luxai-robot 0.5.1

Python SDK for robot, a robot for social interaction developed by LuxAI S.A.

luxai-robot — Python Robot SDK

A Python SDK for communicating with LuxAI robots. It provides a clean, transport-agnostic API for controlling robot hardware — speech synthesis, face animations, gestures, motors, audio/video playback, camera, and microphone — from any Python environment over a network connection.

Primary target: QTrobot v3 (QTRD series). The SDK is designed to be robot-agnostic; future robot models can be supported by extending the API definitions.

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Table of Contents

• Installation
• Connecting to the Robot
• API Concepts
  • RPC APIs — sync and async
  • Stream APIs
  • ActionHandle
  • Coordinating multiple actions
• API Reference
  • TTS — Text-to-Speech
  • Face
  • Gesture
  • Motor
  • Media — Audio
  • Media — Video
  • Speaker
  • Microphone
• Plugin System
  • Camera (RealSense)
  • ASR — Azure Speech
• Examples
• License

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Installation

pip install luxai-robot

Optional plugin extras:

Extra	Installs
luxai-robot[asr-azure]	Azure Cognitive Services Speech SDK + PyTorch VAD

Python ≥ 3.7.3 is required.

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Connecting to the Robot

from luxai.robot.core import Robot

# By serial number (auto-discovered over the local network)
robot = Robot.connect_zmq(node_id="QTRD000310")

# By explicit IP address and port
robot = Robot.connect_zmq(endpoint="tcp://192.168.1.100:50500")

print(f"Connected to {robot._robot_serial} ({robot._robot_type}), SDK: {robot._sdk_version}")

# ... use the robot ...

robot.close()

Always call robot.close() when done (or use a try/finally block, as shown in the examples).

---

API Concepts

The SDK exposes two categories of APIs, accessible through namespace views on the Robot object (robot.tts, robot.face, robot.gesture, …).

RPC APIs — sync and async

Sync (blocking): calls the robot, waits for the response, and returns the value directly.

# Blocks until the robot finishes speaking; returns None
robot.tts.say_text("acapela", "Hello world!")

# Returns a list immediately after the robot responds
engines = robot.tts.list_engines()

Async (non-blocking): fires the request and returns an ActionHandle immediately. Only available for long-running operations that support cancellation (methods named *_async).

# Returns immediately — the robot speaks in the background
h = robot.tts.say_text_async("acapela", "This is a long sentence...")
time.sleep(1)
h.cancel()   # stop early

Stream APIs

Streams let you push data to the robot (writers) or receive data from the robot (readers and callbacks).

Writer — push frames to the robot:

writer = robot.media.stream.open_fg_audio_stream_writer()
writer.write(audio_frame)

Reader — pull frames one at a time (blocking with timeout):

reader = robot.microphone.stream.open_int_audio_ch0_reader()
frame = reader.read(timeout=3.0)   # returns None on timeout

Callback — receive frames in a background thread:

def on_joint_state(frame):
    print(frame.value)

robot.motor.stream.on_joints_state(on_joint_state)

ActionHandle

robot.*_async() calls return an ActionHandle object.

Method / Property	Description
.result()	Block and return the response value (raises on error)
.wait()	Block until the action completes (no return value)
.cancel()	Request cancellation
.done	True if completed or cancelled
.add_done_callback(fn)	Call fn(handle) when done

h = robot.face.show_emotion_async("QT/surprise")

# Option 1 — wait and get the return value
result = h.result()

# Option 2 — just wait
h.wait()

# Option 3 — fire-and-forget with callback
h.add_done_callback(lambda h: print("done:", h.done))

# Cancel a running action
h.cancel()

Coordinating multiple actions

from luxai.robot.core import wait_all_actions, wait_any_action

h1 = robot.tts.say_text_async("acapela", "Playing audio at the same time.")
h2 = robot.media.play_fg_audio_file_async("/path/to/file.wav")

wait_all_actions([h1, h2])   # wait for both to finish
# wait_any_action([h1, h2]) # wait for whichever finishes first

---

API Reference

TTS — Text-to-Speech

robot.tts.<method>(...)

Method	Returns	Description
list_engines()	list[str]	All loaded TTS engine IDs
get_default_engine()	str	Current default engine ID
set_default_engine(engine)	—	Set the default engine
get_languages(engine)	list[str]	Supported language codes
get_voices(engine)	list[dict]	Available voices
supports_ssml(engine)	bool	Whether the engine accepts SSML
get_config(engine)	dict	Current engine configuration
set_config(engine, config)	—	Update engine configuration
say_text(engine, text, *, lang, voice, rate, pitch, volume, style)	—	Speak plain text (blocking)
say_text_async(engine, text, ...)	ActionHandle	Speak plain text (non-blocking)
say_ssml(engine, ssml)	—	Speak SSML markup (blocking)
say_ssml_async(engine, ssml)	ActionHandle	Speak SSML markup (non-blocking)

Examples:

# List engines and voices
engines = robot.tts.list_engines()         # e.g. ['acapela', 'azure']
voices  = robot.tts.get_voices("acapela")

# Speak synchronously
robot.tts.say_text("acapela", "Hello!")
robot.tts.say_text("acapela", "Slower and higher.", rate=0.8, pitch=1.2)

# Speak asynchronously and cancel mid-sentence
h = robot.tts.say_text_async("acapela", "This is a very long sentence that will be cut short.")
time.sleep(1)
h.cancel()

# SSML (Azure example)
robot.tts.say_ssml("azure", '<speak version="1.0" ...> ... </speak>')

---

Face

robot.face.<method>(...)

Method	Returns	Description
list_emotions()	list[str]	Available emotion animation files
show_emotion(emotion, *, speed)	—	Play an emotion animation (blocking)
show_emotion_async(emotion, *, speed)	ActionHandle	Play an emotion animation (non-blocking)
look(l_eye, r_eye, *, duration)	—	Move eye pupils; auto-reset if duration > 0

Examples:

emotions = robot.face.list_emotions()      # e.g. ['QT/kiss', 'QT/surprise', ...]

# Blocking — waits until animation finishes
robot.face.show_emotion("QT/surprise")
robot.face.show_emotion("QT/surprise", speed=2.0)   # 2× speed

# Non-blocking — cancel after 3 seconds
h = robot.face.show_emotion_async("QT/breathing_exercise")
time.sleep(3)
h.cancel()

# Move eyes: [dx, dy] pixel offset from center
robot.face.look(l_eye=[30, 0], r_eye=[30, 0])           # look right
robot.face.look(l_eye=[0, 20], r_eye=[0, 20], duration=2.0)  # look down, reset after 2 s

---

Gesture

robot.gesture.<method>(...)

Method	Returns	Description
list_files()	list[str]	Available gesture file names
play_file(gesture, *, speed_factor)	bool	Play a gesture file (blocking)
play_file_async(gesture, *, speed_factor)	ActionHandle	Play a gesture file (non-blocking)
play(keyframes, *, resample, rate_hz, speed_factor)	—	Play in-memory keyframes (blocking)
play_async(keyframes, ...)	ActionHandle	Play in-memory keyframes (non-blocking)
record_async(motors, *, release_motors, delay_start_ms, timeout_ms, ...)	ActionHandle[dict]	Record a gesture; .result() → keyframes
stop_record()	bool	Stop an in-progress recording
store_record(gesture)	—	Persist the last recording to a named file

Examples:

gestures = robot.gesture.list_files()     # e.g. ['QT/bye', 'QT/happy', ...]

# Play a named gesture (blocking)
robot.gesture.play_file("QT/bye")

# Play non-blocking, cancel on keypress
h = robot.gesture.play_file_async("QT/bye")
input("Press Enter to cancel...")
h.cancel()
robot.motor.home_all()

# Record a gesture, play it back, then save it
h = robot.gesture.record_async(
    motors=["RightShoulderPitch", "RightShoulderRoll", "RightElbowRoll"],
    release_motors=True,
    delay_start_ms=2000,
    timeout_ms=20000,
)
input("Press Enter to stop recording...")
robot.gesture.stop_record()
keyframes = h.result()                    # dict of recorded trajectory

robot.gesture.play(keyframes)             # play it back
robot.gesture.store_record("my_gesture") # save as a named file

---

Motor

robot.motor.<method>(...)
robot.motor.stream.<stream_method>(...)

RPC methods:

Method	Returns	Description
list()	dict	All motor names and their configuration
on(motor)	—	Enable torque on a single motor
off(motor)	—	Disable torque on a single motor
on_all()	—	Enable torque on all motors
off_all()	—	Disable torque on all motors
home(motor)	—	Move a single motor to its home position
home_all()	—	Move all motors to their home positions
set_velocity(motor, velocity)	—	Set the default velocity for a motor
set_calib(motor, offset, *, store)	—	Apply a calibration offset (optionally persist)
calib_all()	—	Re-apply stored calibration offsets to all motors

Stream methods:

Method	Description
stream.on_joints_state(callback)	Subscribe to joint position/velocity/effort/temp/voltage
stream.on_joints_error(callback)	Subscribe to motor fault events
stream.open_joints_command_writer()	Open a writer to send direct joint position commands

Examples:

from luxai.robot.core.frames import JointStateFrame, JointCommandFrame

motors = robot.motor.list()   # {'HeadYaw': {'position_min': -90, ...}, ...}

robot.motor.home_all()
robot.motor.off("RightShoulderPitch")   # release for manual positioning
robot.motor.set_velocity("HeadYaw", 50)

# Real-time joint state via callback
def on_state(frame: JointStateFrame):
    for joint in frame.joints():
        print(f"{joint}: pos={frame.position(joint):.1f}°")

robot.motor.stream.on_joints_state(on_state)

# Direct joint commands via stream
writer = robot.motor.stream.open_joints_command_writer()
cmd = JointCommandFrame()
cmd.set_joint("HeadYaw", position=30, velocity=40)
writer.write(cmd)

---

Media — Audio

The media subsystem provides two independent audio lanes: Foreground (FG) for primary content and Background (BG) for ambient/music. Each lane supports file playback and raw PCM streaming.

robot.media.<method>(...)
robot.media.stream.<stream_method>(...)

Volume:

Method	Returns	Description
get_fg_audio_volume()	float	FG lane volume [0.0, 1.0]
set_fg_audio_volume(value)	—	Set FG lane volume
get_bg_audio_volume()	float	BG lane volume
set_bg_audio_volume(value)	—	Set BG lane volume

File playback (FG):

Method	Returns	Description
play_fg_audio_file(uri)	bool	Play file or URL (blocking)
play_fg_audio_file_async(uri)	ActionHandle	Play file or URL (non-blocking)
pause_fg_audio_file()	—	Pause current FG file
resume_fg_audio_file()	—	Resume paused FG file

File playback (BG): same pattern — play_bg_audio_file, play_bg_audio_file_async, pause_bg_audio_file, resume_bg_audio_file.

PCM streaming:

Method	Description
stream.open_fg_audio_stream_writer()	Stream raw PCM frames to the FG lane
stream.open_bg_audio_stream_writer()	Stream raw PCM frames to the BG lane
cancel_fg_audio_stream()	Stop a running FG stream
cancel_bg_audio_stream()	Stop a running BG stream

Examples:

robot.media.set_fg_audio_volume(1.0)

# Blocking playback (local file or URL)
robot.media.play_fg_audio_file("/home/qtrobot/audio/hello.wav")
robot.media.play_fg_audio_file("https://example.com/song.mp3")

# Non-blocking with cancel
h = robot.media.play_fg_audio_file_async("/home/qtrobot/audio/hello.wav")
time.sleep(3)
h.cancel()

# Pause and resume
h = robot.media.play_fg_audio_file_async("/home/qtrobot/audio/long.wav")
time.sleep(5)
robot.media.pause_fg_audio_file()
time.sleep(2)
robot.media.resume_fg_audio_file()
h.wait()

# Stream raw PCM (16-bit mono 16 kHz sine wave)
from luxai.magpie.frames import AudioFrameRaw

writer = robot.media.stream.open_fg_audio_stream_writer()
frame = AudioFrameRaw(channels=1, sample_rate=16000, bit_depth=16, data=pcm_bytes)
writer.write(frame)

---

Media — Video

Two video lanes (FG and BG) for file playback or raw RGBA frame streaming. FG supports a transparency alpha channel.

robot.media.<method>(...)
robot.media.stream.<stream_method>(...)

Method	Returns	Description
play_fg_video_file(uri, *, speed, with_audio)	bool	Play FG video file (blocking)
play_fg_video_file_async(uri, ...)	ActionHandle	Play FG video file (non-blocking)
pause_fg_video_file() / resume_fg_video_file()	—	Pause / resume FG file
set_fg_video_alpha(value)	—	FG transparency [0.0 transparent … 1.0 opaque]
cancel_fg_video_stream()	—	Stop the FG stream
play_bg_video_file(uri, ...)	bool	Play BG video file (blocking)
play_bg_video_file_async(uri, ...)	ActionHandle	Play BG video file (non-blocking)
stream.open_fg_video_stream_writer()	writer	Stream RGBA frames to FG lane
stream.open_bg_video_stream_writer()	writer	Stream RGBA frames to BG lane

Example:

from luxai.magpie.frames import ImageFrameRaw

# Play a video file non-blocking
h = robot.media.play_bg_video_file_async("/home/qtrobot/video/intro.avi")
time.sleep(3)
h.cancel()

# Stream custom RGBA frames
robot.media.set_fg_video_alpha(0.0)  # start transparent
writer = robot.media.stream.open_fg_video_stream_writer()

frame = ImageFrameRaw(data=rgba_bytes, format="raw",
                      width=400, height=280, channels=4, pixel_format="RGBA")
writer.write(frame)
robot.media.set_fg_video_alpha(1.0)  # fade in

---

Speaker

Master speaker volume control (affects all audio output).

robot.speaker.<method>(...)

Method	Returns	Description
get_volume()	float	Current master volume [0.0, 1.0]
set_volume(value)	bool	Set master volume
mute()	bool	Mute the speaker
unmute()	bool	Unmute the speaker

robot.speaker.set_volume(0.8)
vol = robot.speaker.get_volume()
robot.speaker.mute()
robot.speaker.unmute()

---

Microphone

Access to the internal mic array (up to 5 processed channels) and an external mic. Includes VAD (voice activity detection) events and DSP tuning parameters.

robot.microphone.<method>(...)
robot.microphone.stream.<stream_method>(...)

Tuning:

Method	Returns	Description
get_int_tuning()	dict	All readable Respeaker DSP parameters
set_int_tuning(name, value)	bool	Set a single DSP parameter

Audio streams (outbound — robot sends audio to you):

Stream method	Frame type	Description
stream.open_int_audio_ch0_reader(...)	AudioFrameRaw	Internal mic channel 0 (processed/ASR)
stream.open_int_audio_ch1_reader(...)	AudioFrameRaw	Channel 1
stream.open_int_audio_ch2_reader(...)	AudioFrameRaw	Channel 2
stream.open_int_audio_ch3_reader(...)	AudioFrameRaw	Channel 3
stream.open_int_audio_ch4_reader(...)	AudioFrameRaw	Channel 4
stream.open_ext_audio_ch0_reader(...)	AudioFrameRaw	External mic channel 0
stream.on_int_event(callback, ...)	DictFrame	VAD + direction-of-arrival events

Examples:

import wave
from luxai.magpie.frames import AudioFrameRaw, DictFrame

# Read DSP tuning params
params = robot.microphone.get_int_tuning()
robot.microphone.set_int_tuning("AGCONOFF", 1.0)   # enable AGC

# Record microphone audio to a .wav file
reader = robot.microphone.stream.open_int_audio_ch0_reader(queue_size=10)
first: AudioFrameRaw = reader.read(timeout=3.0)

with wave.open("recording.wav", "wb") as wf:
    wf.setnchannels(first.channels)
    wf.setsampwidth(first.bit_depth // 8)
    wf.setframerate(first.sample_rate)
    wf.writeframes(first.data)
    deadline = time.monotonic() + 5.0
    while time.monotonic() < deadline:
        frame = reader.read(timeout=1.0)
        if frame:
            wf.writeframes(frame.data)

# VAD + direction-of-arrival events
def on_event(frame: DictFrame):
    evt = frame.value
    if evt.get("activity"):
        print(f"Voice detected — DOA: {evt.get('direction')}°")

robot.microphone.stream.on_int_event(on_event)

---

Plugin System

Plugins extend the SDK with additional hardware or services that are not part of the robot's core firmware. Enable a plugin before using its API.

# Load a plugin running locally on the same machine
robot.enable_plugin_local("asr-azure")

# Load a plugin running on another host (e.g. a camera node)
robot.enable_plugin_zmq("realsense-driver", endpoint="tcp://192.168.1.150:50655")

Once enabled, the plugin's APIs are available under the corresponding namespace (robot.asr, robot.camera).

---

Camera (RealSense)

Requires the realsense-driver plugin running on the robot or a separate host.

robot.enable_plugin_zmq("realsense-driver", endpoint="tcp://<host>:50655")

RPC methods:

Method	Returns	Description
camera.get_color_intrinsics()	dict	RGB camera intrinsics
camera.get_depth_intrinsics()	dict	Depth camera intrinsics
camera.get_depth_scale()	float	Depth scale factor (m/unit)

Stream methods:

Method	Description
camera.stream.open_color_reader(...)	Read RGB frames
camera.stream.open_depth_reader(...)	Read depth frames
camera.stream.on_acceleration(callback)	Subscribe to IMU acceleration events

Example:

robot.enable_plugin_zmq("realsense-driver", endpoint="tcp://192.168.1.150:50655")

intrinsics = robot.camera.get_color_intrinsics()
scale = robot.camera.get_depth_scale()
print(f"Depth scale: {scale} m/unit")

color_reader = robot.camera.stream.open_color_reader()
frame = color_reader.read(timeout=3.0)

---

ASR — Azure Speech

Requires the asr-azure plugin and the luxai-robot[asr-azure] extras to be installed.

pip install "luxai-robot[asr-azure]"

robot.enable_plugin_local("asr-azure")

RPC methods:

Method	Returns	Description
asr.configure_azure(region, subscription, *, continuous_mode, use_vad)	bool	Configure Azure Speech credentials
asr.recognize_azure()	dict	Single recognition (blocking)
asr.recognize_azure_async()	ActionHandle[dict]	Single recognition (non-blocking)

Stream methods:

Method	Description
asr.stream.on_azure_event(callback)	Subscribe to recognition lifecycle events
asr.stream.on_azure_speech(callback)	Subscribe to recognized speech results

Example:

from luxai.magpie.frames import StringFrame, DictFrame

robot.enable_plugin_local("asr-azure")
robot.asr.configure_azure(
    region="westeurope",
    subscription="<your-key>",
    continuous_mode=True,
    use_vad=True,
)

def on_event(frame: StringFrame):
    print("ASR event:", frame.value)

def on_speech(frame: DictFrame):
    print("Recognized:", frame.value)

robot.asr.stream.on_azure_event(on_event)
robot.asr.stream.on_azure_speech(on_speech)

# Or use a single blocking recognition
result = robot.asr.recognize_azure()
print(result)

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Examples

Ready-to-run examples are in the examples/ directory:

File	Demonstrates
tts_examples.py	List engines, say text, cancel speech, SSML, voices
face_examples.py	List emotions, play animations, control eye gaze
gesture_examples.py	List gestures, play, record, and store gesture files
motor_examples.py	List motors, torque on/off, homing, joint streams
media_audio_examples.py	File playback, online radio, raw PCM streaming
media_video_examples.py	Video file playback, RGBA frame streaming
speaker_examples.py	Volume control, mute/unmute
microphone_example.py	Record to WAV, VAD events, DSP tuning
camera_example.py	Camera intrinsics, color stream (RealSense plugin)
asr_azure_example.py	Continuous speech recognition (Azure plugin)

Each example connects to the robot, demonstrates a set of APIs, and exits cleanly on Ctrl+C.

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License

This project is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0 (LGPL-3.0). See the LICENSE file for the full text.

© LuxAI S.A.