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How to test the collar's accuracy by hand

  • Updated

Objective

  • Perform a hand test to evaluate your Halo Collar's GPS accuracy

Background

If you would like to test the collar's functionality (Feedback at fence boundaries, GPS tracking on the My Map screen, etc.) without putting it on your dog, then there are specific instructions you must follow when testing the collar by hand. 

If you do not follow these steps when hand-testing, then you will not get an accurate representation of the collar's functionality.

Note: If you are testing the collar's accuracy so that you can send us the data for analysis, you will need to take a screen recording - instructions are below (steps 4-6). If you are testing for your own understanding, then you can stop following along at step 3. 

Procedure

Step 1: Prep Your Feedback Settings

  1. Your dog’s tolerance and sensitivity may be very different from your own, so always make sure you are comfortable with the feedback settings you will use to test the boundary yourself before beginning the test.
  2. To set your personal feedback settings, navigate to My Map, and open your Pet Card (by tapping on your dog’s pet pin directly on the map, or on the Navigation Card). Scroll to the bottom of the card, and tap “Feedback Settings.”
  3. Please write down your dog’s original feedback settings before editing them, so that you can switch back to the correct settings for your dog once the hand test is complete.
  4. For convenience, we recommend that you switch any static prompts to different vibration patterns. This will allow you to tell the difference between all three types of feedback, without spending time determining what static level you are comfortable with.

Step 2: Prep Your App

  1. Make sure your phone’s Bluetooth is enabled: Navigate to your phone’s settings app, click Bluetooth, and make sure Bluetooth is toggled to “On."
    • Note: If you are unsure, you can tap it a couple of times to toggle it on/off. Depending on your phone, you may see a notification stating whether Bluetooth has just been turned on or off as you do this. Typically, most phones will also show that Bluetooth is ON if the indicator gets darker or fills in with a color. Leave Bluetooth ON/connected. 
  2. Open the Halo App, log in if necessary, and view your My Map tab.
  3. While viewing the My Map tab, select the pet whose collar you want to test. You can do this either by tapping on your pet’s name in your Pets List at the bottom of the screen, or by tapping directly on the pet pin on your map view. This dog’s Pet Card will now appear at the bottom of the screen.
  4. While the Pet Card is open and Bluetooth is connected, you should now see the text underneath your dog’s name change to “updating live via Bluetooth…”. This is very important, because you can now see your collar location update every second via Bluetooth (instead of approximately every 15-30 seconds, as it normally does when data is sent over cellular or WiFi). For more information on how different types of connection impact how often the collar sends data to your phone, please see the article "Why is there a difference between my dog's location and what I see in the App?" 
  5. Once you are outside, make sure that your collar is set to “Fences On” to test the boundary. Wait until the “synchronization” period is complete - you’ll know once the word “synchronized” appears in the top right of the Feedback section within the Pet Card. 

If you are sending us your testing data for analysis, skip step 3 and move on to step 4. If you are only testing for your own understanding of the product, only perform step 3.

Step 3: Perform the Hand Test 

  1. Make sure the collar is upright (speaker facing up) while testing.
  2. Make sure the inside label of the collar is facing you. Only hold the collar on the left side (where the white label and QR code are). This is because the GPS antenna is on the right side, so holding it on the right may block GPS signals.
  3. The collar only performs its essential functions (i.e. providing boundary feedback and updating location in the App) when it senses that it is in motion - and it is designed to specifically pick up the motion of dogs. Human motion is different from that of dogs. You must not hold the collar still while you walk around, as though it were a cup of hot coffee. If you do this, it will not register the movement and will not offer any feedback. Therefore, you should try NOT to hold the collar still as you’re walking with it. Move the collar around a little bit as you walk to activate the motion sensors and simulate it being on your dog. 

Once you ensure you are following the above, feel free to walk around to test the collar's feedback responses to any Halo Fences that you have set up, or simply monitor its GPS tracking ability. If you neglect to follow all of the steps above, you may think that the collar is not working properly - but when these steps are followed to properly simulate the collar being on a dog, the Feedback and GPS tracking are highly accurate.

Step 4: Prep Your Screen Recording

Steps for iOS (Android instructions below)

  1. Swipe UP from the very bottom of your screen to open your iOS device’s Home tray again. Look for the “record” button. This will look like a solid circle inside of a ring - somewhat resembling a target.
      •  
    2. Once you see the “Screen Recording” button included in your Home tray, tap and HOLD it. You will see a new window appear that should say “Screen recording”, “Start Recording”, and “Microphone On/Off”. You may also see a list of apps. 
    3. Tap the microphone option until it says “Microphone ON”, and the icon appears RED. This means your phone will now record your phone screen and the auditory environment around you. Note: This is very important so that you can tell us what you see/hear/feel while it is happening.
    4. If you see a list of apps, tap “Photos”. This means that your recording will be stored in your “Photos”. If you do not see a list of apps, then your recording will be stored in your phone’s “Camera Roll” automatically. 
    5. Please review “What to Measure” (below) before starting your recording 
    6. When you start the recording, swipe your Home tray back down before proceeding into the Halo App.
        • To get the Home tray down, you can either tap or swipe down from the top of the screen, or press the home button until you’re back to your phone’s home screen.
    7. Now open your Halo App and begin your test.
    8. When you are finished recording, swipe UP from the bottom of your screen to re-open your Home tray. Then tap the “record” icon again to turn off the recording. You may see a notification at the top of your screen saying that your recording was saved.

Steps for Android

If your phone runs on Android 11 or later, please follow the instructions in this article to take a screen recording.

If your phone runs on Android 10 or earlier, please follow the instructions below:

This article from PC Mag recommends that you download the AZ Screen Recorder because it allows you to screen record while capturing audio as well.

  1. Go to the Google Play Store and download the AZ Screen Recorder app.
  2. Open the AZ Screen Recorder app and press "record using notification" button at the bottom.
  3. Please review "What to Measure" (below) before starting your recording
  4. Tap the orange camera button at the bottom right of the screen. Allow access to your files and microphone. Microphone access is important because it allows you to tell us what you see/hear/feel while it is happening.
  5. Once you start recording with audio, you can begin to follow the "What to Measure" and "Sending for Analysis" steps below.

Step 5: What to Measure

  1. Make sure your dog’s pet card is on your screen and your phone’s Bluetooth is ON. This means you will see your dog’s location move in real-time, instead of approximately every 15 seconds.
  2. Hold the Halo Collar in your hand with speaker facing UP so the GPS antenna points toward the sky.
    • Make sure the inside label of the collar is facing you. Only hold the collar on the left side (where the white label and QR code are). This is because the GPS antenna is on the right side, so holding it on the right may block GPS signals.
    • The collar is designed specifically to pick up the motion of dogs. Human motion is different from that of dogs. You must not hold the collar still while you walk around, as though it were a cup of hot coffee. If you do this, it will not register the movement and will not offer any feedback. Move/bounce the collar around a little bit as you walk to activate the motion sensors and simulate it being on your dog.
  3. Walk around your fence, approaching the boundary in a variety of locations, and observe your collar’s feedback reactions.
  4. Try to replicate the action your dog took when the issue occurred. Repeat for as many instances you can remember. We are trying to capture the same or similar phenomena to analyze it!
      • Throughout the process, please say out loud whenever you experience Feedback, and which type it was. The screen recording’s audio feature will pick up your voice so we can hear when you experience feedback. 
  5. As you walk around the boundary, please tell us if your phone location (the BLUE dot icon) and your Halo Collar location (your dog’s Pet Pin) are in the locations you expect them to be on the map. They should both update in real time as you move.

Note: Your phone’s GPS accuracy is determined by your phone manufacturer, and should be less accurate than your Halo Collar.

Step 6: Sending for Analysis

  1. When you’re done, you can stop the recording. It will save to “Photos” or “Camera Roll”
  2. In your Halo App, please navigate to Settings→ Feedback→ Tap the BLUE paper and pen icon in the top-right corner of your screen. This will open a new ticket. If you see a file that says “Do-not-delete.zip” or similar, please type “Testing on [date of test]” and hit “Send”. If you do not see a “Do-not-delete.zip” file, you can skip this step
      • Note: if you click “Start a conversation” instead of the Blue paper and pen icon, then “Do-not-delete.zip” won’t show up - this is why we recommend clicking the Blue pen and paper icon in the top right. 
  3. Please send your recorded video to us via email at support@halocollar.com. You can do this if you have access to your email on your phone
  4. We will check the timestamps of your verbal confirmation and compare them to the timestamps of the Feedback that is recorded in the backend

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