Has anybody using tried Rocrails IRoc on there IPad or IPhone? I'm thinking about getting an IPad, and would like to know how well it works. I downloaded Rocrail this week and think it's was pretty nifty. I don't know much about it yet but my initial reaction is that I like it better than I like JMRI. I'm really interested in the IRoc application, which looks to allow locomotive and panel control on the IPhone or IPod, and hopefully IPad.
Holy cow, that was easy. I got an iPad yesterday and took about five minutes to figure out how to port it to RocRail this morning. sweet. I used it to throw a switch, and turn the track power on and off. It looks good to, especially the ability to display a track panel with touch controls. I LIKE IT! Now I just need to spend a little time figuring out RocRail.
More about RocRail and iRoc RocRail is open source model railroad software similar to JMRI or Model Railroad Automation. It is available in many languages and can run on PC, Mac and Linux. I'm using RocRail on a PC with Windows XP. RocRail runs as a server and multiple clients (I think 10) can hook up to that service. I'm running one client on the PC and one on the iPad. <-- If all of this client/server talk sounds scary (it does to me), don't worry it's just terminology of what's going on in the background, in reality, RocRail sets it up mostly, I only needed to supply my computer IP address and the COM Port settings for my Digitrax PR3. Hooking up the iPad was a simple as installing iRoc (by the way there is also an andRoc client for Android OS), providing my computer IP address and RocRail Port (62842). Now when I open iRoc on my iPad, it is connected to RocRail. I've only scratched the surface of RocRail, but so far I like it better than JMRI because it is packaged into one development environment. Object properties are settable via property dialog boxes. The panels are layed out on a grid and it is easier to move objects around after you've placed them. I also like that the mobile client (iRoc) is able to display and control panels. The English documentation is thin, so it's a little trial and error. The addressing terminology seems a bit odd to me. I haven't spent much time trying to figure out my block sensors yet, and that scares me a little, because I have no idea how to begin. Once I get some time to really sit down and figure this out I'll try to write a review. If you haven't tried any of these programs out yourself, I encourage you to. I spent about eight hours learning JMRI and producing a panel, after that it only took about 5 hours to do the same thing with Model Railroad Automation. I'm pretty confident I can get to the same point in RocRail in a few hours also. For now, check out my blog postings: Model Railroad Automation - First Thoughts JMRI First Toughts
Rocrail and iRoc photos Rocrail Rocview Rocrail Rocview Rocrail's iRoc mobile client on my iPad Rocrail's iRoc mobile client on my iPad
Oh, that is SWEET!! I'm DEFINITELY going to have to try that out once I get my layout built. Unfortunately that's going to be a while... Keep posting updates, please!!
