pasco 0.2.1

PASCO Python API for Wireless Sensors

README

This library allows PASCO Wireless sensors to work with Python

What is this repository for?

• PASCO Python Library
• Version 0.1.0

How do I get started?

pip install pasco

In your project file, import the device class and/or the code node device class

from pasco.pasco_ble_device import PASCOBLEDevice
from pasco.code_node_device import CodeNodeDevice
from pasco.character_library import Icons

Compatible Sensors

• //code.Node
• Wireless Acceleration Altimter
• Wireless CO2
• Wireless Conductivity
• Wireless Current
• Wireless Diffraction
• Wireless Drop Counter
• Wireless Force Acceleration
• Wireless Light
• Wireless Load Cell
• Wireless Magnetic Field
• Wireless Motion
• Wireless O2
• Wireless Optical DO
• Wireless pH
• Wireless Pressure
• Wireless Rotary Motion
• Wireless Smart Cart
• Wireless Temperature
• Wireless Voltage
• Wireless Weather

Testing

• Wireless Blood Pressure
• Wireless Soil Moisture

Connecting to a sensor

Device Structure

Device: A physical PASCO wireless sensor is a device
Sensor: A device can have multiple sensors built in
Measurements: A sensor can offer multiple measurements

Example

A Wireless Weather Sensor would be a "device". The "device" has 4 sensors
['WirelessWeatherSensor', 'WirelessGPSSensor', 'WirelessLightSensor', 'WirelessCompass']

Each "sensor" can have multiple measurements

• WirelessWeatherSensor: ['Temperature', 'RelativeHumidity', 'AbsoluteHumidity', 'BarometricPressure', 'WindSpeed', 'DewPoint', 'WindChill', 'Humidex']
• WirelessGPSSensor: ['SatelliteCount', 'Latitude', 'Longitude', 'Altitude', 'Speed']
• WirelessLightSensor: ['UVIndex', 'Illuminance', 'SolarIrradiance', 'SolarPAR']
• WirelessCompass: ['WindDirection', 'MagneticHeading', 'TrueHeading']

Available Commands

device = PASCOBLEDevice() Create a Bluetooth device object
device.scan(sensor_name_filter: string [optional]) Scan for available bluetooth devices. Returns a list of available devices
device.connect(ble_device: BLEDevice) Connect to a device using the object returned from the scan command.
device.connect_by_id(pasco_device_id: string) Connect to a device using the name returned from the scan command.
device.disconnect() Disconnect from a device
device.is_connected Returns true/false to tell device connection state
device.get_sensor_list() Get a list of sensors that a device has
device.get_measurement_list(sensor_name: string [optional]) Returns all the measurements that a device has
device.read_data(measurement: string) Get a single reading from a single measurement
device.read_data_list(measurements: List[string]) Get a list of readings for multiple measurements
device.get_measurement_unit(measurement) Get the default units for a single measurement
device.get_measurement_unit_list(measurements: List[string]) Get a list of default units for multiple measurements

PASCO's Bluetooth sensors will turn off after 5 minutes of no activity. To keep the device on, call the device.keepalive() method. This will keep the connection active without requesting any new data.

---

Step 1: Create an object for the device

my_sensor = PASCOBLEDevice()

If you know the device's 6-digit serial ID (printed on the device) you can quickly scan and connect using the command:
my_sensor.connect_by_id('111-123')

Otherwise perform Steps 2 & 3 to scan/connect.

Step 2: Scan for available bluetooth (BLE) sensors

my_sensor.scan() # Returns list of BLE devices found in the scan.
my_sensor.scan('Temperature') # Returns a list of Temperature sensors found

How to use:
found_devices = my_sensor.scan()

Step 3: Connect to a BLE sensor found from the scan

The scan command will return a list of found devices. Iterate through that list to determine which device you want to connect to.

One way is to print the list and prompt the user like this:

for i, ble_device in enumerate(found_devices):
    print(f'{i}: {ble_device.name}')

selected_device = input('Select a device: ')
my_sensor.connect(found_devices[int(selected_device)])

Example of how to scan/connect

my_sensor = PASCOBLEDevice()
found_devices = my_sensor.scan()

print('\nDevices Found')
for i, ble_device in enumerate(found_devices):
    display_name = ble_device.name.split('>')
    print(f'{i}: {display_name[0]}')

# Auto connect if only one sensor found
selected_device = input('Select a device: ') if len(found_devices) > 1 else 0
ble_device = found_devices[int(selected_device)]

my_sensor.connect(ble_device)

Step 4: View Device Sensor(s)

A device can have one or more on-board sensors. To view the list of sensors use the command my_sensor.get_sensor_list(). This returns a list of sensor names that a device has.

Step 5: View Device Measurement(s)

Each sensor in the device can have one or more measurements. If you want to view all the measurements that a device has, use the command my_sensor.get_measurement_list().

To view only the measurements that a sensor has, use the sensor name (from the list in Step 4) like this my_sensor.get_measurement_list('WirelessWeatherSensor').

Step 6: Start collecting data!

The measurement variable names come from Step 4

To read the Temperature
my_temperature_sensor.read_data('Temperature')

To read the RelativeHumidity
my_weather_sensor.read_data('RelativeHumidity')

To read a multiple measurements at one time
my_weather_sensor.read_data_list(['Temperature','RelativeHumidity'])

To get the units for a single measurement
my_temperature_sensor.get_measurement_unit('Temperature')

To get the units for a list of measurements
my_weather_sensor.get_measurement_unit_list(['Temperature','RelativeHumidity'])

---

//code.Node Specific Commands

In order to connect to a //code.Node we must import the CodeNodeDevice object and (optionally) the character library which allows a user to display icons on the 5x5 LED Array.

from pasco.code_node_device import CodeNodeDevice
from pasco.character_library import Icons

my_code_node = CodeNodeDevice() Create //code.Node Bluetooth device object
my_code_node.set_led_in_array() Set an individual LED in the 5x5 LED Array
my_code_node.set_leds_in_array() Set multiple LEDs in the 5x5 LED Array
my_code_node.set_rgb_led() Set the RGB LED
my_code_node.set_sound_frequency() Set the speaker frequency
my_code_node.scroll_text_in_array Scroll text on the 5x5 LED Array
my_code_node.show_image_in_array() Display an image in the 5x5 LED Array
my_code_node.reset() Reset all of the //code.Node outputs

Set LEDs on the 5x5 Display

x, y coordinates on the //code.Node 5x5 LED display
---------------------------
| 0,0  1,0  2,0  3,0  4,0 |
| 0,1  1,1  2,1  3,1  4,1 |
| 0,2  1,2  2,2  3,2  4,2 |
| 0,3  1,3  2,3  3,3  4,3 |
| 0,4  1,4  2,4  3,4  4,4 |
---------------------------
intensity range is 0-255

Set one LED

code_node_device.set_led_in_array(x, y, intensity)
Example: code_node_device.set_led_in_array(2, 0, 255) will turn the top center LED on at max brightness

Set multiple LEDs at once

code_node_device.set_leds_in_array(led_list, intensity)

led_list = [[4,4], [0,4], [2,2]]
code_node_device.set_leds_in_array(led_list, 128)

Set the RGB LED

code_node_device.set_rgb_led(r, g, b)
r, g, b indicate brightness ranges between 0 and 255.

r = 20
g = 100
b = 200
code_node_device.set_rgb_led(r, g, b)

Turn the speaker on/off

code_node_device.set_sound_frequency(frequency)
Send frequency (int) in Hz

code_node_device.set_sound_frequency(440)

Turn the speaker off

code_node_device.set_sound_frequency(0)

Scroll Text on the 5x5 LED Array

code_node_device.scroll_text_in_array(text)
This will scroll the text on the //code.Node's display

code_node_device.scroll_text_in_array('HELLO WORLD')

The character library

code_node_device.show_image_in_array(Icons().smile)
If we import the Icons class from the character_library to our project we can show unique images on the 5x5 LED Array. Refer to the library file to see available options. Examples:

code_node_device.show_image_in_array(Icons().smile)
code_node_device.show_image_in_array(Icons().heart)

Reset the code_node outputs

code_node_device.reset()
Turn the 5x5 LED display, RGB LED and speaker off.

Let's put it all together

Example 1: One shot read

Connect to a Wireless Temperature Sensor and get one reading:

from pasco.pasco_ble_device import PASCOBLEDevice

def main():
    temp_sensor = PASCOBLEDevice()
    temp_sensor.connect_by_id('055-808') # Your sensor's 6-digit ID

    temp_value = temp_sensor.read_data('Temperature')
    temp_units = temp_sensor.get_measurement_unit('Temperature')

    print(f'{temp_value} {temp_units}')

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Example 2: Scan/select a sensor and read data

Scan for a sensor and get the current temperature. In this example we can use a Temperature, Weather or //code.Node to read the temperature measurement. We do not need to specify a device type. We will continuously read and display the result.

from pasco.pasco_ble_device import PASCOBLEDevice

def main():
    my_sensor = PASCOBLEDevice()
    found_devices = my_sensor.scan()

    print('\nDevices Found')
    for i, ble_device in enumerate(found_devices):
        display_name = ble_device.name.split('>') # Cut off the unnecessary bits of the name
        print(f'{i}: {display_name[0]}')

    # Auto connect if only one sensor found
    selected_device = input('Select a device: ') if len(found_devices) > 1 else 0

    ble_device = found_devices[int(selected_device)]

    my_sensor.connect(ble_device)

    # Endless loop that will read/display the data
    while True:
        current_temp = my_sensor.read_data('Temperature')
        print(f'The current temp is {current_temp}')

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Example 3: Connect to multiple sensors

We can also connect to multiple sensors. Here we are connecting to a //code.Node and Wireless Force Sensor. We are also using //code.Node specific commands and testing the Character Library.

from pasco.pasco_ble_device import PASCOBLEDevice
from pasco.code_node_device import CodeNodeDevice
from pasco.character_library import Icons

def main():

    code_node_device = CodeNodeDevice()
    found_devices = code_node_device.scan('//code.Node')

    if found_devices:
        for i, ble_device in enumerate(found_devices):
            print(f'{i}: {ble_device.name}')

        selected_device = input('Select a device: ') if len(found_devices) > 1 else 0
        code_node_device.connect(found_devices[int(selected_device)])
    else:
        print("No Devices Found")
        exit(1)

    force_accel_device = PASCOBLEDevice()
    found_devices = force_accel_device.scan('Force')

    if found_devices:
        for i, ble_device in enumerate(found_devices):
            print(f'{i}: {ble_device.name}')

        selected_device = input('Select a device: ') if len(found_devices) > 1 else 0
        force_accel_device.connect(found_devices[int(selected_device)])
    else:
        print("No Devices Found")
        exit(1)

    code_node_device.reset()
    light_on = False

    while True:
        if force_accel_device.read_data('Force') > 10:
            if light_on == False:
                code_node_device.set_rgb_led(100,100,100)
                code_node_device.set_sound_frequency(200)
                code_node_device.show_image_in_array(Icons().alien)
                light_on = True
            else:
                code_node_device.reset()
                light_on = False
            while force_accel_device.read_data('Force') > 10:
                pass

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()