ESP32-based weapon & wire tester for fencing — zero-button UX, fast fault finding, and accurate resistance measurement.
Supports body cords and weapons (foil, sabre, épée). Lamé continuity is WIP.
- Auto mode detection: No buttons. The tester watches the connectors and switches between wire test and weapon test automatically.
- Intermittent fault capture: Brief dropouts are latched and displayed for a few seconds.
- Clear LED UI: 5×5 WS2812B matrix with intuitive color/status cues.
- Power: USB-C (power bank or USB adapter).
Connections:
- Plug the enrouleur-side body-cord plug into the right side of the tester, and the weapon-side plug into the left side.
- A small hole accommodates the foil/sabre safety clip.
- A small lamé patch on the enclosure allows clipping the crocodile clip.
(Power via USB-C)
- Power on via USB-C.
- Connect a body cord on both sides, or a cord + weapon; the tester selects the mode automatically.
- Wiggle-test connectors and cable to expose intermittent faults (they’ll be latched briefly).
- A detected connection between cord pins → Wire Test.
- A cord + weapon combination → Weapon Test (foil/sabre/épée detected by wiring).
Two phases:
- Quick Check — Fast screening for obvious problems (broken wires, swaps, shorts). An animation highlights faults right-to-left / bottom-to-top.
- Accurate Resistance — Fine measurement; color encodes ohmic range. Move the cable/plug to catch intermittents.
| Display cue | Meaning | Resistance (Ω) |
|---|---|---|
| Green solid | Good connection | < 3 |
| Yellow solid | Acceptable / watchlist | 3 – 5 |
| Red solid | Out of spec (may still “work” sometimes) | 5 – 10 |
| Red dotted | Broken / open | > 10 |
| Blue | Unintended short between lines | — |
Foil & Sabre
- Idle: No lights.
- Point pressed / intermittent on either wire: White latched for a few seconds.
- Point pressed on lamé: Green (valid touch).
Épée
- Point pressed: Green (valid touch).
- Any wire-to-wire short: Blue.
- Enclosure (3D print): https://www.printables.com/model/1006755-body-wire-weapon-test-box
Brass inserts used: M2 (PCB) and M6 (lamé patch). - Display: 5×5 WS2812B LED matrix (mounted to top panel).
- Main PCB: shared with the 3-weapon scoring device.
From time to time we may have bare PCBs, populated PCBs, or complete kits available from development batches.
If you’re interested, please contact us privately (do not post personal details in public issues):
Stock is limited and irregular; first-come, first-served.
- ✅ Body-cord testing (auto detect, quick + accurate modes)
- ✅ Weapon testing (foil/sabre/épée)
- 🛠️ Lamé continuity test (in progress)
Contributions welcome — see CONTRIBUTING.md.
- Software: Apache-2.0
- Hardware designs & docs: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (remix allowed; attribution + share-alike; non-commercial)
- Commercial use: available by agreement — see
COMMERCIAL-LICENSING.md.- Policy: producing > 10 units total (including remixes/derivatives), whether sold or given away, is commercial.
Attribution example:
“Based on WeaponWireTester by Piet Wauters & Claude Wolter, licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.”
This tester is not for mains/line-voltage use. Use only with fencing equipment and follow your federation’s safety rules.