Open Source Free Serial Port Client capable of graph values that are received in JSON format You can do projects with, for example, arduino or microcontrollers to transform data sent from them to computer into fancy graphics.
I have just added to project a new window standalone executable, graph.exe. In order to run the graphicator you only need to download all files in some directory and then run graph.exe. I am not sure if currently the serial port on windows works accurately (altough the program does), but if it does not I will make it compatible with that platform soon.
Hi. I'll explain how to use this simple but useful tool. First of all you need a python installation complemented with the pygame graphics library and the pyserial library. You'll find plenty of ways to install them on internet and usually you won't have problems when installing them. After that you only need to execute the final graph.py to make the program run. Here there are some links to make you learn how to install python, pygame and pyserial
- How to install python - How to install py-serial
- [How to install pygame] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xgn-HKzZes)
The program should detect the ports autonomously and will test to check data of all of them with this baudrates
- 4800
- 9600
- 14400
- 19200
- 28800
- 38400
- 57600
- 115200
. If something is recived in any port then the selector of that port will be highlighted.
You can change the baudrate when you enter a port, you should only click on the port title in the upper part of the screen.
You must use json format. This means the five commands you can use actually are
"{'COM':'plot', 'name':'Plot 1','value':4564564}\n"to plot a point in the graph, where the 4564564 is the value to graph in that instant, and 'Plot 1' the name of the graph associated with it (the program autodetects when there is a new signal so no need of initial signal, just update signals). And remeber to set a '\n' (end of line) character after each signal sent because otherwise the program won't graph anything as it will wait until the '\n' arrives to divide the signal. If you want to set the color of the signal (rather than a random number) you can add a "color":(r,g,b) parameter altough I haven't tested yet it should work.
Other command is
"{'COM':'line','value':'This is a test of Serial Graphicator'}\n"You should use this command to send words to be shown on the console of the program. Remember to use the end of line character also.
You can also use the Hold and Release commands to make the program to stop graphicating (so you can send a signal in the exact moment you don't want to process data anymore) These commands have no parameters
"{'COM':'Hold'}\n"
"{'COM':'Release'}\n"If you send them more than once there won't be problems. If the graphicator status is on hold and you send a hold signal nothing will happen, the same if the graphicator is currently ploting a graph and you seld the release signal
And the last (up to now) and very useful command is the Settle command. With this command you can draw a line in the graph with a color and a name. You can use it to divide the graph in sectors (for example to be sure which part of the graph correspont to different states of the program). You are obligated to set a color and a name for the line, otherwise the command will be ignored
"{'COM':'Settle','name':'Test Mark 1','color':(100,100,255)}\n"Currently the program will replace an old settle if it receives a settle signal with the same name. We may change this in the future, but until now you can for example send the same name with a 1, a 2, a 3 if you don't want the marks to be erased.
Warning: As the program is beta version it can crash suddenly if you send commands that do not respect the format. Please avoid doing that, only send messages that apply to the rules. We are working to make the program to handle these cases of errors properly (and it is going better from time to time)
Report any bug to ariel.nowik@gmail.com. This program is totally free for all so feel free to use it, modify it or send feedback. Good Luck guys!
Easy and fast instalation and run for linux with commands (only Linux!). If you type these commands (and there are no errors the program will be installed and will be executed)
sudo apt-get install python-pygame
sudo apt-get install git
git clone https://github.com/newtonis/SerialGraphicator/
cd SerialGraphicator
cd 0.2
python graph.py
In linux sometimes the serial port is blocked by admin by default (what will make the program throw an exception because of permisions). To solve this you can execute
sudo chmod -R 777 /dev
or more easily you can just run the program on admin mode instead of
python graph.py
you type
sudo python graph.py