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Python Programming for Arduino

By : Pratik Desai

4.6 (22)

Python Programming for Arduino

4.6 (22)

By: Pratik Desai

Overview of this book

This is the book for you if you are a student, hobbyist, developer, or designer with little or no programming and hardware prototyping experience, and you want to develop IoT applications. If you are a software developer or a hardware designer and want to create connected devices applications, then this book will help you get started.

Preface

Preface

What this book covers

What you need for this book

Who this book is for

Conventions

Reader feedback

Customer support

Free Chapter

1. Getting Started with Python and Arduino

1. Getting Started with Python and Arduino

Introduction to Python

Installing Python and Setuptools

The fundamentals of Python programming

Python operators and built-in types

Introduction to Arduino

Getting started with the Arduino IDE

Introduction to Arduino programming

Summary

2. Working with the Firmata Protocol and the pySerial Library

2. Working with the Firmata Protocol and the pySerial Library

Connecting the Arduino board

Introducing the Firmata protocol

Getting started with pySerial

Bridging pySerial and Firmata

Summary

3. The First Project – Motion-triggered LEDs

3. The First Project – Motion-triggered LEDs

Motion-triggered LEDs – the project description

The project goal

Method 1 – using a standalone Arduino sketch

Method 2 – using Python and Firmata

Summary

4. Diving into Python-Arduino Prototyping

4. Diving into Python-Arduino Prototyping

Prototyping

Working with pyFirmata methods

Prototyping templates using Firmata

Prototyping with the I2C protocol

Summary

5. Working with the Python GUI

5. Working with the Python GUI

Learning Tkinter for GUI design

Your first Python GUI program

The Button() widget – interfacing GUI with Arduino and LEDs

The Entry() widget – providing manual user inputs

The Scale() widget – adjusting the brightness of an LED

The Grid geometry manager

The Checkbutton() widget – selecting LEDs

The Label() widget – monitoring I/O pins

Remaking your first Python-Arduino project with a GUI

Summary

6. Storing and Plotting Arduino Data

6. Storing and Plotting Arduino Data

Working with files in Python

Using CSV files to store data

Storing Arduino data in a CSV file

Getting started with matplotlib

Plotting random numbers using matplotlib

Plotting data from a CSV file

Plotting real-time Arduino data

Integrating plots in the Tkinter window

Summary

7. The Midterm Project – a Portable DIY Thermostat

7. The Midterm Project – a Portable DIY Thermostat

Thermostat – the project description

Stage 1 – prototyping the thermostat

Stage 2 – using a Raspberry Pi for the deployable thermostat

Summary

8. Introduction to Arduino Networking

8. Introduction to Arduino Networking

Arduino and the computer networking

Developing web applications using Python

RESTful web applications with Arduino and Python

MQTT – A lightweight messaging protocol

Getting started with MQTT on Arduino and Python

Summary

9. Arduino and the Internet of Things

9. Arduino and the Internet of Things

Getting started with the IoT

The IoT cloud platforms

Developing cloud applications using Python and Xively

Your own cloud platform for the IoT

Summary

10. The Final Project – a Remote Home Monitoring System

10. The Final Project – a Remote Home Monitoring System

The design methodology for IoT projects

Project overview

Stage 1 – a monitoring station using Arduino

Stage 2 – a control center using Python and the Raspberry Pi

Stage 3 – a web application using Xively, Python, and Amazon cloud service

Testing and troubleshooting

Extending your remote home monitoring system

Summary

11. Tweet-a-PowerStrip

11. Tweet-a-PowerStrip

Project overview

Stage 1 – a smart power strip with Arduino and relays

Stage 2 – the Python code to process tweets

Testing and troubleshooting

Extending the project with additional features

Summary

Index

Index

Customer Reviews

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The fundamentals of Python programming

If you have previous experience of working with any other programming language, Python is very easy to get started with. If you have never done programming before, this section will walk you through some of the basics of Python. If you have already worked with Python, you should skip this section and move on to the next one.

Assuming that the setup instructions are followed correctly, let's open the Python interpreter by executing the Python command at the terminal or the command prompt. You should get results similar to those displayed in the following screenshot. If you have installed Python by downloading the setup files from the website, you should have the Python integrated development environment (IDLE) installed as well. You can also start the Python interpreter by opening its IDLE from the location where it was installed.

As you can see, after printing some system information, the interpreter opens a prompt with three greater-than signs (>>>), which is also known as the primary prompt. The interpreter is now in the interactive mode and it is ready to execute scripts from the prompt.

The fundamentals of Python programming

To close the interactive mode of the Python interpreter, run the either exit() or quit(), at the primary prompt. Another method to exit from the interactive mode is to use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + D.

Note

Note that Python's built-in functions are case sensitive. This means the following:

exit() ≠ EXIT() ≠ Exit()

The official Python website provides comprehensive tutorials for beginners to get started with Python programming. It is highly recommended that you visit the official Python tutorials at https://docs.python.org/2/tutorial/index.html if you are looking for detailed programming tutorials as compared to the upcoming brief overviews.

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