SerialTalk: platform-independent symmetric communication library

This package facilitates communication between devices like Robots and peripheral embedded systems or monitors over a serial communication line. Sounds abstract? Think of connecting an OpenMV camera to a LEGO SPIKE Prime Robot. Or linking up two Pyboards.

Installation

For Python (PyPI)

Install from PyPI using pip:

pip install serialtalk

For MicroPython

Option 1: Using viperIDE.org (Recommended)

1. Go to viperIDE.org
2. Connect to your MicroPython device
3. Navigate to Tools > Package Manager
4. Click Install package via link
5. Enter: github:antonvh/SerialTalk

Option 2: Using mpremote

mpremote mip install github:antonvh/SerialTalk

Option 3: Using mip from device REPL

import mip
mip.install("github:antonvh/SerialTalk")

Usage

When you want default UART for the platform you're running on, just go: from serialtalk.auto import SerialTalk

When you want special channels like sockets or bluetooth, do it like this:

from serialtalk import SerialTalk
from serialtalk.sockets import ClientSocketSerial

ser = SerialTalk(ClientSocketSerial("127.0.0.1",8080))
ser.call('echo','read?')

Example with OpenMV H7

1. Copy the complete serialtalk directory to the OpenMV flash (not the whole SerialTalk, just the serialtalk subfolder)

2. Create a main.py with this code. It is an adaptation of the OpenMV Hello world

   import sensor, image, time
   from serialtalk.auto import SerialTalk
   
   sensor.reset()                      # Reset and initialize the sensor.
   sensor.set_pixformat(sensor.RGB565) # Set pixel format to RGB565 (or GRAYSCALE)
   sensor.set_framesize(sensor.QVGA)   # Set frame size to QVGA (320x240)
   sensor.skip_frames(time = 2000)     # Wait for settings take effect.
   clock = time.clock()                # Create a clock object to track the FPS.
   
   st = SerialTalk()                   # Create UART comm object
   def fps():                          # Create function to call from uart
       return clock.fps()
   st.add_command(fps,"repr")          # Add function to callable uart commands
   
   while(True):
       clock.tick()                    # Update the FPS clock.
       img = sensor.snapshot()         # Take a picture and return the image.
       st.process_uart()               # Process aurt calls
       print(clock.fps())              # Note: OpenMV Cam runs about half as fast when connected
                                       # to the IDE. The FPS should increase once disconnected.
   

3. On the SPIKE Prime Install mpy-robot-tools with the installer script. Note that the installer may seem unresponsive. Just have some patience.

4. Run this script on SPIKE Prime:

   from projects.mpy_robot_tools.serialtalk import SerialTalk
   from projects.mpy_robot_tools.mshub import MSHubSerial
   
   st = SerialTalk(MSHubSerial('F'))
   
   print(st.call('echo','Hello there OpenMV!'))
   print(st.call('fps'))
   

This should be the result:

Roadmap, todo

• test on esp8266 platform
• test on bt comm channels
• create pyserial/desktop channels