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Raspberry Pi Python Mates Controller Library

Introduction

This library is developed to easily control Breadboard Mates modules from a Raspberry Pi Computer. This is based on the Python Mates Controller library. Therefore, all methods are directly derived from it.

Supported Devices

This library is developed for Python3 and designed to be used with any Raspberry Pi with the BBM display module connected to the GPIO pins. It is possible to connect BBM display modules to Raspberry Pi via USB connection using a BBM Programmer or similar. However, for this case, it is recommended to use the BBM Python Mates Controller Library instead.

Installation

This library can be installed from the Python Packaging Index (PyPI) by running the command:

pip3 install rpi-mates-controller

Constructors

This section serves to provide brief discussion about the constructors that can be used to initialize the library.

MatesController(portName, resetFunction, debugStream, debugFileLength)

Constructs all the necessary attributes associated with an instance of a Mates Controller Object.

Parameters Type Description
portName str the name of the port to be opened. Example: /dev/ttyUSB0 for Linux
resetPinIndex
(optional)		 int, str index of pin connected to reset pin of Mates device
resetActiveHigh
(optional)		 bool whether the reset pin is driven from logic low or logic high to reset the device
debugStream
(optional)		 io.TextIOWrapper Text file object to write debugging code to, supply of none will result in no debugging. Ex. sys.stdout, open('log.txt', 'r+')
debugFileLength
(optional)		 int Determines the extent of debug history kept with respect to lines in a file, given a circular log. O indicates full history kept with no circular logging. Users must be careful here to manage storage space effectively

Note

If a debug file is specified, it should be opened using either 'w+' or 'r+' before running the begin() function of this library.

Example 
# Creates a new instance named 'mates' which utilizes: 
#  - /dev/ttyS0 as the serial port
#  - with default reset pin (4) and no output stream
MatesController mates = MatesController("/dev/ttyS0") 

# Creates a new instance named 'mates' which utilizes: 
#  - /dev/ttyS0 as the serial port
#  - pin 4 as the reset pin
#  - LOW pulse as active pulse
MatesController mates = MatesController("/dev/ttyS0", resetPinIndex=4, resetActiveHigh=False)

# Creates a new instance named 'mates' which utilizes: 
#  - /dev/ttyS0 as the serial port
#  - output_file as debug file stream
#  - debugFileLength of zero indicating no circular logging
MatesController mates = MatesController("/dev/ttyS0", debugStream=output_file, debugFileLength=0)

Methods

All methods are carried over from Python Mates Controller library instance.