After spending some time with the M1 Build Software, I am pretty impressed. I had a few high level thoughts, however.
(1) I would have benefitted from a more general introduction to the general description of how a project is developed. Something that would have explained early on that building blocks for a package are put together in the Objects tab from the available modules and other functions (etc) displayed in the tools and Help screen. And that M1 Build then designs the order of the execution of the building blocks in the schedule. I know this is a simplification, but knowing the overall design idea would have made it easier to go through the specifics in the various manuals. Maybe a 1-2 paragraph summary of the "M1 Build Design." I am thinking of something similar to the overview of the "M1 Build and M1 Tune Overview" section but just as it pertains to M1 Build. Maybe I missed something like that, but if I did, it certainly didn't jump out at me.
(2) A lot of the functionality is in the supplied Motec Modules. Will we be able to generate our own modules from groups that we create on our own? This would make it easier to transfer user generated functionality between projects.
(3) It would be great to have the sample build available to download into M1 Tune. This would allow us to see how some of the building blocks are presented in the final product from an end-user perspective. Ideally we could just generate a limited package even without a license (or a special evaluation license) that cannot be used in any ECU. I think there is a lot of value in seeing how things come together and that is currently missing.
(4) Provide some more code examples. I realize that the more advanced modules represent a lot of internal work and that Motec has a vested interest in keeping those workings secret. However, it would greatly reduce the learning curve if some modules -- such as basic sensors and basic CAN communications -- were fully accessible rather than grayed out. The fact that these modules are completely black box also makes it difficult to fully understand some of the outputs. For instance, the single driven wheel module contains a slip output. However, there is no mention of whether the slip is generated based on vehicle speed less the wheel speed of the sensor or vice versa.
(5) Will it be possible to buy individual modules for a project/use? I realize that the modules available in the sample project are a subset of those Motec has generated. How does Motec plan on dealing with modules in the future? I think there is a probably a market for some individuals to build sophisticated control strategies/modules and sell them (as opposed to generating application specific packages).
I have additional thoughts and some questions that I can hopefully put to the screen at a later time. However, having said all that, the M1 Build Software is pretty intuitive once you understand it and I like how everything is put together.