Is there a way to "compile" Python code onto an Arduino (Uno)? - python

I have a robotics type project with an Arduino Uno, and to make a long story short, I am experimenting with some AI algorithms. However, I need to implement some high level matrix algorithms that would be quite simple using NumPy/SciPy, but they are an utter nightmare in C or C++. Even with the libraries out there, this is just getting ridiculous.
Is there any way I can do this project in Python? I think I heard something about the Mega having this capability, but I have an Uno, and replacing it is not an option at this point (that would set the project back quite a bit.) Also, I heard somethings about using Python to communicate to the Arduino via USB, but I cannot have the USB cable in while the thing is running. I need to be able to upload the program and be done with it.
Are there any options out there, or have I just reached a dead end?

There was a talk about using Python with robotics at this years PyConAU called Ah! I see you have the machine that goes 'BING'! by Dr. Graeme Cross.
The only option he recommended for using Python on a microcontroller board was PyMite which I think also goes by the name of Python-On-A-Chip.
It has been ported to a range of boards - specifically he mentions the Arduino Mega which you said is not an option for you, but it is possible it is supported on other Arduino boards.
However, because it is a "batteries not included" version of Python it is more than likely that you will have a real problem getting numpy/scipy etc up and running.
As other posters have suggested, implementing in C might be the path of least resistence.
Update: again, not specifically for Arduino, but pyMCU looks to provide python on a chip. The author states he may look at developing an Arduino version of pyMCU if there is enough interest.

I've started work on a "Little Python" to C++ (called Pyxie - a play on Py CC- Pyc-C) compiler, with the specific aim of compiling a sane subset of python to C++ such that it can run on an arduino.
This is far from complete at time of writing (0.0.16), but it can currently compile a very small subset of python - enough for the arduino "blink" example to run. To support this, it has a compilation profile - which essentially means "compile using the arduino toolchain."
A program it can compile looks like this:
led = 13
pinMode(led, OUTPUT)
while True:
digitalWrite(led, HIGH)
delay(1000)
digitalWrite(led, LOW)
delay(1000)
This parses, performs analysis (like type inference, etc), compiles to C++, which is then compiled to a hex file, which you can load onto your device.
There's a long way to go before it's useful, but it is progressing and does have a roadmap/etc.
PyPI - http://pypi.python.org/pypi/pyxie
Homepage - http://www.sparkslabs.com/pyxie/index.html
In particular a key difference from Micropython (and PyMite) is that it's designed to compile to devices too small to run either implementation. (This also means it's very different from things like ShedSkin which while a Python to C++ compiler target larger execution environments)

It's going to be difficult to get any kind of Python script running directly on the Arduino uno.Reason is that it is an interpreted language, so you will need a interpreter on-board in addition to the plain text script. There is probably not going to be enough memory for all of thatin arduino uno.
What you can do best is to find a way to compile a Python script to native machine code (this is how C/C++ works). I have seen projects around to do something like that for other platforms, but (as far as I know) none which does it successfully for Arduino uno yet.
you can visit http://www.toptechboy.com/using-python-with-arduino-lessons/ for more.
wish this will help you.
thanks!

This is not a direct solution but in your circumstances If I were you, I would write the AI program on my computer and the rest of it in Arduino. after that I would write a flask server with my AI program. and then, port forward from my router to the local machine. finally, make requests from Arduino to the server.

Related

How to read a tag from PN532 in Python?

I want to experiment with the PN532 that comes connected with an arduino UNO. I have never touched anything similar, and in fact it took me quite a few tries to be able to play with LEDs on another arduino board I have.
Can someone provide me with a concrete example of reading data from the pn532 when I use a tag or card on it in Python?
Take a look at https://github.com/HubCityLabs/py532lib. The standard library is in C, somebody wrote a Python wrapper for the C library that you can use.
I did found a way that might be partially correct. Since Eugenes' answer does not provide a definitive way that we know will work, it cannot be considered a full answer so I will most probably accept this one if nothing else changes.
First of all since the PN532 does not continuously monitor for signals and emits data, we will have to program it the usual way in order for it to behave according to what we want to achieve.
This can be done using the same software that you program any other Arduino device.
Make sure you have chosen the correct port from the tools menu. If you don't know which port is that, in windows go to Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Information>Components>Ports>Serial. For Linux going to /dev/serial/by-id should do.
Then I would recommend using the examples provided by the manufacturer here. Make sure you choose the right connection type or else you will see no data coming from the device (Most probably you will want I2C).
Once that is done, and your device emits data each time a tag is used on it (check with a serial terminal configured at 115200 Baud rate) then you are ready to start working with python.
Again I recommend this module to read your data from the serial port. It even comes with a ready to use example of a wxWidgets terminal to read your data from the PN532. If of curse you use another python library and you think its better do say so in the comments.

Python in a webapp (client side)

This is part of some preliminary research and I am having a difficult time figuring out what options might be available or if this is even a situation where a solution even exists.
Essentially we have an existing python based simulation that we would like to make available to people via the web. It can be pretty processor intensive, so while we could just run the sim server side and write a client that connects to it, this would not be ideal.
Writing a UI in Flash/Flex or HTML5, not a problem. However, is there any way to keep the core simulation logic in python without having it live server side? Is there any existing way to embed python modules in either of these technologies?
Thanks all.
Pyjamas: Python->Javascript, set of widgets for use in a browser or a desktop
Skulpt: Python written in Javascript
Emscripten: C/C++ -> LLVM -> Javascript
Empythoned: Based on emscripten and cpython, working on a stdlib? There are bugs to file

Using python to control a phone with bluetooth

I would like to know if there are any API's for python to programmatically control a phone, like starting and ending calls, but also to record conversations.
I would also like to use the Headphones and Mic of the computer to talk over the phone.
Any info would be great, I tried googling for something, but nothing useful came up.
Be careful when using PyBluez! The results will actually depend on the BT-USB dongle you are using. Depending on the hardware(the BT chip in there), PyBluez will use one or another BT stack - for example there was one from WIDCOMM. Results will vary, as PyBluez is actually wrapping around those stacks - all of which are far from complete.
So, when you have a working project, be sure to know what actual BT stack you were using :)
For Python audio stuff, you could try this.
PyBluez is an effort to create python wrappers around system Bluetooth resources to allow Python developers to easily and quickly create Bluetooth applications.
Unfortunately I've not found a page dedicated to its features, but it could be a good starting point, whether everything you need is in its feature set, or if you could build your application upon it by extending it.
http://code.google.com/p/pybluez/

Accessing a Panatone Huey via Python

I have a Panatone Huey, a monitor calibration probe (device you attach to the monitor, and it gives you colour readings) - I want to get readings from the device in Python.
Having never written such a device driver before, I'm not sure where to start.
I've found are two open-source C/C++ projects that interface with the Heuy - ArgyllCMS and mcalib.
ArgyllCMS comes with a spotread command which returns readings from the device, although it only functions as an interactive command line tool, so running it via subprocess will not (easily) work.
The code ArgyllCMS uses to communicate with the device is in spectro/huey.c
Not tried it (only just found it while writing this question), but mcalib contains much less code, mainly just heuy.cpp - however it has a worrying number of FIXME comments and incomplete methods, and the code appears to have been automatically generated (unhelpful variable names)
There seems to be three options:
Modify spotread to work without any interactive prompts, call it via subprocess
Create a C-based Python module around huey.c or huey.cpp
Re-implement the interface using something like PyUSB
Being much more familiar with Python, I'm tempted to use PyUSB, but will this be substantially more work than wrapping existing code with the Python C API? Is there anything obvious in either of the C implementations that will not be easily doable in PyUSB?
Given the existence of spotread the easiest (though perhaps not the best) way to proceed would be to use pexpect. It allows you to interact with other command-line programs.

scripting fruityloops or propellerheads reason from VB or Python?

I have both Fruityloops and Propellerheads Reason software synths on my Windows PC.
Any way I can get at and script these from either Visual Basic or Python? Or at least send Midi messages to the synths from code?
Update : attempts to use something like a "midi-mapper" (thanks for link MusiGenesis) don't seem to work. I don't think Reason or FL Studio act like standard GM Midi synths.
Update 2 : If you're interested in this question, check out this too.
Both applications support MIDI. It's just that they don't see each other.
In order to send messages via MIDI between applications, you need to install a virtual midi port.
There are several freely available, but this one works: http://www.midiox.com/zip/MidiYokeSetup.msi
You'll get a virtual MIDI output port that you can write to as if it's a normal MIDI device. In Fruity Loops or Rebirth you choose that port as the input. That's all you need to do to connect the programs.
It'll work like this:
Your Application --> Virtual MIDI Port --> FruityLoops
Note: This answer doesn't exactly answer the question you asked but it might achieve the result you want :)
You can author a VST plugin in Java using jVSTWrapper (http://jvstwrapper.sourceforge.net/). If you really wanted to use Python you could use Jython to interface to java and do it that way. Alternatively you could just write the plugin in Java or another scripting language for the JVM like Groovy.
I think both FL Studio and Reason can be configured as the default MIDI playback device. To send MIDI messages to either from VB.NET, you'll need to PInvoke the midiOutOpen, midiOutShortMsg and midiOutClose API calls. Here's a link to code samples:
http://www.answers.com/topic/midioutopen
They're for VB6, but they should be easy to translate to VB.NET.
I know FL Studio can be "driven" from a plugin authored for FL (or a VSTx plugin), but I think these are always written in C or C++.
Edit: I just learned that Windows Vista dropped the MIDI Mapper (which would have made setting up FL or Reason as the default MIDI device simple). Amazing. Here is a link I found with an alternative solution:
http://akkordwechsel.de/15-windows-vista-und-der-midi-mapper/
I just tried it out (it's just a *.CPL file that you double-click to run) and it appears to work (although the GM Synth is the only option available on my laptop, so I'm not sure if it will pick up FL or Reason as choices).
What you need is a VST MIDI scripter / scripting plugin to create a logic of MIDI events that can be sent to any MIDI channel. You would need to set a MIDI channel in FL for the VST instrument/effect you need to tweak its values. Google for it there are some plugins around and please share them back here if you find anything useful :)
You could write a Rewire host. Though, you will have to get a license (the license is free, but your application must be proprietary, so no open source).
Alternatively, you could interface through MIDI messages.
Finally, you could implement a dummy audio device which would route the audio to/from wherever you want or process it in some way.
I imagine all of these would be reasonably difficult. MIDI is probably the easiest of the three (I have no idea how easy or hard the Rewire protocol is to use).
When it comes to Reason, you can do with it to much because of it's closed architecture - you can use VST plugins (or any other type like DirectX ones) - your only option is to use MIDI.
Regarding Fruity Loops, you could write a VST plugin that can take an input from a scripting language (VB, Python or whatever) but in order to write such thing you would have to use Delphi or C++.
Alternatively, you can check out MAX made by Cycling74 - it's something like a IDE for music ;-) - and I'm pretty sure you can use Python with it.
There's an opensource music workstation, called Frinika, and you can script that in Javascript. (Insert / delete notes , change midi effects like pitch wheel etc.) It can import / export regular midi files, so it will work with Fruity loops or whatever else you have.
// Insert New
song.newLane("MyMidiLane", type("Midi"));
lane = song.getLane("MyMidiLane");
part = lane.newPart( time("10.0:000"), time("4.0:000") );
part.insertNote(note("c#3"), time("11.2:000"), time("2:0"), 120 );
part.insertNote(note("f3"), time("11.3:000"), time("1:0"), 100 );
part.insertNote(note("g#3"), time("11.3:000"), time("1:0"), 100 );
part.insertNote(note("b3"), time("11.3:000"), time("0:64"), 100 );
part.removeNote(note("f3"), time("11.3:000"));
part = song.newLane("MyTextLane",
type("Text")).newPart(time("24.0:000"), time("10.0:000"));
part.text = "This is the test text to be inserted.";
part.lane.parts[0].remove(); // remove initially inserted text-part
Another example for reading/changing notes:
lane = song.getLane("MyMidiLane");
// a lane has a fixed instrument assigned
lane.parts[0].notes[0].duration=64
lane.parts[0].notes[1].duration=32
lane.parts[0].notes[1].startTick=120
// Parts are blocks of notes that you can drag around together in the Frinika GUI.
// They're like patterns in trackers.
for (i in lane.parts[0].notes){
println("i: "+i+", n: "+noteName(lane.parts[0].notes[i].note));
println("i: "+i+", dur: "+lane.parts[0].notes[i].duration);
println("i: "+i+", startT: "+lane.parts[0].notes[i].startTick);
}
http://frinika.appspot.com/
It has a Java Webstart launcher as well, so you don't even have to
install.
It used to bundle the Javadoc documentation as well, but for some
reason their latest downloads don't include that. It's a pity, because
that's where the Javascript bindings are documented. So, now you have
to browse the source or build the Javadoc yourself. (It has some built-in examples that are accessible from the scripting window, you should check them out first. My first example is from there.)
Here is the sourcefile where you'll find the Javascript docs:
frinika Javascript doc/source
But there are other options as well. You can check out mingus too, which is a Python library for music theory and midi file handling. It requires Fluidsynth, and the demo apps require GamePython too, so it's a bit more complicated to setup than Frinika.
P.S.:
Frinika has a particular bug: when dragging around neighbouring notes, some might not sound the right length. You can help that by transposing forth and back the consecutive notes (fairly fast in piano roll view), or dragging the part that contains the notes forth and back. Restarting Frinika will also help, but that's the slower way. So this bug won't affect saved files, neither midi export.

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