Interface and Application Programming

use processing

I use the processing to code for my interface programming

homepage of processing.

The tuitorial I was followed - since I wanted to make a application for my distance input devices - the graph might be the best fitting module.

Here is what I code

import processing.serial.*;
Serial myPort;
int xPos = 1;
float inByte = 0;
void setup () {
  size(800, 600);
  myPort = new Serial(this,"/dev/tty.usbserial-A50285BI", 9600);
  //change your serial port
  myPort.bufferUntil('\n');
  // set inital background:
  background(0);
}
void draw () {
  stroke(127, 34, 255);
  line(xPos, height, xPos, height - inByte);
  if (xPos >= width) {
    xPos = 0;
    background(0);
  } else {
    xPos++;
  }
}
void serialEvent (Serial myPort) {
  String inString = myPort.readStringUntil('\n');
  if (inString != null) {
    inString = trim(inString);
    inByte = float(inString);
    println(inByte);
    inByte = map(inByte, 0, 100, 0, height);
    //change the maximum of the height
  }
}
                            
                            

use the code:

ls /dev/tty*
                            

in the terminal to find the serial port and replace it to "myPort" in the code

And here is a short video of it:

I remake one through the processing

import processing.serial.*;
Serial myPort;
float distance;
int xposition;
float lastposition = 0;
float nowposition;
void setup(){
  size(800,600);
  myPort = new Serial(this,"/dev/tty.usbserial-A50285BI", 9600);
  background(255);
}
void draw(){
line(xposition, height - lastposition, xposition, height - nowposition);
  if ( myPort.available() > 0) {
    distance = myPort.read();
    nowposition = distance;
  }
  if (xposition >= width) {
    xposition = 0;
    background(255);
  } else {
    xposition++;
    lastposition = nowposition;
  }
}

use python

Then I tried using python to build a user-interface.

the tutorial for Python.

here is what I code for the python:

import serial
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
connected = False
ser = serial.Serial('/dev/tty.usbserial-A50285BI', 9600) 
while not connected:
    serin = ser.read()
    connected = True
plt.ion() 
length = 500  
x = [0]*length   
y = [0]*length
xline, = plt.plot(x)   
yline, = plt.plot(y)
plt.ylim(0,100)
for i in range(length): 
    data = ser.readline()    
    sep = data.split() 
    x.append(int(sep[0])) 
    y.append(int(sep[0]))
    del x[0]
    del y[0]
    xline.set_xdata(np.arange(len(x)))
    yline.set_xdata(np.arange(len(y)))
    xline.set_ydata(x) 
    yline.set_ydata(y)
    plt.pause(0.001)    
    plt.draw()     
rows = zip(x, y)      
row_arr = np.array(rows) 
ser.close()
                            

And here is what I got:

to run this file, code in the terminal:

sudo pip install pyserial
                            

and install numpy.

code in the terminal:

pip install -U --force-reinstall numpy matplotlib pyzmq jinja2 ipython
                            

if you got:

RuntimeError: Python is not installed as a framework.
The Mac OS X backend will not be ableto function correctly if Python is not installed as a framework. 
See the Pythondocumentation for more information on installing Python as a framework on Mac OS X.
Please either reinstall Python as a framework, or try one of the other backends.
If you are Working with Matplotlib in a virtual enviroment 
see 'Working with Matplotlib in Virtual environments' in the Matplotlib FAQ
                            

I find solution in a website.

you can use:

find ~/.matplotlib
                            

to find where it is located

if you got:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "interface.py", line 4, in <module>
    from drawnow import *
ImportError: No module named drawnow
                            

got drawnow from github

or code in the terminal:

pip install drawnow