Version 0.1 alpha
polargraph python communicator and driver
The polargraph project can be found at http://polargraph.co.uk and is a wonderfull project
The polargraph controler is build with the java framework processing, wich is an amazing tool for art and rapid prototyping.
But : * it require to have a computer attached to the arduino to drive the polargraph * the gui is so heavy that it turns my macbook pro into an hoven. (cpu 100%) * i want to use a wifi router with openwrt and a usb port to wirelessly pilot the polargraph
As : * the communication protocol is damn simple and build upon the usb/serial of the arduino * the polargraph controler can export the serial commands in a file
I just wrote this small python script which :
* open a serial communication with the polargraph
* send one line of a file for each 'READY' message, check the ACK and then send a EXEC
* send a pen lift message at the end of file to be sure security (optional)
* a pivotal tracker roadmap is availlable here : https://www.pivotaltracker.com/projects/638973
* a pivotal to github bridge is set so please add the id of the related story in pivotal in the comment of the commit ( [#000000] to link to a story and [fix #0000000] to mark it as fixed ) if you submit code to this project. You'll find more info in the API help section of pivotal tracker.
* Install Python (2.x) ( http://python.org/ )
* Install pySerial ( http://pyserial.sourceforge.net/ )
* Open the polargraph controler as you usually do, create your whole commands queue and export it to a file
* Open the _main.py file
* Set the variables to your needs ( especially the port and polarfile )
* open a terminal and launch the script ( $ python _main.py )
* enjoy ( if you didn't set the debug var to True the script is silent while working )
* The whole shit is released without any guarantee and is put under MIT licence ( this version -> http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT )
(c)2012 - Edwin Joassart < edwin AT aethernet DOT eu > - aethernet.eu