FastrakSerialDriver 0.0.1

---

title: Polhemus Fastrak Serial Driver authors:

• joe_starr

---

{width=10%}

{width=40%}

/// caption

///

Note to Reader

What Am I?

This repository contains an opinionated python serial driver for the Polhemus Fastrak. In this context opinionated means initializes the Fastrak for a specific use case. We however supply interfaces for all serial commands for the Fastrak.

About the Documentation

The following document describes the "rules" and expectation for development. The "Code Comments" page contains the technical context descriptions found in the source files. The "Use Cases" page contains a collection of use cases and a use case diagram for the tool. The "Decisions" page contains a collection of architectural decision records [@Kopp2018] giving context on why this tool is the way it is.

Issues

If you discover an issue with this repository or have a question, please feel free to open an issue. I've included templates for the following issues:

• 🖋️ Spelling and Grammar: Found some language that is incorrect?
• 🤷 Clarity: Found a section that just makes no sense?
• ❓ Question: Do you have a general question?
• 🐞 Bug: Found an error in the code?
• 🚀 Enhancement: Have a suggestion for improving the toolchain?

:fontawesome-solid-paper-plane: Open Issue!{ .md-button }

📃 Cite Me

⚖️ License

Documentation:

Code:

Planning and Administration

Tasks

Tasks are tracked as GitHub issues.

Version Control

The toolchain shall be kept under Git versioning. Development shall take place on branches with main on GitHub as a source of truth. GitHub pull requests shall serve as the arbiter for inclusion on main with the following quality gates:

• Running and passing the unit test suite.
• Running and passing linting and style enforcers.
• Successful generation of documentation.

Release Tagging

The project shall be tagged when a new feature or bug fix is merged into main. The tag shall follow semantic versioning for labels.

vMAJOR.MINOR.PATCH

Project Structure

Files and directories shall be lower case, where capital is not required by a tool, and contain no ' '.

📁 .
├── 📁 .github
│   ├── 📁 ISSUE_TEMPLATE
│   ├── 📁 PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE
│   ├── 📁 workflows
│   └── 📝 pull_request_template.md
├── 📁 .vscode
│   └── ⚙️ launch.json
├── 📁 docs
│   ├── 📁 content
│   ├── 📁 infra
│   └── 📖 README.md
├── 📁 src 
│   └── 🐍 __init__.py
├── ⚙️ .editorconfig
├── 🙈 .gitignore
├── 🛠️ .pre-commit-config.yaml
├── ⚙️ .rumdl.toml
├── ❄️ flake.lock
├── ❄️ flake.nix
├── 🛠️ Justfile
├── 📜 LICENSE
├── 📄 mkdocs.yml
├── 🐍 pyproject.toml
└── 🔒 uv.lock

Directories of Interest

• docs: This directory contains the high level documentation for the tool.
• src: This directory contains the source code of the tool.
• .github: This directory contains the GitHub infrastructure.
• .vscode: This directory contains the debugger configuration.

Define a Unit

A unit shall be a Python module.

Quality

The tool and its units shall fail-safe, that is the tool and its units can fail, but the failure must be detectable. A segfault is okay, an off by one error that computes the wrong value is not.

Unit Testing

Each internal unit shall have a unit test suite.

Integration Testing

The plugin shall have manual integration testing.

Requirements

Use Cases

Requirements are described as a collection of use cases and actors which are collected into the following use case diagram:

flowchart LR
  aU["👤 User"]
  aT["👤 Time"]

  SC(["Send Command"])
  SRR(["Receive Response"])
  SR(["Start Recording"])
  ER(["End Recording"])
  B(["Boresight"])
  GSR(["Get Single Record"])
  I(["Initialize Device"])
  PD(["Poll Data"])

  aU --> SC
  aU --> SRR 
  aU --> SR 
  aU --> ER 
  aU --> B 
  aU -->  I 
  aU --> GSR 
  aT --> PD 

  SR -. include .->SC
  SR -. include .->B
  SR -. include .->I
  ER -. include .->SC
  GSR -. include .->SRR
  GSR -. include .->SC

Architectural Decisions

Architectural decisions MADR [@Kopp2018] serve as the primary documentation for architectural decisions.

The following is the order of operations for the proposal of a MADR:

1. Create a branch for a proposal with the name:

   proposal-{{short title}}
   

2. Create a pull request with this template.

3. In the branch create a Markdown file based on the MADR Template. Name the Markdown file:

   {{issue# padded to five digits}}-{{title}}
   

4. When a decision is made change the status to:

   • "accepted" and pull the branch into main branch
   • "rejected" and pull the branch into main branch

Nonfunctional Requirements

Colors

Diagrams included in documentation for features (use case and unit descriptions) are expected to use the COLORS color palette.

Technologies

Languages and Frameworks

• git
• Python
• mermaid.js
• prek
• tombi
• rumdl
• ruff
• uv
• MADR[@Kopp2018]

Documentation of Implementation

Code Style Guide

Python code shall be formatted with ruff using the included style settings. Markdown files shall be formatted with ruff using the included style settings. TOML files shall be formatted with tombi using the included style settings.

Design and Documentation

System

Block Diagram

flowchart LR
    device["FastrakDevice"]
    cwr@{ shape: processes, label: "{{Collection}}<br>Commands with response" }
    cwor@{ shape: processes, label: "{{Collection}}<br>Commands without response" }

    device--> cwr
    device --> cwor 

Class Diagram

classDiagram

    FastrakDevice o-- SerialCommandsWithResp
    FastrakDevice o-- SerialCommands
    FastrakDevice o-- Support 
    FastrakDevice *-- PollStream 
    PollStream o-- Command

    SerialCommandsWithResp o-- Support 
    SerialCommands o-- Support 

    CommandWithResponse --|> Command
    CommandWithResponse <|.. SerialCommandsWithResp
    Command <|.. SerialCommands

    class PollStream{
        + void __init__(baudrate,station,timeout,setup)
        + void stop()
        + void run()
        + bytearray data 
        - serial ser
        - Thread thread
    }
    class FastrakDevice{
        + void __init__(baudrate,station,timeout,setup)
        + void connect()
        + void enableStream()
        + void disableStream()
        + void readLine()
        + void boresight()
        + void basicSetup()
        + void create_valid_device()
        + bytearray data 
        - serial ser
        - FastrakStation station
        - bool running
        - PollStream thread
        - baudrate baud
    }

    class Command{<<interface>>}
    class CommandWithResponse{<<interface>>}
    class Support{<<collection>>}
    class SerialCommands{<<collection>>}
    class SerialCommandsWithResp{<<collection>>}

    note for Support "A collection of enum and data supporting classes."
    note for SerialCommands "A collection of serial commands for the Fastrak."
    note for SerialCommandsWithResp "A collection of serial commands with a response for the Fastrak."

Unit Designs

Unit designs (and test description) for the FastrakDevice unit (public members and methods) is found under Unit Designs. Designs for other units (commands and supporting classes) are omitted.