Signaloid C0-microSD CardPuter CircuitPython Demo

This is a demo CircuitPython host application on the M5Stack CardPuter for the Signaloid C0-microSD Calculator Demo.

cardputer.demo.mp4

This demo application supports the following arithmetic operations of two uniform distributions:

• Addition
• Subtraction
• Multiplication
• Division

Folder src contains the CircuitPython source code that runs on the CardPuter. The CardPuter acts as the host that communicates with a Signaloid C0-microSD through its integrated microSD card slot.

Folder submodules/C0-microSD-utilities/ contains the interface.py library, which is symlinked to the src folder, that defines the interface between the host and the Signaloid C0-microSD.

Folder submodules/signaloid-python/ contains the distributional.py and plot_histogram_dirac_deltas.py libraries, which are symlinked to the src folder, that define the parsing and plotting of the distributional information from the Signaloid C0-microSD results.

Cloning this repository

The correct way to clone this repository is:

git clone --recursive https://github.com/signaloid/Signaloid-C0-microSD-CardPuter-Demo

If you forgot to clone with --recursive, and end up with empty submodule directories, you can remedy this with

git submodule update --init --recursive

How to use:

Build & Flash the C0-microSD application

To build and flash the C0-microSD application, follow the instructions in the Signaloid C0-microSD Calculator Demo. This is mandatory before running the host application, so that the Signaloid C0-microSD is initialized with the correct firmware, and able to communicate with the host.

Prepare the CardPuter for the CircuitPython application

To prepare the CardPuter for the CircuitPython application, you have to flash it with the CircuitPython firmware following the instructions in the CircuitPython M5Stack CardPuter documentation.

Important

Please use the 9.1.0 version of the CircuitPython firmware, as the latest, at the time of writing, 9.2.5 version causes random crashes when running the host application.

Download the 9.1.0 version from here, or use the Browse S3 button from the CircuitPython M5Stack CardPuter documentation and locate the adafruit-circuitpython-m5stack_cardputer-en_US-9.1.0.uf2 file.

Note

1. The guide needs to be run on the Google Chrome browser, it most likely won't work on other browsers (even Chromium-based ones).
2. Switch the CardPuter to its bootloader mode: Press and hold the Btn G0 button, which is to the left of the On/Off switch, and then plug in the USB type-C cable to connect the CardPuter to your computer. Once connected, you can let the Btn G0. You will not see any reaction from the CardPuter (black screen, no LEDs). However, you should now be able to locate a new serial port device, typically ttyACM0 on Linux, or COM1 on Windows, or similar.
3. Click the Open installer button on the latest stable CircuitPython release section of the CircuitPython M5Stack CardPuter documentation.
4. Choose the Install Bootloader only option, and click next.
5. Click the Connect button, and choose your new serial port device. Click Continue, wait until the flashing finishes, and then click Close. This will erase everything on the CardPuter, and flash the latest bootloader. If no serial port selection window appears, make sure you are using the Chrome browser.
6. Reboot the CardPuter by pressing the Btn Rst button, at the back of the CardPuter.
7. You should now be able to see a new FTHRS3BOOT removable storage device. If you are using Linux, you have to mount it.
8. You may now close the installer.
9. Locate the adafruit-circuitpython-m5stack_cardputer-en_US-9.1.0.uf2 file you previously downloaded, and copy it to the FTHRS3BOOT device. It should now reboot to the CircuitPython firmware.
10. You should now be able to see a Hello World! greeting on the CardPuter, and a CIRCUITPY removable storage device on your computer. If not, try to reboot the CardPuter by pressing the Btn Rst button.

Run the CircuitPython based host application

To run the Python host application you first need to bundle all library dependencies. To do that run this command from the root folder:

make

This command will do the following:

1. Initialize & update all submodules.
2. Apply the necessary patches to the Signaloid Python library, so that it can be used with the CardPuter using CircuitPython.
3. Create the CircuitPythonLibs/ folder, where the Adafruit CircuitPython bundle and the Community CircuitPython bundle libraries are downloaded and extracted.
4. Create the src/lib/ folder, where the CircuitPython libraries are symlinked to.

Copy the CircuitPython application to the CardPuter

To copy the CircuitPython application to the CardPuter, run this command from the root folder:

make sync

This command will hard copy all the files and folders from the src folder to the CardPuter. Make sure that you have mounted your CardPuter to your computer, and that the mount path is correctly specified at the DEVICE variable in the Makefile (default is /run/media/<user>/CIRCUITPY).

Live sync the CircuitPython application to the CardPuter

To live sync the CircuitPython application to the CardPuter, while you are developing or making changes, run this command from the root folder:

make live-sync

This command will first sync all the files and folders from the src folder to the CardPuter, then watch for any changes in the src folder, and live sync them to the CardPuter. Make sure that you have mounted your CardPuter to your computer, and that the mount path is correctly specified at the DEVICE variable in the Makefile (default is /run/media/<user>/CIRCUITPY).

Clean project

To clean the project, run this command from the root folder:

make clean

This command will delete the CircuitPythonLibs/, and the src/lib/ folders.

Clean the CardPuter

To clean the CardPuter, run this command from the root folder:

make clean-device

This command will delete all files and folders from the CardPuter, and will create a new "Hello World" code.py file. Make sure that you have mounted your CardPuter to your computer and that the mount path is correctly specified at the DEVICE variable in the Makefile (default is /run/media/<user>/CIRCUITPY).

Host application

The host application is designed to parse two input arguments. Each argument specifies a uniform distribution, represented in the the concise form of uncertainty notation, i.e., X.Y(Z). The application supports addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of the input arguments.

usage: {add,sub,mul,div} uniform_distribution1 uniform_distribution2

Host application for C0-microSD calculator application

positional arguments:
  {add,sub,mul,div}
                        Commands
    add                 Add two uniformly distributed random variables
    sub                 Subtract two uniformly distributed random variables
    mul                 Multiply two uniformly distributed random variables
    div                 Divide two uniformly distributed random variables

    uniform_distribution1 uniform_distribution2
                        Two uniform distributions

For example, you can multiply the value 2.0 with a tolerance of +- 0.5 and the value 5.0 with a tolerance of +- 0.3 by running:

mul 2.0(5) 5.0(3)