Tag Archives: python

OctoPrint installation on Orange PI PC – Python package installation

2017-11-21 admin

This article describes how to enable the Orange PI PC board to work as 3d printers network server.

A software that provides this functionality is OctoPrint

From the OctoPrint site we can download an image for Raspberry PI with the system already ready; in the case of the Orange PI PC we have to install and configure OctoPrint on a Linux image.

You can also use a Linux image available for Orange PI PC and run the steps related to OctoPrint package installation, but you have to check the prerequisites for Octoprint python package installation.

We instead built for this article an image using the Armban scripts.

As a first step, prepare the micro sd card with an Armbian image. In the specific case, we’ll use a Debian Jessie image created using the Armbian script, as indicated on the link

Armbian building

and described also in a previous article

Building Armbian image for Orange PI PC

We followed these steps to build the Armbian image on Ubuntu Xenial 16.04; from a Linux command shell

git clone https://github.com/armbian/build
cd build
./compile.sh

git clone https://github.com/armbian/build

cd build

./compile.sh

In the building options choose

We selected the default kernel configuration

Choose an Orange PI PC board

We used the mainline kernel

and Debian Jessie as distribution

We built an image with desktop envinronment

After this option, the script proceeds to the compilation. The generated image is Armbian_5.34_Orangepipc_Debian_jessie_next_4.13.12_desktop.img. This image can be downloaded from the link

Armbian image for Orange Pi PC

Start Armbian and create the user for the Jessie image; in this case we choose octoprint/password as user.

If necessary, reconfigure the keyboard with the command

sudo dpg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration

1 2	sudo dpg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration

and proceed to upgrade the system

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

1 2	sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgrade

If the system needs to be configured via a wireless connection, the connection must be active at startup. For this purpose in our case we used the Wicd daemon

Wicd Debian

Remove the network-manager package

sudo apt-get remove network-manager

1	sudo apt-get remove network-manager

This command uninstalls network-manager and network-manager-gnome.

Check that the wireless interface is not present in

/etc/network/interfaces

cat /etc/network/interfaces

1	cat /etc/network/interfaces

Proceed to Wicd installation

sudo apt-get install wicd

1	sudo apt-get install wicd

Check that the octoprint user is present in the netdev group

cat /etc/group | grep netdev

1	cat /etc/group \| grep netdev

In our case it is already present, giving as a result

If not present, add it with the command

sudo adduser octoprint netdev
sudo /etc/init.d/dbus reload

1 2	sudo adduser octoprint netdev sudo /etc/init.d/dbus reload

Start wicd

sudo systemctl start wicd

1	sudo systemctl start wicd

Logon to the armbian graphic desktop and start the wireless configuration with the command

wicd-client -n

1	wicd-client -n

Configure and save the network connection from the graphical interface.

If you want the remote desktop follow the steps listed in the article

Remote desktop setup for Armbian on Orange PI PC

We can now install Octoprint. Follow the steps available at the link

OctoPrint installation on Linux

Install the prerequisites

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install python-pip python-dev python-setuptools virtualenv python-virtualenv git libyaml-dev build-essential

1 2	sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install python-pip python-dev python-setuptools virtualenv python-virtualenv git libyaml-dev build-essential

Create under /opt the octoprint folder and assign the ownership to octoprint

sudo mkdir /opt/octoprint
sudo chown octoprint:octoprint -R /opt/octoprint

sudo mkdir /opt/octoprint

sudo chown octoprint:octoprint -R /opt/octoprint

In a Linux shell command go to /opt/octoprint folder and download the software

cd /opt/octoprint
git clone https://github.com/foosel/OctoPrint.git

1 2	cd /opt/octoprint git clone https://github.com/foosel/OctoPrint.git

Run

cd OctoPrint
virtualenv venv
./venv/bin/pip install pip --upgrade
./venv/bin/python setup.py install

cd OctoPrint

virtualenv venv

./venv/bin/pip install pip --upgrade

./venv/bin/python setup.py install

Create the .octoprint folder

mkdir ~/.octoprint

1	mkdir ~/.octoprint

Add octoprint to the following groups to manage the 3d printer using the USB port

sudo usermod -a -G tty octoprint
sudo usermod -a -G dialout octoprint

1 2	sudo usermod -a -G tty octoprint sudo usermod -a -G dialout octoprint

Check the correct installation by running the command

/opt/octoprint/OctoPrint/venv/bin/octoprint

1	/opt/octoprint/OctoPrint/venv/bin/octoprint

The OctoPrint server can be reached on port 5000 at the IP address of Orange PI PC

http://ipaddress:5000

Install the Cura Engine at this point; place yourself in the octoprint user’s home and download the source package

cd
wget https://github.com/Ultimaker/CuraEngine/archive/15.04.6.tar.gz

1 2	cd wget https://github.com/Ultimaker/CuraEngine/archive/15.04.6.tar.gz

Unpack the package

tar -zxvf 15.04.6.tar.gz

1	tar -zxvf 15.04.6.tar.gz

Go into the unpacked folder

cd CuraEngine-15.04.6/

1	cd CuraEngine-15.04.6/

Run the compilation with the command

make

make

The compiled software is located under the build folder

Create the /opt /octoprint/cura folder and copy the CuraEngine file to this folder

mkdir /opt/octoprint/cura
cd ~/CuraEngine-15.04.6/build
cp CuraEngine /opt/octoprint/cura/

mkdir /opt/octoprint/cura

cd ~/CuraEngine-15.04.6/build

cp CuraEngine /opt/octoprint/cura/

The executable is now in the /opt/octoprint/cura folder and will be used later by OctoPrint.

In the next article we’ll treat how to configure OctoPrint’s automatic startup

OctoPrint Autostart

Configuration, Software

LEDE on Linkit 7688 Duo – Firmata and Python

2017-08-05 admin

After the python test in the previous article

LEDE on Linkit 7688 Duo – MPU-MCU Uart communication

here we describe how to do the same operation using the Firmata python library

Firmata Protocol

In this case, the programming model is the following

As first step, described in the Mediatek article

Using Firmata with Python

we install the Firmata python library; in a linux terminal on LEDE run

pip install pyfirmata

1	pip install pyfirmata

In the Arduino IDE choose File->Examples->Firmata->StandardFirmata

Make the following change in sketch code:

Look for the code

Firmata.begin(57600);
while (!Serial) {

and replace it with

Serial1.begin(57600);
Firmata.begin(Serial1);

while (!Serial1) {

Save the file and perform the compilation and upload on the Linkit 7688 Duo.

In a linux terminal in Lede create the blink_with_firmata.py file and copy the following code inside

from pyfirmata import Arduino, util
from time import sleep
 
board = Arduino('/dev/ttyS0')
print "Start blinking D13"
while True:
    board.digital[13].write(1)
    sleep(0.5)
    board.digital[13].write(0)
    sleep(0.5)<span class="kwd">  </span>

from pyfirmata import Arduino, util

from time import sleep

board = Arduino('/dev/ttyS0')

print "Start blinking D13"

while True:

board.digital[13].write(1)

sleep(0.5)

board.digital[13].write(0)

sleep(0.5)<span class="kwd"> </span>

Save and quit.

Always in a linux terminal run now

python ./blink_with_firmata.py

1	python ./blink_with_firmata.py

The LED on the card should turn on and off.

Below is the link to download the two files ready for the Link 7688 Duo

Lede Python Firmata files

In the next article we’ll enable the board to work like Arduino Yun

LEDE on Linkit 7688 Duo – Timecheck example

Development, Software

LEDE on Linkit 7688 Duo – MPU-MCU Uart communication

2017-07-29 admin

After the building and installion of the LEDE firmware on the Linkit 7688 Duo card

Installation and configuration of Lede image on Linkit 7688 Duo

let’s test the functionality of some features on the card.

You can find the Mediatek article with the programming model

Programming model

As a first example we treat the one on the Mediatek site as described in the title of the article

Linkit 7688 DUo MPU-MCU Uart Connection

which corresponds to the following programming model

As first step, Arduino IDE is configured as described in the link

Arduino IDE for Linkit 7688 Duo

the following code is uploaded on the Linkit 7688 Duo

void setup() {
    Serial.begin(115200);  // open serial connection to USB Serial port (connected to your computer)
    Serial1.begin(57600);  // open internal serial connection to MT7688AN
                           // in MT7688AN, this maps to device
    pinMode(13, OUTPUT);
    }
 
void loop() {
    int c = Serial1.read();      // read from MT7688AN
    if (c != -1) {
        switch(c) {
          case '0':                // turn off D13 when receiving "0"
             digitalWrite(13, 0);
            break;
          case '1':                // turn off D13 when receiving "1"
             digitalWrite(13, 1);
            break;
        }
    }
}

void setup() {

Serial.begin(115200); // open serial connection to USB Serial port (connected to your computer)

Serial1.begin(57600); // open internal serial connection to MT7688AN

// in MT7688AN, this maps to device

pinMode(13, OUTPUT);

}

void loop() {

int c = Serial1.read(); // read from MT7688AN

if (c != -1) {

switch(c) {

case '0': // turn off D13 when receiving "0"

digitalWrite(13, 0);

break;

case '1': // turn off D13 when receiving "1"

digitalWrite(13, 1);

break;

}

This code manages the LED by the MCU according to the commands that the MCU receives at the Serial1 port.

Logic is handled instedad by python code that runs on Linux; create a file for this purpose, such as blink.py in a linux command shell on the board, with the following code

import serial
import time
 
s = None
 
def setup():
    global s
    # open serial COM port to /dev/ttyS0, which maps to UART0(D0/D1)
    # the baudrate is set to 57600 and should be the same as the one
    # specified in the Arduino sketch uploaded to ATmega32U4.
    s = serial.Serial("/dev/ttyS0", 57600)
 
def loop():
    # send "1" to the Arduino sketch on ATmega32U4.
    # the sketch will turn on the LED attached to D13 on the board
    s.write("1")
    time.sleep(1)
    # send "0" to the sketch to turn off the LED
    s.write("0")
    time.sleep(1)
 
if __name__ == '__main__':
    setup()
    while True:
        loop()

import serial

import time

s = None

def setup():

global s

# open serial COM port to /dev/ttyS0, which maps to UART0(D0/D1)

# the baudrate is set to 57600 and should be the same as the one

# specified in the Arduino sketch uploaded to ATmega32U4.

s = serial.Serial("/dev/ttyS0", 57600)

def loop():

# send "1" to the Arduino sketch on ATmega32U4.

# the sketch will turn on the LED attached to D13 on the board

s.write("1")

time.sleep(1)

# send "0" to the sketch to turn off the LED

s.write("0")

time.sleep(1)

if __name__ == '__main__':

setup()

while True:

loop()

Running the code

python ./blink.py

1	python ./blink.py

the LED on the card should turn on and off continuously.

In the next example we’ll use the Firmata python library to perform the same operation

LEDE on Linkit 7688 Duo – Firmata and Python

Development, Software

Temperature and humidity reading on Beaglebone in python

2017-02-02 admin

In the previous article we connected the DHT11 sensor to the Beaglebone

Sensors on Beaglebone

We install at this point the library in python and modules in c to read the sensor. The site with documentation about the library is

Adafruit Python DHT Sensor Library

mkdir temperature
cd temperature
git clone https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Python_DHT.git

mkdir temperature

cd temperature

git clone https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Python_DHT.git

Install the prerequisites

apt-get update
apt-get install build-essential python-dev

1 2	apt-get update apt-get install build-essential python-dev

Proceed to the installation of the library with the python command

cd Adafruit_Python
python setup.py install

1 2	cd Adafruit_Python python setup.py install

Enter the examples directory and do the following for reading the sensor values (dht 11 and pin P8_11)

cd examples
 ./AdafruitDHT.py 11 P8_11

1 2	cd examples ./AdafruitDHT.py 11 P8_11

The result in this case is the following

Micro Devices

Tag Archives: python

OctoPrint installation on Orange PI PC – Python package installation

LEDE on Linkit 7688 Duo – Firmata and Python

LEDE on Linkit 7688 Duo – MPU-MCU Uart communication

Temperature and humidity reading on Beaglebone in python

Blog about embedded devices