Australia
From time to time, we put out updates to the firmware that powers your dot Board. To make it quick and easy to download these updates, we’ve developed the dot Hub tool. Available on both Windows and Mac at no extra cost, this tool is software that connects you and your board to the research and development work we’re doing behind the scenes.
Once you’ve downloaded the tool and registered your board, the dot team will send through a notification whenever an update becomes available. All you have to do is plug your board, remote or both in and follow the prompts – porting these updates into your board using the dot Hub tool and the USB data cable that came packed with your board in the shell carry case.
A new firmware update is available now
Version 86, the latest set of updates to the firmware that powers dot Boards, is available today. This update is for the main controller on your board only – so you won’t need to plug in and update your handheld dot RC100 remote control. But you may want to still check just in case you missed a previous update.
Version 86 is designed to facilitate:
- Improved diagnostics.
- Charging improvements.
- Error feedback and reporting enhancements.
- New overspeed throttle lockout.
The overspeed throttle lockout will be a noticeable improvement for advanced riders. Those who’ve read up on our dot Hub motors will know that they freewheel brilliantly – letting you bomb hills faster than the top speeds you can get to under drive. But bringing the power on when you’re up over that limit originally brought a slight resistance into the mix.
This new overspeed throttle lockout eliminates this problem, ensuring that the power only comes on once the speed you’re riding at drops into the effective power band of the dot Hub motors. None of this affects your actual braking, and everything else operates largely the same.
What might be updated in the future?
dot Boards are always growing and evolving in their capabilities. Because everything about the drive, braking and electric performance of the board runs through a central controller – virtually all of it can be tweaked or altered with a firmware update. Any new functionalities, any adjustments to be made, we’ll be sending them out via the dot Hub tool. We’re still working on how to make dot Boards hover though, so keep an eye out for that update.
Where can I find the dot Hub Tool?
The tool is freely available to dot riders for both Windows and Macintosh computers as a desktop application. Both the dot Remote and all dot Boards are equipped with a micro USB port ready to connect via the dot USB data cable.
Every dot Board is shipped with a dot data cable. This cable is used to charge the remote and transfer data bi-directionally from the dot hub tool. Not all USB cables have this capability, so only use the supplied dot data cable.
The dot Hub tool can be downloaded from the following links:
For Windows:
- Download the Windows dot Tool and save it to a readily accessible folder.
- Open dot_tools.exe
- Follow the instructions on screen to extract the software into a folder of your choice
For Apple/Macintosh:
*Please note: Mac OS Big Sur is not yet supported.
- Download both the Macintosh USB Drivers and the Macintosh dot Tool
- Open the Macintosh USB Drivers and follow the on screen instructions to install, these drivers are needed for the dot.BOARD to talk to the computer.
- Open the Macintosh dot Tool and follow the onscreen prompts to install.
- A program in your ‘applications’ folder will now appear titled ‘dot_tool’.*
*Please note the Macintosh version may require you to click ‘allow apps from unknown sources’ to install. On most Mac's, this option pop-ups when trying to install. If you don’t get this pop-up, just go to the ‘Apple’ icon in the top left corner, then ‘system preferences’. Once this loads up, please click ‘security’ and then ‘allow apps from unknown sources’. You will need to enter your password for the computer to install.
Remote maintenance and troubleshooting
Regular updates are how we keep pushing the capabilities of dot Boards – but the dot Hub tool also serves another key function. It let’s us quickly and easily jump in and take a look at your board in the event that there’s anything not quite firing the way it should be.
The dot Main Controller is your board’s computer. It controls balancing the draw and charge across your batteries, talks to the motors, controls speed and torque, tracks the odometer and much, much more. If you were finding the performance of your board not as expected, you could plug your board into the dot tool, and your ride logs would be uploaded to our servers for us to inspect.
Because it’s all controlled by this central computer, most of the time the dot engineering team will be able to remotely diagnose, and then help fix any problems that crop up. In the rare case a hardware issue is found, the dot team can get in touch about issuing a replacement part and have it shipped out to you.
discover dot boards for yourself
The dot Hub tool is the software we’ve designed to make it quick and easy to check in on your dot Board and dial in any updates we put out. This level of connectivity, along with the modular design of dot Boards, makes the possibilities of these boards almost endless – and the best way to find that for yourself is to try them out in-person.
You can do that by heading to your nearest retail demo centre. In our home city of Melbourne, that’s Twelve Board Store in Richmond (where we just had one of our first dot Demo Days) – but we’ve built partnerships with stores all over Australia, New Zealand and Canada where you can head in and see what a dot Board can do for yourself.
If you’re having any trouble finding a location, don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can reach out to us directly by emailing the team at contact@dotboards.com.
