from optoforce import OptoForce

A package which simplifies connecting to and reading from optoforce sensors, using Python

This is mainly here to accompany my blog posts on communicating with embedded systems using python, where the optoforce sensor is an example. I hope this package is simple enough to serve as a template for others. I see that there are other packages on GitHub which help with this

I don't imagine it'll have many users, since the optoforce website redirects to another company which doesn't even mention them, and that company's optoforce page is pretty blank. BUT I use one, so perhaps there are others?

Installation

python -m pip install optoforce

Usage

From a python script:

from optoforce import OptoForce

with OptoForce(speed_hz=100, filter_hz=15, reset_on_thing=False) as force_sensor:
    fx, fy, fx = force_sensor.read(only_latest_data=False)

    do_stuff_with_force_readings(fx, fy, fz)

Or from the command line, to log to a file:

$ python -m optoforce.py --filename force-data.csv

Optoforce models supported

Only the single-channel 3 axis force sensor, though adding support for the others should be straightforward

Sources

OptoForce General DAQ - USB,CAN,UART - v1.7.pdf was used to implement this module

The force scale parameters are from SensitivityReport-PFH0A052.pdf

A friend mentioned that I might not be allowed to share those docs, since the company is quite secretive, and I unfortunately haven't seen them online

Common bugs

If you get permission errors when trying to open the serial port and you run linux, try running the code below (source)

$ sudo chmod 666 /dev/ttyACM0  # replace with your serial port

Publishing a new version

Install flit, which makes publishing packages ridiculously easy. Next, increase the __version__ number in optoforce/__init__.py. Then, create a (local) tag for the commit and publish:

# make a local tag with message "release v0.0.1"
$ git tag -a v0.0.1 -m "release v0.0.1"
# push local tag to remote repo
$ git push origin v0.0.1
# generate files into dist/ and upload them to pypi
$ flit publish