Otii Arc/Ace Pro

The Otii hardware arrives in a box; depending on the version chosen, it will be labeled as Otii Arc or Otii Ace.

Once open, you will find:

• Otii Arc Pro / Otii Ace Pro hardware unit

• USB cable + Adaptor C (only for Otii Ace Pro version)

• Declaration of Conformity (DoC)

• Product safety information

• Qoitech sticker

It operates on Microsoft Windows 10/11, Linux Ubuntu, or Apple macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel). To get started, you must provide:

• A computer operating Microsoft Windows 10/11, Linux Ubuntu, or Apple macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel). The computer requires an available USB port, and it is recommended at least 16 GB of RAM.

• Positive and negative banana connectors for connecting the Otii hardware to the device under test.

• Female to female/male jumper wires for connecting the Otii hardware main expansion port to the device under test for extra functionalities.

• The device under test (DUT) to be measured, analyzed and optimized.

• [Optional] External DC adapter. For Otii Arc Pro, in the range 7-9V, max 5A. For Otii Ace Pro, in the range 7-20V, max 5A. Here are few suggestions on the DC adapters.

Otii Toolbox

We want to help hardware, firmware, and software developers innovate with a low-power mindset, ensuring the optimization of hardware and software to match products with the right energy source.

Our mission is to make a contribution to the sustainable world by helping developers, teams, and companies make the most energy-efficient and long-lived battery-driven products.

Discover Qoitech solutions

The Otii Ace Pro is the big brother of the Otii Arc Pro. Keeping the same portable and compact form with comprehensive technical features for energy optimization but with enhanced capabilities to boost battery-driven and energy-harvesting devices requiring high precision at higher voltage ranges, with a high sample rate and low step size.

An all-in-one tool with an isolated power supply unit, a constant voltage/current source and sink, and a high-precision multichannel multimeter. Making it a power analyzer/profiler that records and displays currents, voltages, and power measurements in real time. Enabling hardware, firmware, and software developers to optimize the energy consumption and battery life on any device under test.

With Otii Ace Pro and Otii 3 Desktop App, you can source the voltage of the device under test (DUT) up to 25V while simultaneously measuring and recording current, voltage, and power data in real-time for further analysis to optimize battery life throughout the development cycle. Supporting an adjustable sample rate up to 50ksps, plus a wide dynamic current measurement range (nA-5A) with 0.4nA resolution, and a current measurement accuracy of ±(0.05% + 25nA).

Key benefits

• All-in-one functionality: Otii hardware and Otii software integrates power supply, real-time monitoring, and detailed analysis in a single, compact, user-friendly product.

• Quick installation & easy to use: Download Otii 3 Desktop app, plug the Otii Ace Pro to your device under test (DUT) and start measuring energy data in less than a minute.

• Optimal power alternatives: Power up Otii Ace Pro based on your solution setup and power requirements via USB or an external DC adapter.

• Versatile connection: Power source your device under test using the Otii Ace Pro, which can deliver up to 25V at high voltage/current resolution. The DUT can be connected either through its DC input or battery connectors.

• Real-time measurements & analysis: Analyze and compare charts and measurements in real-time, covering currents, voltages, and power within the Otii 3 Desktop App – it allows scrolling, zooming, and selecting current consumption and debugging logs during measurement.

• Continuous serial synchronization: Measurements are continuously synchronized with debug logs from the device under test via UART.

• Expandable voltage & current: Connect multiple Otii Ace Pro in series to increase voltage and current capabilities to match your solutions needs.

• Responsive UI: Ensure smooth performance under heavy data measurements loads, supporting multiple streams and long recordings – optimized for high-definition displays to enhance user experience during analysis.

• Collaborative features: Share recordings and analyses with team members to get insights and feedback for further product releases on a recurring basis.

• Upgradeable software: Unlock a wider range of features and specialized functionalities, including battery profiling and automation tools.

Key features

Hardware

Current and voltage measurement

• Current measurement accuracy: ±(0.05% + 25nA) for -5A to 5A

• 0.4 nA current measurement resolution

• 24 bit ADC with automatic switching between ranges

• No burden voltage

• Voltage measurement accuracy ±(0.01% + 1 mV)

• Connect multiple Otii Ace Pro in series to increase voltage and current capabilities to match your solution needs.

Sample rate

• Adjustable sample rate up to 50 ksps for main current and voltage channel

• Up to 50 ksps for all other channels (ADC current, ADC voltage, SENSE+, SENSE-)

Power supply

• 0V-25V

• Isolated power supply, ±200V

• -5A to 5A (depends on available current from USB or DC plug)

Digital interface

• Digital IO voltage 1.2V - 5.0V

Software

• Otii software support for Microsoft Windows, Apple macOS, and Linux Ubuntu.

• Real-time graphs of currents, voltages, and power measurements and digital inputs.

• Analyze statistics and measurements while recording continues in the background.

• Connect multiple Otii Ace Pro to manage and sync multiple recordings at the same time.

• Record and manage multiple recordings for unlimited time.

• Record and sync data with UART logs.

• Customize recordings and channels names to make the change logs easy to trace during your solution's development cycle.

• Save, load, and export projects as a zip-archive, or recording data as CSV for further analysis in collaboration with your team.

• In-line and 4-wire measurement support.

• Unlimited changes with do/undo functionality.

Applications

Use Otii Ace Pro every day to:

• Power your devices under development.

• Energy profile microcontrollers, sensors, devices and electronics up to 25V in real-time and over time.

• Optimize sleep current and extend battery life.

• Measure inrush current.

• Measure component leakage current over time.

• Design power-efficient hardware, firmware and software through regression testing.

• Troubleshoot your hardware and software.

• Sync UART logs with power measurements to see what drains the energy

Datasheet

General

Main

Expansion port

USB and DC JACK

⁽¹⁾ Depends on available input power ⁽²⁾ USB and DC jack GND is connected internally to chassis GND ⁽³⁾ DGND and AGND are internally connected ⁽⁴⁾ USB PD 2.0 ⁽⁵⁾ Max 3A in on DC plug-in and max 4A output current

The Otii Product Suite empowers developers and teams to reduce development and maintenance time, and costs for their battery-powered products. It ensures optimal battery efficiency across the solution, matching it with the ideal energy source to fuel energy-optimized innovations.

How Otii works?

Otii products work together by integrating cutting-edge hardware and software to enable an ecosystem of tools for developers, engineers, and teams to adopt a low-power mindset and foster energy optimization in electronic products, especially for IoT and embedded systems.

There are three key steps that developers can practice that lead to prolonged battery life:

1. Profiling and optimization of devices for low energy use, at the hardware and firmware level.

2. Matching the right energy source (e.g. battery) to the application conditions through profiling and simulation.

3. Validating a variety of energy sources to ensure the best battery life.

Each of these steps is handled using the various features and functionalities offered by the entire Otii Product Suite.

Otii Product Suite

Achieving low-power design and extended battery life requires the concerted effort of developers across the entire stack. The Otii Product Suite is created by developers for developers, adding value during development cycles for hardware, firmware and software.

The Otii hardware, either Otii Arc Pro or Otii Ace Pro, allows us to profile devices energy consumption on every developer’s workbench. The data is recorded, processed and analyzed in real-time in the Otii software / Otii 3 Desktop App, providing insights into the energy usage patterns. Moreover, the software capabilities can be extended by Otii Toolbox, like Battery Toolbox and Automation Toolbox, battery profiling/simulation respectively automated testing. Together, these provide a seamless suite of products that interfaces and facilitates an efficient approach toward energy optimization from development through production.

Otii's solutions enable developers and engineers to:

• Power devices under development

• Energy profile microcontrollers, sensors devices up to 25V in real-time and over time

• Design power-efficient hardware, firmware and software through regression testing

• Sync UART logs with power measurements to identify what drains the energy of the device

• Measure inrush current and components leakage current over time

• Optimize sleep current and extend battery life

• Troubleshoot hardware, firmware and software

• Profile a battery or energy harvesting for the specific application

• Simulate battery for the specific application and device

• Benchmark and validate batteries and energy harvesting solutions

• Automate all the measurements trough scripting in multiple languages

Otii 3 creates a lot of sample data when doing lengthy recordings.

This makes it important to choose the right storage location for your projects:

• Only store the project on a fast locally connected drive.

• When creating a new project, it is recommended to save it before starting a lengthy recording. This is because an unsaved new project is stored in the temporary directory of the OS.

• Do not store the project in a folder that is synced to a cloud service like OneDrive, Dropbox or Google Drive. On many installations the Documents and Desktop folders are cloud synced.

• Do not store the project on a network connected drive (NAS).

The Otii software is the backbone of Qoitech's Otii Product Suite. Designed to interface with Otii hardware to provide a powerful and comprehensive application for developers and engineers to record, visualize, and analyze the power consumption of battery-driven devices in real-time to identify and mitigate inefficiencies from initial development phases to production and maintenance.

The Otii software is designed with user experience in mind, making it easy to measure, validate and improve device performance. The feature-packed Otii software is free of charge and subscriptions, and you do not need to be logged in to use it. If you looking to extend the software's capabilities to profile batteries, simulate battery conditions, and create automated tests, you can purchase Otii Toolbox licenses on a perpetual, yearly or monthly basis. Discover all the included features listed below.

Check out Otii's software components below to find out complete features and details.

Otii software is compatible with any Otii hardware, including the Otii Arc Pro and Otii Ace Pro. It can run on various operating systems (OS) like Windows, Ubuntu, and macOS.

Discover below all the features the Otii software brings to your workbench.

The Otii Arc Pro is a compact and portable tool with comprehensive technical features for energy optimization of battery-driven and energy-harvesting devices. As a multi-purpose tool, it serves as a power supply, measurement unit, analyzer and debugger, making it the must-have addition for everyday use on any hardware, firmware and software developer’s desktop.

With Otii Arc Pro and Otii 3 Desktop App, you can source the voltage of the device under test (DUT) up to 5V while simultaneously measuring and recording current, voltage, and power data in real-time for further analysis to optimize battery life throughout the development cycle, supporting a sample rate up to 4ksps for main current channel, plus a wide dynamic current measurement range (nA-5A) with 5nA resolution, and accurate current measurement (±0.1% + 50nA) for currents below 19mA and (±0.1% + 150uA) for higher currents.

Key benefits

• All-in-one functionality: Otii hardware and Otii software integrates power supply, real-time monitoring, and detailed analysis in a single, compact, user-friendly product.

• Quick installation & easy to use: Download Otii 3 Desktop app, plug the Otii Arc Pro to your device under test (DUT) and start measuring energy data in less than a minute.

• Optimal power alternatives: Power up Otii Arc Pro based on your solution setup and power requirements via USB or an external DC adapter.

• Versatile connection: Power source your device under test using the Otii Arc Pro, which can deliver up to 5V at high voltage/current resolution. The DUT can be connected either through its DC input or battery connectors.

• Real-time measurements & analysis: Analyze and compare charts and measurements in real-time, covering currents, voltages, and power within the Otii 3 Desktop App – it allows scrolling, zooming, and selecting current consumption and debugging logs during measurement.

• Continuous serial synchronization: Measurements are continuously synchronized with debug logs from the device under test via UART.

• Responsive UI: Ensure smooth performance under heavy data measurements loads, supporting multiple streams and long recordings – optimized for high-definition displays to enhance user experience during analysis.

• Collaborative features: Share recordings and analyses with team members to get insights and feedback for further product releases on a recurring basis.

• Upgradeable software: Unlock a wider range of features and specialized functionalities, including battery profiling and automation tools.

Key features

Hardware

Current and voltage measurement

• ±(0,1% + 50nA) accuracy below 19mA and +-(0.1%+150uA) above 19mA

• 5nA current measurement resolution

• 24 bit ADC with automatic switching between ranges

• No burden voltage

• Voltage measurement accuracy ±(0.1% + 1.5 mV)

Sample rate

• Up to 4ksps for main current channel

• 1ksps for all other channels (main voltage, ADC current, ADC voltage, SENSE+, SENSE-, UART RX, GPI1, GPI2)

Power supply

• 0.5V - 5.0V.

• USB only (0.5V - 3.75V in auto range mode, 0.5V - 4.2V in high range mode)

• DC plug supply (0.5V - 4.55V in auto range mode, 0.5V - 5.0V in high range mode)

• -2.5A to 5A (depends on available current from USB or DC plug)

Digital interface

• Digital IO voltage 1.2V - 5.0V

• Max 10mA source and sink in total

Software

• Otii software support for Microsoft Windows, Apple macOS, and Linux Ubuntu.

• Real-time graphs of currents, voltages, power measurements and digital inputs.

• Analyze statistics and measurements while recording continues in the background.

• Connect multiple Otii Arc Pro to manage and sync multiple recordings at the same time.

• Record and manage multiple recordings for unlimited time.

• Record and sync data with UART logs.

• Customize recordings and channels names to make the change logs easy to trace during your solution's development cycle.

• Save, load, and export projects as a zip-archive, or recording data as CSV for further analysis in collaboration with your team.

• In-line and 4-wire measurement support.

• Unlimited changes with undo/redo functionality.

Applications

Use Otii Arc Pro every day to:

• Power your devices under development

• Energy profile microcontrollers, sensors and devices in real-time and over time

• Optimize sleep current and extend battery life

• Design power-efficient hardware, firmware and software through regression testing

• Troubleshoot your hardware, firmware and software

• Sync UART logs with power measurements to see what drains the energy

Datasheet

General

Main

Expansion port

USB and DC JACK

⁽¹⁾ USB power capacity and reliability in laptops and desktops greatly depend on host USB port/cable design. ⁽²⁾ See list of recommended external power supplies and powered USB hubs at our FAQ. ⁽³⁾ Depends on chosen power supply. Otii Arc Pro will monitor internal temperature and cut off if temperature limit is reached. ⁽⁴⁾ Sink voltage can go below this specification if locked to high range. It is possible to go down to 0.5 V if the sink current is below 1.9 A. For currents below 19 mA, the measurement will have a lot more noise when locked to high range than in auto range. ⁽⁵⁾ Up to 19 mA current in auto range, for higher currents, the accuracy is ±(0.1 % + 150 µA). Average > 1s. ⁽⁶⁾ See Nexperia SN74LVC8T245 for details. ⁽⁷⁾ Expansion Port Digital voltage level is set by user in Otii SW. ⁽⁸⁾ Maximum voltage will depend on your USB power supply and USB cable. ⁽⁹⁾ See TI INA226 for details.

The Otii Toolbox integrate with Otii 3 Desktop App to enhance the capability of Otii hardware. The Otii Toolbox are licenses that unlock specialized set of capabilities for Otii hardware and software, transforming them into powerful simulators, automated benchmarking and continuous integration tools.

Refer to the Otii Toolbox options below to discover all the features and details.

By using the Battery Toolbox [BT] developers and engineers enable features to profile, simulate and validate different battery types and states to understand device’s performance under multiple scenarios of battery conditions without the actual need for physical batteries – just let the Otii hardware do its magic!

Why use Battery Toolbox?

The Otii 3 Desktop App is a robust and user-friendly software application designed to be the heart of the entire Otii Product Suite. It is designed for energy measurement and optimization of battery-driven embedded systems or IoT devices. It works together with the Otii hardware to provide industrial-grade tools for developers, engineers, and teams to analyze and optimize the power consumption of hardware projects.

Key features of the Otii 3 Desktop App:

• Real-time measurement & analysis: Displays current, voltage, power consumption, digital inputs, and UART logs in real-time, allowing developers and engineers to quickly identify the impact of code and hardware changes on energy consumption.

• Project management: Hardware, firmware and software developers can organize their work into projects, making it easy to manage multiple tests and experiments to share them with colleagues, customers, or manufacturing companies.

• Data visualization: The Otii 3 Desktop App offers various visualization tools such as scrolling, zooming, dedicated selections, and log debugging to help developers and engineers better understand their devices' energy consumption patterns.

• Multiple recordings: Record, synchronize and analyze multiple recordings separately over time to easily track changes performed to optimize your DUT.

• Recording multiple devices: Connect multiple Otii hardware to multiple DUTs to record, sync, and analyze various recordings simultaneously.

• Export & share data: Users can export data easily as an entire project or CSV format for further analysis or share it with team members, enhancing collaboration.

• Battery simulation & profiling: With the Otii Battery Toolbox, developers and engineers can profile different battery types and conditions, and then simulated them for the specific application and use case helping design and test battery-powered devices to match the actual deployment environments conditions.

• Automation Support: The Otii Automation Toolbox enables developers and engineers to script and automate tests, ideal for running extensive tests and verifications for quality assurance (QA) within the whole product development cycle.

Features

Check out Otii 3 Desktop App features below to improve your hardware development process.

With Otii Arc Pro and Otii 3 Desktop App, you can source the voltage of the device under test (DUT) up to 5V while simultaneously measuring and recording current, voltage, and power data in real-time for further analysis to optimize battery life throughout the development cycle.

Hardware overview

The front side of the Otii Arc Pro has the main connectors, additional ports to extend measurement capabilities, plus a status LED.

The back side of the Otii Arc Pro has the host USB connector and an input socket to power up the unit with an external DC adapter when required.

Main connections

The Otii Arc Pro has the voltage(+) and voltage(-) binding post (red and black connectors located on the right side of the instrument), which are used to source the DUT but also to measure the current, voltage, and power of the device. The DUT can be connected through its battery connectors or DC input; refer to the connection diagram below for better understanding.

To power up the Otii Arc Pro and enable communication with the host computer, connect the unit to your computer using the provided micro USB to USB A cable.

Expansion Port

The expansion port on the front of the Otii Arc Pro is designed to enhance the hardware's functionality, allowing users to measure additional voltages and currents or trigger external events. These additional pins feature multi-input and multi-output for analog and digital signals, serial communication, and additional power and ground points. Below is a general overview of the additional pins available:

Status LED

The table below explains the Otii Arc Pro's status LED behaviors and their meanings to help you quickly identify the device's state.

Otii hardware features two main connectors and one expansion port. Multiple channels can be measured with the available inputs, such as main current, main power, main voltage, ADC current, ADC voltage, SENSE+ voltage, SENSE- voltage, GPI1, and GPI2, as well as capturing serial logs from any embedded system or IoT devices.

Wiring up possibilities

Discover hardware setup examples for a variety of use cases:

Keep in mind

Selecting a power supply

When using an external DC adapter, choosing one from an established supplier is highly recommended. The adapter should be low-noise, comply with IEC 60950-1 as a Limited Power Source, and have an output of 7 to 9 VDC for the Otii Arc Pro and 7 to 20 VDC for the Otii Ace Pro, with a maximum of 5A.

Grounding advice

• AGND is utilized as a reference point for analog measurements.

• DGND is used as a reference point for digital signaling.

The connection of the Otii hardware—either Otii Arc Pro or Otii Ace Pro—is required as a starting point for working with the Otii Product Suite. This connection must be to the Device Under Test (DUT) or the battery to be validated and to a computer running Otii Software, Otii 3 Desktop App.

To start in just a matter of minutes, make sure to have:

• A computer with at least an available USB port running the Otii 3 Desktop App. It is recommended at least 16 GB of RAM.

• The DUT to be measured, analyzed and optimized.

• Positive and negative banana connectors for connecting the Otii hardware to the DUT.

• Female to female/male jumper wires for connecting the Otii hardware main expansion port to the device under test for extra capabilitites.

• [Optional] External DC adapter. For Otii Arc Pro, in the range 7-9V, max 5A. For Otii Ace Pro, in the range 7-20V, max 5A. Here are a few suggestions on the DC adapters.

Learn more about

Set up Otii hardware, Otii Arc Pro, or Otii Ace Pro to measure a subsystem current and voltage over a shunt resistor in addition to measuring the complete system. Note that the resistor can be part of the actual system or applied externally.

Products required

Otii hardware setup

2. Connect Otii hardware’s banana connector positive lead to DUT positive (+) battery connector/power connector.

3. Connect Otii hardware’s banana connector negative lead to DUT negative (-) battery connector/power connector (GND).

4. Connect Otii hardware's ADC+ and ADC- across the shunt resistor for current measurement; no additional ground is needed for this. Make sure to connect the shunt resistor side with the high side to ADC+ and the one with the low side to ADC-. Note that if negative currents are measured, the high side has a lower potential than the low side.

5. [Optional] To measure voltage, connect AGND to the DUT's ground and measure the voltage between ADC+ and AGND.

Otii software setup

1. Open the Otii 3 Desktop App, then select "Create a new Otii Project."

2. In the left sidebar, find the CONTROL section. Within this section, add the Otii hardware identified by your computer. Just click the add button on the right side of the hardware identified.

3. Considering the DUT's power ranges, set the required voltage for the added Otii hardware in the voltage box located on the left side of the power supply button.

4. Under "General Settings," make sure:

   • "Power Box" option is selected.

   • Set an OC (overcurrent) protection for the DUT.
5. Under "Channels," select "ADC current" to measure the subsystem current over a shunt resistor. In the case of measuring voltage, the "ADC voltage" must be selected as well. If the system itself needs to be measured, it can also be measured; select the channels desired to be measured in addition to the ones previously selected.

6. [Optional] The previously selected channels will be listed under the MEASUREMENTS section. In this section, the sampling rate, up to 50 ksps, can be set. (Only possible with the Otii Ace Pro)

7. Click the record button in the upper left corner of the toolbar to start recording DUT measurements. Since your DUT is not powered on yet, only noise measurements will be observed at first.

8. Under the CONTROL section, turn on the DUT by clicking on the power button located right next to the desired voltage assigned. Once turned on, the DTU measurements are being recorded.

9. Now it's time to validate, analyze, and optimize your embedded system or IoT devices.

Keep in mind

🔋 The voltage over the shunt resistor is measured differentially. No extra signal ground is needed if you only want to measure the current.

🔋 If voltage measurement is required, it is measured between ADC+ and AGND. In this case, AGND needs to be connected to the ground of the DUT.

How to choose the resistor

For Otii Arc Pro

The differential input voltage range for the Otii Arc Pro ADC inputs goes from -81.9175 mV to 81.92 mV. Based on these values, the absolute maximum (peak) current through the sensing resistor must be determined.

Remember that by using Ohm's Law (V = I x R | I = V / R | R = V / I), the relationship between voltage, current, and resistance in an electrical circuit can be determined.

Here's an example to illustrate how to choose the resistor:

Suppose the system has a maximum peak current of 200 mA. By calculating, 0.08192 V / 0.2 A, the resistor value is equal to 0.41 ohms. But, the closest standard resistor value is 0.39 ohms. Resulting in a measuring range of 0.08192 V / 0.39 ohms = 0.210 A.

In conclusion, a 0.39 ohm sensing resistor will result in a measurement range of +/- 0.210 A.

For Otii Ace Pro

Following the same example as above, let's do the same for now but for the Otii Ace Pro.

The differential input voltage range for the Otii Ace Pro ADC inputs goes from -102.4 mV to 102.4 mV. Based on these values, the absolute maximum (peak) current through the sensing resistor must be determined. Here's an example to illustrate how to choose the resistor:

Suppose the system has a maximum peak current of 200 mA. By calculating, 0.1024 V / 0.2 A, the resistor value is equal to 0.512 ohms. But, the closest standard resistor value is 0.51 ohms. Resulting in a measuring range of 0.1024 V / 0.51 ohms = 0.200 A.

In conclusion, a 0.51 ohm sensing resistor will result in a measurement range of +/- 0.200 A.

The Otii Automation Toolbox [AT] helps developers, engineers, and teams to automate repetitive tasks and measurements. By using this Toolbox, the Otii hardware became a programmable unit ideal for running extensive tests and verifications for quality assurance (QA) within the whole product development cycle, regardless of whether it is hardware or software.

Set up Otii hardware, either the Otii Arc Pro or Otii Ace Pro, to work as a power source box providing constant voltage to the DUT, ranging from 0.5V-5V / 0V-25V, and enable it to measure output current and voltage.

Products required

Otii hardware setup

2. Connect Otii hardware’s banana connector positive lead to DUT positive (+) battery connector/power connector.

3. Connect Otii hardware’s banana connector negative lead to DUT negative (-) battery connector/power connector (GND).

Otii software setup

1. Open the Otii 3 Desktop App, then select "Create a new Otii Project."

2. In the left sidebar, find the CONTROL section. Within this section, add the Otii hardware identified by your computer. Just click the add button on the right side of the hardware identified.

3. Considering the DUT's power ranges, set the required voltage for the added Otii hardware in the voltage box located on the left side of the power supply button.

4. Under "General Settings," make sure that the "Power Box" option is selected, and set an OC (overcurrent) protection for the DUT.

5. Under "Channels", select "Main current" to measure DUT's output current and "Main voltage" to measure DUT's output voltage. The "Main power" channel is assigned by default when the main current is selected to measure DUT's energy consumption.

6. [Optional] The previously selected channels will be listed under the MEASUREMENTS section. In this section, the sampling rate, up to 50 ksps, can be set. (Only possible with the Otii Ace Pro)

7. Click the record button in the upper left corner of the toolbar to start recording DUT measurements. Since your DUT is not powered on yet, only noise measurements will be observed at first.

8. Turn on the DUT by clicking the power button next to the desired voltage assigned. Once turned on, the DTU measurements are being recorded.

9. Now, it's time to validate, analyze, and optimize your embedded system or IoT devices.

Keep in mind

🔋 Use wires with the lowest possible resistance and keep them as short as possible to minimize voltage drop, especially when the DUT consumes high current. The resistance in wires will be added to the total series resistance within the system, causing an unwanted voltage drop and an error in power and energy consumption measurements.

🔋 If the DUT consumes high current during power-up, causing high voltage drops in the attached wires, which directly affects the power-up cycle of the DUT since the voltage is too low. In case of experiencing this, connect one or several capacitors from Bat+ to Bat- on the DUT side to stabilize the voltage to start up the DUT properly. Note that the Otii Arc and Otii Ace have very low output capacitance for being a power source for the DUT but also a programmable load.

It is an all-in-one tool with an isolated power supply unit, a constant voltage/current source and sink, and a high-precision multichannel multimeter. Making it a power analyzer/profiler that records and displays currents, voltages, and power measurements in real time. Enabling hardware, firmware, and software developers to optimize the energy consumption and battery life on any device under test.

With Otii Ace Pro and Otii 3 Desktop App, you can source the voltage of the device under test (DUT) up to 25V while simultaneously measuring and recording current, voltage, and power data in real-time for further analysis to optimize battery life throughout the development cycle.

Hardware overview

The front side of the Otii Ace Pro has the main connectors, additional ports to extend measurement capabilities, plus a status LED.

The back side of the Otii Ace Pro has the host USB connector and an input socket to power up the unit with an external DC adapter when required.

Main connections

The Otii Ace Pro has the voltage(+) and voltage(-) binding post (red and black connectors located on the right side of the instrument), which are used to source the DUT but also to measure the current, voltage, and power of the device. The DUT can be connected through its battery connectors or DC input; refer to the connection diagram below for better understanding.

To power up the Otii Ace Pro and enable the communication with the host computer, use the provided USB C to USB C cable to connect the unit to your computer.

Expansion Port

The expansion port on the front of the Otii Ace Pro is designed to enhance the hardware's functionality, allowing users to measure additional voltages and currents or trigger external events. These additional pins feature multi-input and multi-output for analog and digital signals, serial communication, and additional power and ground points. Below is a general overview of the additional pins available:

Status LED

The table below explains the Otii Ace Pro's status LED behaviors and their meanings to help you quickly identify the device's state.

4. Select the version for Ubuntu.

5. Once downloaded, open the .deb file by double-clicking. The application takes a couple of seconds to install and will open automatically when finished.

6. The Otii 3 Desktop App's welcome interface will be opened. Here, you can 1) Create a new Otii project, 2) Open an Otii project, and 3) Read the documentation.

The expansion port on the front of the Otii hardware is designed to enhance the hardware functionality, allowing users to measure additional voltages and currents or trigger external events. These enable complex testing setups, allowing users to expand measurement capabilities beyond standard power analysis, offering flexibility across diverse use cases from development to debugging.

Fourteen additional pins are available on the expansion port, which features multi-input and multi-output for analog and digital signals, serial communication, and additional power and ground points. Depending on the project requirements, these pins can be easily enabled and set up as needed within the Otii 3 Desktop App.

Note that the expansion port is designed to be identical across the Otii hardware versions, but capabilities in terms of voltage range, impedance and resolution differ from one version to the other.

Below, choose the OS of your preference, follow the instructions and start building battery-driven embedded systems and IoT devices.

Set up Otii hardware, Otii Arc Pro, or Otii Ace Pro to capture logs from the DUT serial log.

Products required

Otii hardware setup

2. Connect Otii hardware’s banana connector positive lead to DUT positive (+) battery connector/power connector.

3. Connect Otii hardware’s banana connector negative lead to DUT negative (-) battery connector/power connector (GND).

4. Connect Otii hardware's RX pin to the DUT TX pin.

5. Connect Otii hardware's DGND to the DUT GND pin.

Otii software setup

1. Open the Otii 3 Desktop App, then select "Create a new Otii Project."

2. In the left sidebar, find the CONTROL section. Within this section, add the Otii hardware identified by your computer. Just click the add button on the right side of the hardware identified.

3. Considering the DUT's power ranges, set the required voltage for the added Otii hardware in the voltage box located on the left side of the power supply button.

4. Under "General Settings," make sure:

   • "Power Box" option is selected.

   • Set digital voltage according to the DUT's digital voltage level for the UART

   • Set an OC (overcurrent) protection for the DUT.

5. Under "Channels," choose the measurements desired to be recorded (e.g., main current, main voltage, main power, among others)

6. Under "UART", make sure:

   • Assign the DUT's baud rate.

   • Select "UART log" to enable the serial communication. Once enabled, the console log will automatically open.

7. Click the record button in the upper left corner of the toolbar to start recording DUT measurements. Since your DUT is not powered on yet, only noise measurements will be observed at first.

8. Under the CONTROL section, turn on the DUT by clicking on the power button located right next to the desired voltage assigned. Once turned on, the DTU measurements are being recorded.

9. Now it's time to validate, analyze, and optimize your embedded system or IoT devices.

4. Select the version for Windows.

5. Once downloaded, open the .exe file by double-clicking. The application takes a couple of seconds to install and will open automatically when finished.

6. The application's welcome interface will be opened. Here, you can 1) Create a new Otii project, 2) Open an Otii project, and 3) Read the documentation.

Silent installation

You can also install the software silently from the command line:

Otii Toolbox licenses can be managed in multiple ways, allowing flexibility when working across different computers and not having to strictly rely only on one license locally. Likewise, the sharing features can be used for collaborative management between colleagues, partners, or production centers.

To manage Otii Toolbox licenses properly, it is essential to have a good understanding of:

Reserving and returning licenses enables a desktop application with additional licensed features, not relying on a single computer. Instead, it can work on multiple computers. Imagine a practical and typical case of a developer's life. Joe is working on his Otii 3 projects on his desktop computer at the office but then decides to work from home on his laptop the next day. Due to this, he manages to return the license from the desktop office computer and reserves it on his laptop, giving him the possibility to make use of a unique license without the need to rely on multiple licenses, one per computer.

Additionally, the licenses can be reassigned or shared between users:

Moving and sharing licenses facilitates smooth and flexible collaborations between colleagues, partners, and production centers when developing battery-driven hardware products. No matter the stage of the project, multiple users can validate and analyze the measurements without even being in the same office or, even better, in the same city or country.

4. Select the version for macOS based on the computer's characteristics.

5. Once downloaded, open the .dmg file by double-clicking. Then, move the Otii 3 Desktop App to the computer's Applications folder to finish the installation, as shown below.

1. Once installed, look for "Otii 3" within your applications and start it. The application's welcome interface will be opened. Here, you can 1) Create a new Otii project, 2) Open an Otii project, and 3) Read the documentation.

Start optimizing embedded systems and IoT devices with the Otii Product Suite takes just six steps.

Get familiar with Otii 3 Desktop App

Otii 3 Desktop App Interface

The Otii 3 Desktop App is divided into 3 main sections:

Toolbar

The Otii 3 Desktop App toolbar comprises icons and sections that allow users to quickly navigate and interact with the software's most frequently used functionalities and features.

1. Record & stop

2. Graph manipulation

3. Battery features set

4. System monitoring & notifications

Control, Recordings, and Measurements

This section allows adding and configuring one or more Otii hardware. It also stores and manages the recordings taken and the measurements collected. For further configuration, refer to the following documentation:

Monitor and Notifications

Requirements

Hardware

• Raspberry Pi 4B rev 1.2 8 GB or Raspberry Pi 5 8GB

• USB SSD disk

• External DC power supply

• Device under test (DUT)

• Jumper wires

Software

• Otii Automation Toolbox License

• Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit)

Setting up Raspberry Pi

Installing Raspberry Pi OS on the SSD Disk

1. Plug the SSD disk to the computer via USB.

3. Click on the different options listed in the Raspberry Pi Imager, and select the following options:

   • Raspberry Pi Device: Raspberry Pi 4 or 5

   • Operating System: Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit)

   • Storage: The one assigned to the SSD disk

   Once everything is selected, it should look like below:
4. Click the "NEXT" button.

5. In the following window, “Use OS customization”, click on “EDIT SETTINGS”.

   1. In the GENERAL tab, define the hostname, username, password, SSID, and password of the network you intend to connect to, the country of the Wireless LAN, and local settings such as time zone and keyboard layout.

   2. In the SERVICE tab, toggle the "Enable SSH" option to enable it, and click on "Use password authentication".

   3. Click the "SAVE" button to save the changes made.

   4. Once it takes you to the previous window, click on the “YES” option to apply the custom settings to the OS.

6. As a final warning, a warning window will pop up to confirm if you are sure to continue, as it will overwrite the existing data on the disk. Click “YES", then the system will ask for the computer password to proceed – the system will take a few minutes to download the OS and write it into the SSD disk.

7. Once completed, a message will be displayed indicating that the disk can now be removed from the reader. Now, it is time to connect it to the Raspberry Pi, turn it on, wait a couple of seconds, and access it via SSH.

Wiring up

1. Take the Raspberry Pi, without powering it up, connect the SSD Disk to the bottom USB 3 port of the Raspberry Pi.

2. With the USB cable provided in the Otii hardware box, plug the USB output into the Otii hardware box and the USB type A output into the top USB 3 port of the Raspberry Pi.

4. Lastly, power the Raspberry Pi through the USB C power supply port, ensuring that it is powered with the optimal parameters: 5V and a current capacity of at least 3A (5A for Raspberry Pi 5).

Once the entire system is connected, it should look like the following:

Access Raspberry Pi using SSH

1. If you do not have it installed, download, install, and open the SSH client of your preference.

2. In the connection configuration, assign:

   2. Port: 22.

   3. Connection type: SSH

   Based on the SSH client used, proceed with the following steps to establish the connection.

3. Once connected, the username and password previously assigned must be entered, in my case, pi.qoitech as the username.

Once accessed, observe you are now interacting from the Raspberry Pi.

Installing Otii Server

The Otii server will enable the automated test setup for the Otii Product suite tools through scripting, supporting popular languages like Python and Java.

4. Select the Raspberry Pi version.

5. Once downloaded, the .deb file must be transferred to the Raspberry Pi. This can be done in two ways:

   • If you have access to the Raspberry Pi interface, you can surf in the browser and then repeat the previously mentioned steps to download the file directly on the Raspberry Pi.

   • Copy the file using scp, a command that manages the copy of files or directories between a local and remote system or between two remote systems. In this case, the local system would be the computer, and the remote system would be the Raspberry Pi. Note that this option will be explained below.

6. To copy files from the computer to the Raspberry Pi, run the following command on the computer's terminal and assign the required information:

   Once the information has been assigned, it should look like:
7. In remote access to the Raspberry Pi, we go to the directory where we copied/downloaded our .deb package.
8. Then, execute the installation with:

Once installed, a scalable, low-power, functional testing of IoT and embedded systems can now be easily started.

Running Otii Server

For the purpose of the example below, two SSH connections must be established to run and interact with the Otii server: one to run the Otii server and another for user management and scripting. However, note that the Otii server can be activated directly from the scripting if required.

1. On one of the connections, run the following command to run the Otii Server. The connection should stay established in the background:
2. On other connection, run the following command to enable the user management capability within the command line interface (CLI):

Running Python script

For a practical use case, let's run a Python example that shows how to log in, list licenses, reserve and return a license, and log out.

1. On the Raspberry Pi, create a Python file. You can use the nano command, assign the name and type of the file:
2. Copy and paste in the code below:
3. Create a file within the same folder as the script above with the name credentials.json

4. Copy the JSON file below, assign the username and password of your Qoitech User Management account, as well as the Automation Toolbox license ID, which can be easily found in the UM either from the Otii 3 Desktop App or the web. Then, save it.
5. Run the user_management.py script, by running the following command:

   Upon running the code, the following logs will be shown:

The Otii 3 Desktop App is designed as a robust software with a user-friendly interface, divided into multiple sections, enabling easy access across all tools and functions to record, validate, and analyze measurements of devices under test (DUTs) or batteries.

Discover each button and feature included in the Otii 3 Desktop App Toolbar.

Otii Toolbox licenses can be managed in multiple ways, allowing flexibility when working across different computers and not having to strictly rely only on one license locally. Likewise, the sharing features can be used for collaborative management between colleagues, partners, or production centers.

Reserve license

1. Open Otii 3 Desktop App.

2. Navigate to:

   • Windows & Ubuntu: File > User Management, or by pressing Ctrl-U.

   • MacOS: Otii 3 > User Management, or by pressing ⌘-U.

3. Log in within the account associated with the license.

4. In the "LICENSES" section, click the "Reserve" button next to the license name to assign the license to the computer.

5. Upon reserving the license, a circle next to the license name will change its color. It indicates the license has been successfully reserved. Also, the enabled licenses can be seen on the bottom right side of the Otii 3 Desktop App.

Return license

Otii 3 Desktop App

1. Open Otii 3 Desktop App.

2. Navigate to:

   • Windows & Ubuntu: File > User Management, or by pressing Ctrl-U.

   • MacOS: Otii 3 > User Management, or by pressing ⌘-U.

3. Log in using the account associated with the license.

4. In the "LICENSES" section, click the "Return" button next to the license name to return the license.

5. Upon returning the license, a circle next to the license name will change its color. It indicates the license has been successfully returned.

User Management Portal

2. Log in using the account associated with the license.

3. Navigate to "Licenses" and refer to the section "Your licenses."

4. Refer to the desired license to return, and click the "Return" button.

5. Once returned, the button will disappear, and the license is now available for reserve.

Move license

2. Log in using the account associated with the license.

3. Navigate to "Licenses" and refer to the section "Your licenses."

4. Refer to the desired license to be transferred, and click the "Move to user" button.

5. Assign the username of the account that is desired to be transferred.

6. Click the "Move" button to transfer the license.

7. Once transferred, the license is removed from the User Management license list and appears in the assigned user's licenses list.

Share license

2. Log in using the account associated with the license.

3. Navigate to "Licenses" and refer to the section "Your licenses."

4. Refer to the desired license to be shared, and click the "Share with user" button.

5. Assign the username of the account that is desired to be shared.

6. Click the "Share" button to share the license.

7. Once shared, the user's username with whom the license is being shared will be highlighted beside a "Stop sharing" button, which can be clicked when it is desired to stop sharing the license with the assigned user.

Otii 3 Desktop App provides help resources to assist users in better understanding and navigating the tool's functionalities.

Context help

It's a help resource in the form of an information box displayed automatically at the bottom right of the Otii 3 Desktop App when a new project is started. The Context help allows users to do a mouse hover between the tool's functionalities, like buttons, and will share a detailed description of the features of such functionality.

The context help can be removed so that it is not automatically displayed when starting a new project. To do so, uncheck the "Show this help at startup" option. Alternatively, go to "Help > Toggle context" help to display it, or simply use the shortcut ?

Quick help

It is a table providing complete information on using keyboard commands to navigate, configure, analyze, and debug the collected measurements on the Otii 3 Desktop App.

The Quick Help can be displayed using the shortcut H, or access it by clicking "Help > Toggle quick help."

Otii 3 Desktop App can be manipulated and configured by command through the keyboard navigation. Depending on the configuration desired, refer to the one needed:

Shortcuts

Graph

Log

Navigation

Otii 3 Desktop App can be easily customized and parameterized to either look or operate as you choose.

1. Open Otii 3 Desktop App.

2. Navigate to:

   • Windows & Ubuntu: File > Settings, or by pressing Ctrl-,.

   • MacOS: Otii 3 > Settings, or by pressing ⌘-,.

3. The settings window will be open:

This section allows to configure the following settings:

• Theme: Customize the interface theme as you like. Choose between Dark, Dark - Blue, Dark - Green, and Dark - Yellow.

• Max supply voltage: As a safety practice, set the maximum supply voltage based on the device under test (DUT) technical characteristics. The default voltage is 5.5V.

• Statistics: Specify the mode in which the statistics will be calculated for the ongoing project when a selection is not made:

  • Project: Statistics are calculated for the entire recording.

  • View: Statistics are calculated only for the displayed part of the recording.

• Significant figures: Affects the number of figures within the statistics and in the monitor.

• Min track height: Minimum height of the window measurement before start scrolling it

• Verbose logging: When enabled, add more information to the otii3.log to improve debugging.

• Do not show user management automatically: When it is not enabled, and you are logged in and have no reserved licenses, User Management will automatically open when a new project is started.

• Reset: Resets any settings made and assigns the default settings.

Otii 3 Desktop App works on a project basis, which can be saved and later opened again.

An Otii project contains all the settings of the device under test (DUT) used, plus all measured measurement recordings of the multiple channels available for current, voltage, and power data.

Discover how to work with projects in the Otii 3 Desktop App by checking the following pages: