pysmc3 - Python Library for SMC3 Motor Controllers

Table of Contents

• About
• Features
• Prerequisites
• Installation
• Usage
  • Examples
• Limitations
• Contributing
• License

About

pysmc3 is a Python library designed to interact with SMC3, an Arduino-based software for controlling 3-DOF motion simulators used in gaming. This library provides an alternative to the existing diagnostic tools, which are only available for Windows. The library offers a convenient abstraction of the control box, allowing you to read and write parameters as well as set motor positions.

Features

• Abstraction of the SMC3 control box through the smc3.Box class.
• Asynchronous communications supported by asyncio.
• Methods to read and write parameters for the control box.
• Methods to set motor positions with ease.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.x

Installation

Install with pip

pip install smc3

Or clone the GitHub repository and install the required dependencies:

git clone https://github.com/zmij/pysmc3.git
cd pysmc3
pip install -r requirements.txt

Dependencies

• asyncio
• serial_asyncio
• termcolor (for example programs)

Usage

Here's a quick example snippet that demonstrates how to move Motor A on a sine wave:

from smc3 import Box, MotorNumber
import math
import time

box = Box(device="/dev/tty.usbdevice")
print(f"SMC3 Version: {box.get_version() / 100}")

motor = MotorNumber.A
box.enable_feedback(motor)
try:
    while True:
        v = int(math.sin(time.clock_gettime(time.CLOCK_MONOTONIC)) * 512) + 512
        box.set_position(motor, v)
        box.delay(0.01)
except KeyboardInterrupt:
    box.disable_feedback()
    box.delay(1)

Examples

The repository includes several example programs:

• show_version.py: Displays the SMC3 version number.
• show_status.py: Shows PID settings for all motors and their current status.
• sine.py: Moves a single motor on a sine wave.
• rock.py: Rocks the motion simulator back and forth or side to side.
• puke.py: Moves all three motors on a sine wave with a phase shift of 2π/3.

Limitations

While the library has been tested on a MacBook connected to a control box from the DOFReality company, further testing is required to identify potential issues.

Contributing

Feel free to fork the repository and send pull requests. All contributions are welcome!

License

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.