stationrc is a Python framework to control RNO-G stations, i.e. configure them and take data using a unified interface on a control PC without the need to log into the Beagle Bone Black and interact with all the different scripts and executables there. It is mainly developed as basis for the radiant-test repository for production testing of new RADIANT boards but might also be helpful for station calibration and characterization in the lab.
The stationrc Python library must be available on both, the Beagle Bone Black and the control PC. stationrc pulls in the stationrc branch of the radiant-python as git submodule, so when cloning to your local machine you need to run
git clone [email protected]:RNO-G/stationrc.git
git submodule init
git submodule update
VirtualStation.py is the abstract station interface on the control PC that normal users and the testing framework will interact with. VirtualStation.py is not complete and is always extended with more functionality as needed.
Run.py: uses rno-g-acq on the BBB to acquire data. Runs are configured via a RunConfig object and data are automtically moved to the Control PC and rootified using mattak.
Station.py is the realization of the interface running on the Beagle Bone Black.
The file stationrc/common/conf/logging.conf configures the Python logging system. It is currently configured to print all messages to the screen. Later, it can easily be adapted to log e.g. DEBUG messages only to (rotating) log files.
Install the Python packages for zeroMQ (communication to control PC) and libconf (read/write DAQ configuration files):
pip3 install --user pyzmq
pip3 install --user libconf
The file stationrc/bbb/conf/station.conf stores some low-level configuration parameters. No changes should be needed here.
stationrc.py is the leight-weight demon to run on the BBB. It also replaces the controller-console script to control the station. By default, it listens for commands on IP port 8000. You can execute it with python3 stationrc.py, and it will start listening to commands from the Control PC.
If you get an error like
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "stationrc.py", line 8, in <module>
station = stationrc.bbb.Station()
File "/home/rno-g/stationrc/stationrc/bbb/Station.py", line 27, in __init__
self.radiant_board = stationrc.radiant.RADIANT(
AttributeError: module 'stationrc.radiant' has no attribute 'RADIANT'
probably you have not properly pulled the git submodule in stationrc/radiant/. Did you run git submodule update --recursive --remote in the repository?
Install the same packages as on the BBB
The file stationrc/remote_control/conf/virtual_station.conf stores configuration parameters for connecting to the BBB and paths to data and tools. By default the repositoy contains stationrc/remote_control/conf/virtual_station_default.conf which is used when virtual_station.conf does not exist. Copy virtual_station_default.conf and update it to your configuration before running any of the examples.
So far, not the full API / Interface have been implemented. There is a minimal subset of commands to demonstrate the idea behind stationrc.
- Interaction with the controller board (switching on/off the RADIANT, amplifiers, ...; getting status information). The full set of commands is listed here
python3 controller-board-rc.py '#MONITOR'
#MONITOR: analog: { when: 3825267, temp: 25.47 C, i_surf3V: [4,6,6,4,4,4] mA, i_down3v: [4,4,4] mA, i_sbc5v: 216, i_radiant: 2749 mA, i_lt: 9 mA}
#MONITOR: power: { when: 3825267, PV_V: 0.85 V, PV_I: 0 mA, BAT_V: 15.12 V, BAT_I: 1090 mA}
#MONITOR: temp: { when: 3825267, local: 26.625 C, remote1: -64.0 C, remote2: -64.0}
#MONITOR: power_state: { low_power: 0, sbc_power: 1, lte_power: 0, radiant_power: 1, lowthresh_power: 0, dh_amp_power: 0, surf_amp_power: 0}
- Interaction with the RADIANT (using code borrowed from
radiant-python) and the controller board for slow control and configuration. This is just a random example and the interface needs expansion
python3 station_status.py
{'analog': {'timestamp': 3825387}, 'power': {'timestamp': 3825387}, 'temp': {'timestamp': 3825387}}
{'board_manager_id': 'RDBM', 'board_manager_version': {'version': '0.2.10', 'date': '2022-03-30'}, 'board_manager_status': 251, 'fpga_id': 'RDNT', 'fpga_version': {'version': '0.3.3', 'date': '2021-09-06'}}
- Configure a run and take data. This will create the run configuration file on the BBB, execute the run, and copy the data to the control PC via rsync (assumes password-less access to the BBB using ssh keys). Most debugging outupt / progress will show up in the logging on the BBB.
python3 daq_run.py
See daq_run.py for an example how to change the run configuration. Data will be copied to /Users/tikarg/local/RNO-G/data.