibly captivating city!
Of course, it has nothing to do with PerfectPower (btw a little bit in fact as you will see, but it's a pure coincidence!), but on the one hand that's why I placed this mini photo report in this Miscellaneous section, and on the other hand I tell myself that there are certainly people like me who are passionate about both this city and sports cars and power and performance measurements that it is worth sharing these fleeting moments with them, and if I can even manage in a few photos to give a taste of this city to those who wouldn't have yet perceived its crazy charm (because obviously everyone already knows the appearance of this city -well Manhattan mostly- thanks to cinema and television!), then I would really be very happy of this!
On this subject and for those who might be interested, I will very soon create another website travel-specialized on which I will publish many more photos of this magical city (which is very far from being summarized to "only" Manhattan, believe me!) , but also other awesome cities throughout the Northeast of the USA in which I also stayed (like Pittsburgh, a real favorite too!), and many other trips that I made around the world, but I say it frankly, there is no city more fascinating than New York, that's how it is, and Robert de Niro also said it in his own way!
Let's return to this famous day in New York, it is Tuesday March 7, 2023, and the objective of the day was a walk in North Brooklyn in the McCarren Park area with to get in shape a little sports session on the Park athletics track with performance control with PerfectPower! For information, Brooklyn is the most populated of the 5 boroughs that make up New York with 2.6 million inhabitants (already more than... Paris!) and the second largest (behind Queens) with 183 km2 (more than double of Paris!), but above all it is a borough with a very marked history and identity (and a particular accent too!) of which its inhabitants are proud! And for the anecdote the borough where we see the most European cars!
The McCarren Park athletics track, with the sublime Empire State Building in the background!
5 track laps on the outside lane in fast walking controlled by PerfectPower at 6.4 km/h (4.0 mph)!
Nothing to add!
Still this sublime Empire State Building and its 443 m (1454 ft) height!
A bit of original advertising...
Caribbean atmosphere!
The East River which separates us from Manhattan, and opposite us the legendary Empire State Building...
seen from one of the places in New York where it stands out best from the other surrounding buildings!
Once again, nothing to add...
In the heart of North Brooklyn!
Bonus
Panorama of Manhattan seen from the other side (west) on Saturday March 11, 2023 evening
Magical view of Manhattan, 15 min walk from PerfectPower headquarters!
5 of the 7 tallest skyscrapers in New York are in this photo, could you spot them?
II) PerfectPower version history
Note: All release dates are given in New York time zone (PerfectPower standard).
1) PerfectPower Androïd
V 6.1.7
Thu 25/01/2024 - 12.49 pm
1) Fixed a minor bug prohibiting the averaging of averaged results from 2024 and distorting the comparison of averaged results from 2024 (the values were modified). The reason for this bug was the following: PerfectPower interpreted (wrongly!) averaged results from 2024 as results performed with a version prior to version 6.0 of 13012023, and it was therefore looking to convert them to the new PerfectPower calculation system introduced in version 6.0!
2) Modification of the home message to ask RaceBox Mini users transferring PerfectPower from a phone running Android 11 or - to a phone running Android 12 or + to allow PerfectPower to connect to devices via Bluetooth in the phone settings before being able to connect to their RaceBox Mini
V 6.1.6
Sat 23/12/2023 - 11.28 am
1) Change in precision of pressure units: The hPa remains with a precision of 1 digit after the decimal point, but the in Hg and PSI go from 1 to 2 digits after the decimal point
2) Modification of the chapter “Help completing the Car sheet” in the Car sheet: Link to the Database section of the website + Descriptive text
3) Correction of an oversight: The maximum S.Cx allowed for recalculation of results after measurement increases from 1.5 to 3.0 m2, i.e. the same value as that allowed for entry in the Car sheet, which had already been increased from 1.5 to 3.0 m2 in a previous version to take motorhomes into account
4) Minor bug fix
V 6.1.5
Sun 30/07/2023 - 12.34 pm
1) For RaceBox Mini & Mini S users: Taking into account old low-end Android phones that badly support several Bluetooth communications at the same time thanks to a specific management of split data packets
2) Aesthetic optimizations:
A) Power graphs (result, comparison, averaging):
- White screen background: New PerfectPower logo with white background, identically resuming the design of the original logo with black background
- Repositioning of the PerfectPower logo and header texts in portrait and landscape mode
B) Removal of the Action bar
V 6.1.4
Thu 08/06/2023 - 0.47 am
1) Driving of the RaceBox Mini S (following the RaceBox Mini already driven since the V6.1), however limited to the classic Bluetooth communications already carried out with the RaceBox Mini, PerfectPower requiring a permanent Bluetooth connection with the RaceBox Mini & Mini S for measurements with an optimal accuracy.
2) Adding a function for duplicating a Car sheet (useful if you often measure the same model of car!).
V 6.1.3
Fri 26/05/2023 - 10.51 am
Removal of the Power function lock, the anti-piracy objective having been achieved
V 6.1.2
Sun 30/04/2023 - 7.10 pm
1) The 6 data currently used by PerfectPower coming from the RaceBox Mini (GPS speed, timestamp, latitude, longitude, WGS altitude, and GPS accuracy) are now also used for the Lap Timer, and no longer only for the seven basic measurements (power, accelerations, runs flying start, braking, speed, rev calibration, losses measurement).
2) Power graphs:
- White screen background: New transparent PerfectPower logo
- All screen backgrounds (black / white): New logo positioning (a little lower) + Maximum logo opacity
V 6.1.1
Thu 20/04/2023 - 8.42 am
1) Four new data used by PerfectPower coming from the RaceBox Mini: latitude, longitude, WGS altitude (converted by PerfectPower to MSL altitude), and GPS accuracy. These data are purely indicative at the present moment regarding the seven basic measurements (power, accelerations, runs flying start, braking, speed, rev calibration, losses measurement).
2) Automatic disconnection of PerfectPower from the RaceBox Mini when leaving the application ==> the user no longer has to think about doing it (this disconnection was previously done implicitly by the closing of the Bluetooth service by PerfectPower, but tests have shown that this could generate occasional instability (less than 1 s) of the phone's Bluetooth system and that it is preferable to always disconnect specifically from the RaceBox Mini before exiting the application, which is then now managed automatically by PerfectPower).
V 6.1
Sat 15/04/2023 - 2.58 pm
1) Driving via Bluetooth of the RaceBox Mini (the most efficient "all-public" external GPS on the market: 25 Hz and 1 ft of horizontal accuracy!), allowing:
- to further increase the accuracy of PerfectPower measurements (especially the runs flying start)
- the use of the new "GPS only" measurement mode for power & accelerations & braking measurements, which will be unlocked in the version 6.2
- the concretization of a partnership with RaceBox, the manufacturer of the RaceBox Mini
Note: In this inaugural version, only the two fundamental data "GPS speed" and "Timestamp" are used by PerfectPower, and they are used "only" for the seven basic measurements (power, accelerations, runs flying start, braking, speed, rev calibration, losses measurement), not yet for the Lap Timer. More data and the use of these data for the Lap Timer will be added in the following versions.
2) Creation of a piracy awareness system: the Power function (the main function) is locked during the very first opening of a version of PerfectPower greater than or equal to 6.1, but it is enough to read a message about piracy awareness and then to perform a very simple manipulation to unlock it.
V 6.0.1
Wed 22/02/2023 - 5.27 pm
1) For acceleration measurements (based on the "Accelerometer + GPS" combination): Creation of a auto-adaptive smoothing of the curves according to the signal / noise ratio, allowing an optimal precision of curves at any point of the measurement (resumption of the auto-adaptive smoothing already carried out for power measurements since version 6.0)
Note: This will not change the Distance / Time (60 ft, 1/8 mile, 1/4 mile, 3300 ft) and Speed / Time (0 – 20 / 40 / ... / 200 mph) results both calculated by two mathematical operations requiring no specific smoothing (integration of the acceleration provided by the accelerometer and correlation by the information provided by the GPS), but only the Acceleration / Time curve (and as a consequence the maximum acceleration noted) which it definitely needs smoothing!
2) For users having on their phone power results performed with any version prior to 6.0 (5.6 or earlier):
- Fixed the conversion of averaged results to the new PerfectPower calculation system introduced in version 6.0 (an oversight made this conversion incomplete in version 6.0, generating underestimated max powers by about 3%)
- Automatic saving of all results (individual and averaged) converted to the new PerfectPower calculation system introduced in version 6.0 as soon as a results sheet is opened (this saving was not carried out in version 6.0, generating max powers different between that read in the sheet of a given result and that read in the results list)
Reminder: Be careful because in some cases (especially for cars taking their maximum power very close to the rev limiter), there could be anomalies on the curve end since the old end of measurement detection (that carried out in versions prior to 6.0) was imperfect, thank you for your understanding! Ideally, do not hesitate to redo two final validation measurements with version 6.0 with averaging in stride to obtain certain reference results in all points of the curve!
V 6.0
Fri 13/01/2023 - 4.13 am
1) All adaptations to ANDROID 13 (API 33) + ANDROID min changed from 4.4 (API 19) to 7.0 (API 24)
2) Ultimate optimization of power and acceleration measurements accuracy (based on the "Accelerometer + GPS" combination)
A) Limitation of the accelerometer frequency to 100 Hz (instead of 200)
B) Optimization of the end of measurement detection (rev limiter - on petrol engine - or foot lift) (power only)
C) Optimization of the curves processing by the choice of a new, more efficient signal processing technique:
- Filtering of engine vibrations optimized
- Filtering of "road disturbances" optimized
D) Creation of an auto-adaptive smoothing of the curves according to the signal / noise ratio, allowing an optimal precision of curves in all circumstances and the equalization of the precision of curves in 2nd and 3rd gear (power only)
E) Optimization of the PerfectPower model of losses under load on the pneumatic part (power only)
F) Optimization of the PerfectPower model of rolling resistance, adapted to recent road tires (law still of type a + bV², but a and b different: these are now the average values recorded by a European test campaign in 2013 on a very large number of vehicles) (power only)
G) Optimization of the PerfectPower model of engine and wheels inertia calculation (power only):
- The calculation of the engine inertia now takes into account the number of cylinders, which gives more realistic results for all engines with more (or less!) than 4 cylinders: indeed, my old model was based on a study of several PSA (Peugeot & Citroën) 4-cylinders, which could not fully apply to engines with more or less than 4 cylinders, but the shooting is now rectified!
- The calculation of the wheels inertia is refined thanks to the optimization of my model (Renault Clio 16V wheels with aluminum rims), much finer on the geometric schematization of the moving masses.
3) Adding a "GPS only" measurement mode (power & accelerations & braking), however locked for this version 6.0: it will be unlocked in the version 6.2
4) Replacement of the function of automatic recovery of weather data by a function of manual recovery of these data in real time and by geolocation on the reference weather site "The Weather Channel"
Note: The reasons for this choice are as follows:
- The last weather server used for the automatic recovery of weather data stopped its service overnight, a mishap that I would prefer not to see repeated...
- This type of service is chargeable beyond a certain number of connections per day, which would force me to have to pass on this additional cost to PerfectPower users, whereas it takes no more than... 20 seconds to complete yourself your own weather data (pressure, temperature, and humidity) with the new manual recovery system that I propose, including in particular the automatic conversion of the atmospheric pressure given at sea level (by standardization) into the local pressure on your measurement road: so I think this solution is the most advantageous for everyone!
5) General revision of authorizations for measurements & comparison of measurements & averaging of measurements:
- Authorization of power measurements on any gear, BUT addition of a warning message in case of choosing a gear other than 2 or 3, the only ones that should be used with a serial car
- Authorization of recalculation of results after measurement for the "Engine displacement", "Number of cylinders", Tires size" fields (previously locked)
- Averaging of power measurements having a different speed correction mode allowed
- Increasing the reading time of measurements & measurements comparison & measurements averaging prohibition text
6) Deletion of the EXPERT page and therefore of the 5 parameters associated with it (k tires, coefficients a and b of the law of rolling resistance a + bV2, engine and wheels inertia) and which were available for recalculation of results after measurement, due both to the perfection of the values and calculations of these parameters in PerfectPower 6.0 and the tiny number of users concerned (experts of the automotive sector working on particular projects)
7) Adding a warning message when opening the app about measurement accuracy, specifying the importance of using an external GPS of 10 Hz minimum and performing measurements in both directions of the road
8) Solid Lap Timer revision:
- Addition of a tracks selection system (limited to two tracks for the moment: Lurcy-Levis and Le Castellet in France), but with the possibility of a free choice of GPS coordinates
- Improvement of the ergonomics of the entry of GPS coordinates in free choice
- Prohibition of choosing a track or entering GPS coordinates during a timed session
- Authorization to launch a timed session while driving (it could only be done when stopped before)
- Maximum duration increased from 30 minutes to 1 hour
9) For PerfectPower users updating from any previous version (5.6 or earlier): Creation of a conversion system of all their old power results and all their car parameters to the new PerfectPower calculation system. However, be careful because in some cases (especially for cars taking their maximum power very close to the rev limiter), there could be anomalies on the curve end since the old end of measurement detection was imperfect, thank you for your understanding!
10) Various textual and graphic adaptations related to the additions of functions performed + Update of all web links (FR/EN guides, email contact, automotive database)
11) Increasing the maximum size for entering the "Model" and "Description" fields of a car from 20 to 25 characters
12) General aesthetic revision
IMPORTANT: The ultimate optimization of power measurements accuracy was consolidated by carrying out a measurements session on Friday, November 4, 2022 on the best chassis dynamometer on the market (a Rotronics Autoscan FI 4x4 synchronized, 120,000 euros new) with my main car (Peugeot 307 1.6 16V) and two BMW M3 E46 of customers in electronic management!
2) PerfectPower iOS
V 5.1.1
Wed 27/12/2023 - 1.32 am
1) Change in precision of pressure units: The hPa remains with a precision of 1 digit after the decimal point, but the in Hg and PSI go from 1 to 2 digits after the decimal point
V 5.1
Sat 08/07/2023 - 6.23 pm
As part of the porting of the V6 Android version to the V5 iOS version:
1) Addition of the function of power results correction on the measurement end max speed (very useful in the event of poor GPS reception or even GPS failure)
2) Increased the maximum number of results per type (power, accelerations, runs flying start) and per car from 10 to 20
3) Replacement of the old function of automatic recovery of weather data (versions <= 4.1) by a function of manual recovery of these data in real time and by geolocation on the reference weather site "The Weather Channel"
Note: The reasons for this choice are as follows:
- The last weather server used for the automatic recovery of weather data stopped its service overnight, a mishap that I would prefer not to see repeated...
- This type of service is chargeable beyond a certain number of connections per day, which would force me to have to pass on this additional cost to PerfectPower users, whereas it takes no more than... 20 seconds to complete yourself your own weather data (pressure, temperature, and humidity) with the new manual recovery system that I propose, including in particular the automatic conversion of the atmospheric pressure given at sea level (by standardization) into the local pressure on your measurement road: so I think this solution is the most advantageous for everyone!
V 5.0
Sat 20/05/2023 - 2.57 pm
Upgrade to the level of PerfectPower Android 6.0 on measurement accuracy + minimal but essential adaptations, which includes:
1) All adaptations to iOS 16 (09/2022) + iOS mini changed from 9 (09/2015) to 11 (09/2017)
Validation tests carried out physically on my iPhone 7 running iOS 15.7.5 and in the iOS simulator on iPhone 14 & 14+ & 14 Pro & 14 Pro Max running iOS 16.4 (March 27, 2023)
2) Equalization of the graphic rendering of all screens both horizontally and vertically for ALL iPhones since the 5 (09/2012), the first iPhone to have a 9/16 screen
List of iPhones concerned (classified by type of screen): 5 & 5C & 5S & SE, 6 & 6S & 7 & 8 & SE2 & SE3, 6+ & 6S+ & 7+ & 8+, X & XS & 11 Pro , XR & 11, 12 & 12 Pro & 13 & 13 Pro & 14 & 14 Pro, 11 Pro Max, 12 Pro Max & 13 Pro Max & 14+ & 14 Pro Max
3) Ultimate optimization of power and acceleration measurements accuracy (based on the "Accelerometer + GPS" combination)
A) Accelerometer frequency still limited to 100 Hz (optimal setting), but detection of the starting point still refined
B) Optimization of the end of measurement detection (rev limiter - on petrol engine - or foot lift) (power only)
C) Optimization of the curves processing by the choice of a new, more efficient signal processing technique:
- Filtering of engine vibrations optimized
- Filtering of "road disturbances" optimized
D) Creation of an auto-adaptive smoothing of the curves according to the signal / noise ratio, allowing an optimal precision of curves in all circumstances and the equalization of the precision of curves in 2nd and 3rd gear (power only)
E) Optimization of the PerfectPower model of losses under load on the pneumatic part (power only)
F) Optimization of the PerfectPower model of rolling resistance, adapted to recent road tires (law still of type a + bV², but a and b different: these are now the average values recorded by a European test campaign in 2013 on a very large number of vehicles) (power only)
G) Optimization of the PerfectPower model of engine and wheels inertia calculation (power only):
- The calculation of the engine inertia now takes into account the number of cylinders, which gives more realistic results for all engines with more (or less!) than 4 cylinders: indeed, my old model was based on a study of several PSA (Peugeot & Citroën) 4-cylinders, which could not fully apply to engines with more or less than 4 cylinders, but the shooting is now rectified!
- The calculation of the wheels inertia is refined thanks to the optimization of my model (Renault Clio 16V wheels with aluminum rims), much finer on the geometric schematization of the moving masses.
4) Removal of the function of automatic recovery of weather data, which will be replaced in the next version (5.1) by a function of manual recovery of these data in real time and by geolocation on the reference weather site "The Weather Channel"
Note: The reasons for this choice are as follows:
- The last weather server used for the automatic recovery of weather data stopped its service overnight, a mishap that I would prefer not to see repeated...
- This type of service is chargeable beyond a certain number of connections per day, which would force me to have to pass on this additional cost to PerfectPower users, whereas it takes no more than... 20 seconds to complete yourself your own weather data (pressure, temperature, and humidity) with the new manual recovery system that I propose, including in particular the automatic conversion of the atmospheric pressure given at sea level (by standardization) into the local pressure on your measurement road: so I think this solution is the most advantageous for everyone!
5) Various textual and graphic modifications + Update of all web links (FR/EN guides)