easyarduino - Python Library for Arduino Control

easyarduino is a Python library designed to simplify the process of controlling an Arduino board using the pyfirmata library. It provides an easy-to-use interface for managing digital and analog pins, controlling servos, handling I2C/SPI communication, and more.

Installation

To use this library, you need Python and easyarduino installed. You can install the required dependencies with the following command:

pip install easyarduino

Features

• Digital Pin Control: Read and write to digital pins (HIGH or LOW).
• Analog Pin Control: Read analog values (0 to 1023) and write PWM values (0 to 255).
• Servo Control: Control servos by setting their angles (0 to 180 degrees).
• Pin Mode Control: Set pin modes to INPUT, OUTPUT, PWM, or SERVO.
• I2C Communication: Read and write data to I2C devices.
• SPI Communication: Transfer data over SPI.
• Analog Input Smoothing: Read and smooth analog input by averaging multiple readings.
• Firmata Version: Retrieve the version of the Firmata firmware running on the Arduino.
• Board Info: Retrieve information about the connected Arduino board.

Usage

1. Importing the Library

First, import the necessary classes and functions from the library:

from easyarduino import ArduinoController, get_arduino_ports, connect_to_arduin

2. Initializing the Controller

To initialize the controller, pass the serial port of your Arduino board. You can find the available ports using the get_arduino_ports function.

Example: Initialize Arduino Controller

# Initialize the controller with the appropriate serial port
controller = ArduinoController(port='/dev/ttyACM0')  # Replace with your board's port

3. Digital Pin Control

digital_write(pin, state)

Write a HIGH or LOW value to a digital pin.

# Write HIGH to pin 13
controller.digital_write(pin=13, state=True)

# Write LOW to pin 13
controller.digital_write(pin=13, state=False)

digital_read(pin)

Read the state of a digital pin.

# Read the state of pin 13
state = controller.digital_read(pin=13)
print(state)  # Will print True or False

4. Analog Pin Control

analog_read(pin)

Read the analog value from a pin (range 0-1023).

# Read analog value from pin A0
analog_value = controller.analog_read(pin=0)
print(analog_value)  # Will print a value between 0 and 1023

analog_write(pin, value)

Write a PWM value (0-255) to an analog pin.

# Write PWM value to pin 9
controller.analog_write(pin=9, value=128)  # Half brightness

5. Servo Control

servo_write(pin, angle)

Write an angle (0 to 180 degrees) to a servo motor connected to a PWM pin.

# Move the servo connected to pin 9 to 90 degrees
controller.servo_write(pin=9, angle=90)

servo_read(pin)

Read the current angle of the servo (if supported by the hardware). This function may return None if direct servo feedback is not available.

# Read the current angle of the servo
angle = controller.servo_read(pin=9)
print(angle)  # Returns the current angle of the servo

6. Pin Mode Control

set_pin_mode(pin, mode)

Set the mode of a pin. The available modes are INPUT, OUTPUT, PWM, and SERVO.

# Set pin 13 as OUTPUT
controller.set_pin_mode(pin=13, mode="OUTPUT")

# Set pin 9 as PWM for controlling a motor
controller.set_pin_mode(pin=9, mode="PWM")

7. I2C Communication

i2c_write(address, data)

Write data to an I2C device.

# Write a list of data to an I2C device at address 0x40
controller.i2c_write(address=0x40, data=[0x01, 0x02, 0x03])

i2c_read(address, length)

Read data from an I2C device.

# Read 4 bytes of data from I2C device at address 0x40
data = controller.i2c_read(address=0x40, length=4)
print(data)

8. SPI Communication

spi_transfer(data)

Transfer data via SPI.

# Send data through SPI
response = controller.spi_transfer(data=b'hello')
print(response)  # Will print the response from the SPI transfer

9. Analog Input Smoothing

analog_read_smooth(pin, num_samples)

Read and average multiple analog readings to smooth the input. This is useful for reducing noise from analog sensors.

# Smooth the analog input on pin A0 by taking 10 readings
smooth_value = controller.analog_read_smooth(pin=0, num_samples=10)
print(smooth_value)  # The smoothed average value

10. Get Firmata Version

get_firmata_version()

Get the version of the Firmata firmware running on the Arduino.

# Get the Firmata version
firmata_version = controller.get_firmata_version()
print(firmata_version)

11. Get Board Information

get_board_info()

Retrieve information about the connected Arduino board, including its name, port, and capabilities.

# Get information about the Arduino board
board_info = controller.get_board_info()
print(board_info)  # Will print a tuple with name, port, and capabilities

12. Shutdown

close()

Close the connection to the Arduino board and release resources.

# Disconnect from the Arduino board
controller.close()

Example: Full Usage

from easyarduino import ArduinoController

# Initialize the Arduino Controller
controller = ArduinoController(port='/dev/ttyACM0')

# Set pin modes
controller.set_pin_mode(13, "OUTPUT")

# Write to a digital pin
controller.digital_write(13, True)

# Read from a digital pin
pin_state = controller.digital_read(13)
print(f"Pin 13 state: {pin_state}")

# Control a servo
controller.servo_write(9, 90)

# Get the board info
board_info = controller.get_board_info()
print(f"Board Info: {board_info}")

# Disconnect from the board
controller.close()

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.