pyNetFT is a synchronous, typed Python client for ATI Industrial Automation Net F/T Ethernet force/torque sensors. It discovers the sensor calibration, streams RDT measurements through a native C++ core, and exposes raw counts, physical measurements, health, and recovery information without requiring NumPy.
- Tested native core: the protocol and recovery implementation is pinned to netft-cpp 0.2.2, includes its GCC 10/manylinux2014 compatibility fix and corrected libcurl minimum, and is exercised with offline fake sensors and native sanitizers.
- Sensor-aware data: calibration, force and torque units, configuration revisions, sequence progress, and faults remain visible to the application.
- Self-contained typed wheels: Linux and macOS wheels include the native core and a minimal static HTTP-only curl build, plus inline type information for Python 3.10–3.14.
| Install method | Platform | Support |
|---|---|---|
| PyPI | Linux and macOS (x86_64 and ARM64), CPython 3.10–3.14 | Supported |
| Source | Linux, macOS, and other POSIX systems, CPython 3.10–3.14 | Best effort |
Windows, PyPy, and asyncio are not supported by the 2.x package.
Install a supported wheel from PyPI; it includes curl, so no separately installed curl is needed:
python -m pip install pynetftFor a source build, use a C++17 compiler, CMake 3.16 or newer, and system libcurl 7.63.0 or newer:
git clone https://github.com/netft/pyNetFT.git
cd pyNetFT
python -m pip install .Source builds use the checked-in native core and do not download netft-cpp.
The address below is the ATI factory default. Replace it with the address assigned to your sensor.
from pynetft import Client, Config
config = Config(sensor_host="192.168.1.1")
with Client(config) as client:
sample = next(client.samples(timeout=1.0))
print(sample.force, sample.force_unit.value)
print(sample.torque, sample.torque_unit.value)Client.samples() provides blocking iterator delivery. A read timeout raises TimeoutError, while a terminal sensor or transport fault raises SensorFaultError with structured fault and health data. Applications that integrate with a callback-driven loop can instead pass callback= to Client; the two delivery modes are mutually exclusive for a client run. See the API reference for lifecycle, callback, timeout, health, and error behavior.
Sample.force and Sample.torque preserve the units reported by the sensor, including the common ATI combination of newtons and newton-millimeters. pyNetFT does not apply ROS-specific SI conversion. Sample.wrench is the six-element physical-value tuple (Fx, Fy, Fz, Tx, Ty, Tz), while Sample.raw_wrench contains the six signed integer counts from the RDT record.
Automatic discovery is the default and should be preferred when the sensor configuration is authoritative. A complete Calibration override is available when independently verified fixed values are required.
The deprecated NetFT and Response interfaces remain available throughout 2.x. New code should use Client, Config, and Sample; see the 2.0 migration guide for exact call and field mappings.
ATI configuration discovery uses HTTP and RDT streaming uses unauthenticated UDP. Deploy the sensor and client on a trusted, isolated network segment, and do not expose either device protocol directly to the Internet or an untrusted shared network. See the security policy for the threat model and vulnerability reporting instructions.
Force/torque measurements can affect motion and protective limits. Validate discovered calibration and units before enabling a controller, detect stale or faulted data, and retain an independent safety-rated control path. Client.bias() changes the sensor's software bias; call it only when the sensor is unloaded and the operation is explicitly authorized.
Bug reports, hardware compatibility reports, documentation improvements, and focused code contributions are welcome. The contribution guide covers the Pixi environment, offline checks, hardware authorization, and native-core synchronization rules.
pyNetFT is licensed under the Apache License 2.0. The previous pyNetFT MIT license, the synchronized netft-cpp license, and the curl license notice are retained with the source and distribution artifacts.