About TEST-O

Your robot buddy is a continuity meter, diode tester, and RGB fun addon in one.

Probe Wires

The probe wires can dangle. Be aware that they may short on badges or other equipment.

You can store the probes in a safer position by clipping them onto TEST-O's antenna or cheeks.

For lowest power consumption, clip the positive lead on an antenna and the negative lead on a cheek.

Power

This addon can be powered by a GAT / SAO addon header or a CR2032 cell.

To select the power route, use the top switch on the rear of the addon.

In Battery position, with a battery inserted:

• If TEST-O is not plugged into a badge as an addon, the addon will be on
• If TEST-O is plugged into a badge as an addon, the following may happen:
  • If the host badge is powered, the addon will be off
  • If the host badge is off, the addon may turn on, turn off, oscillate... it depends on the host badge design
• If no battery is present or battery is dead, TEST-O will be off

In Addon position:

• If TEST-O is not plugged into a badge as an addon, the addon will be off regardless of a battery being present or not
• If TEST-O is plugged into a badge as an addon, the following may happen:
  • If the host badge is powered, the addon will be on
  • If the host badge is off, and no battery is inserted, the addon will be off
  • If the host badge is off, if a battery is present, the addon may turn on, turn off, oscillate... it depends on the host badge design

In summary:

• When using standalone, the Battery position will turn on TEST-O and Addon will turn off TEST-O
• When used as an addon, the switch should generally always be in the Addon position, unless you want to turn off TEST-O on a badge that is powered on

Mode Select

TEST-O has three modes, selectable from the bottom switch:

• LEFT: Continuity test mode
• RIGHT: Diode test mode
• CENTER: RGB Fun Mode

Continuity Test Mode

Move the bottom switch to the left to use continuity test mode.

Test continuity by connecting the probe arms to the device or circuit under test.

You can test continuity mode by connecting the positive probe to either cheek pad.

The left eye will show the continuity status.

Standard status indicators:

• RED: Idle in more sensitive mode (~100ohm or lower).
• ORANGE: Idle in less sensitive mode (~50ohm or lower).
• GREEN: Continuity detected.

To toggle the continuity buzzer on and off, press the top button. A PURPLE or TRICOLOR eye indicates that the buzzer is enabled.

To change sensitivity, hold the top button for about a second until the eye color changes. Note: changing sensitivity while the probes are shorted or otherwise measuring low resistance will show the GREEN status and will not visibly indicate the mode has changed for as long as the low resistance measurement persists. It is best to change sensitivity while the probes are open.

Buzzer and sensitivty settings are non-volatile. These settings, if changed, will be committed to Flash when changing the mode to RGB Fun mode or Diode mode.

If the left eye is FLASHING BLUE then continuity mode is not calibrated. To calibrate, short the probe arm connectors together. After about 3 seconds, the LED will turn GREEN to indicate that calibration has been completed and the calibration constant is saved.

If for some reason continuity mode is not working correctly, you can try resetting calibration by holding the top button for at least 10 seconds, until the left eye FLASHES BLUE. Follow the steps above to calibrate.

Diode Test Mode

Move the bottom switch to the left to use diode test mode.

In this mode, the probes will output approximately 3.15 volts at a maximum of about 2mA. This is enough to light most standard power LEDs.

Test diodes by connecting the probe arms to the device or circuit under test. The positive arm should connect to the anode, and the negative arm to the cathode.

The right eye will show diode or short status. If backwards, you will see no reading. If connected correctly, the right eye will change color.

Standard status indicators:

• OFF: Probes are shorted
• RED: Idle; probes are open or diode is backwards
• GREEN: Standard diode detected
• BLUE: LED detected

RGB Fun Mode

Move the bottom switch to the center position to use fun mode.

In this position, the probes are still active and can be used to light LEDs.

Rotate the potentiometers to change RGB programs and adjust RGB program paramters. The left pot generally adjusts the program, but each program can have fine adjustment within this pot. The right pot adjusts a parameter for the program, such as speed, color, etc.

There are four brightness levels available. By default every power on, the LEDs will be in the dimmest mode. Press the button to cycle through the brightness levels.

PLEASE NOTE: REV1 boards have a design flaw that limits the right potentiometer to only about the first half of its travel. If adjusting this pot into its second half, the eye LEDs will flash red. No damage will occur, but additional current will be consumed if the knob is beyond half way.

Development

TEST-O has an XMODEM bootloader built in, accessible via TTL UART. TEST-O also supports debugging using a DAPLink debugger probe with PlatformIO on VSCode.

For development information, see the development guide.