Welcome to blimp-utils’ documentation!

blimp-utils is a Python library designed specifically for the custom embedded flight controller board for the Falcon Flight project. The board includes an accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, and motor drivers for up to 4 brushed DC motors. This library is designed for production use, fully documented using Sphinx, and built with modularity and extensibility in mind.

Features

  • Modular design for sensors (Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Magnetometer) and actuators (Motor).

  • Clear, class-based API.

  • Simulation of I²C and GPIO operations for development off-hardware.

  • Comprehensive Sphinx documentation.

  • Python 3.9+ type hinting.

  • PEP8 compliant.

Installation

To install the library, run the following commands in a terminal:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3-pip python3-setuptools
git clone https://github.com/Ballistyxx/blimp-utils.git
cd blimp-utils
sudo pip3 install .
cd .. && rm -rf blimp-utils

Usage Examples

Here’s a quick example of how to use the blimp-utils library:

from blimputils import Motor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Magnetometer

# Initialize a motor on GPIO pins 13 and 21
# Assumes pin 13 is used for PWM if no dedicated pwm_pin is provided
motor1 = Motor(pin1=13, pin2=21)

# Initialize an accelerometer on I2C bus 1, address 0x68
accel = Accelerometer(bus=1, addr=0x68) # BMI270 default address

# Initialize a gyroscope (same chip as accelerometer)
gyro = Gyroscope(bus=1, addr=0x68) # BMI270 default address

# Initialize a magnetometer on I2C bus 1, address 0x14
mag = Magnetometer(bus=1, addr=0x14)


print("--- Motor Control ---")
motor1.spin_forward(150, ramp="quadratic")
# Simulate some action
import time
time.sleep(1)
motor1.stop()
time.sleep(0.5)

print("\n--- Sensor Readings ---")
accel_data = accel.get_xyz()
print(f"Accelerometer: X={accel_data[0]}, Y={accel_data[1]}, Z={accel_data[2]}")

gyro_data = gyro.get_xyz()
print(f"Gyroscope: X={gyro_data[0]}, Y={gyro_data[1]}, Z={gyro_data[2]}")

mag_data = mag.get_xyz()
print(f"Magnetometer: X={mag_data[0]}, Y={mag_data[1]}, Z={mag_data[2]}")

# Clean up GPIO resources used by the motor
motor1.cleanup()

print("\nExample finished.")

Documentation

The full documentation is built with Sphinx and can be found in the docs/build/html directory after running make html inside docs/.

pip install -U sphinx
git clone https://github.com/Ballistyxx/blimp-utils.git
cd blimp-utils/docs
make clean
make html
# Open docs/build/html/index.html in your browser

Documentation can also be found at https://ballistyxx.github.io/blimp-utils/

Modules

  • blimputils.accelerometer: Provides the Accelerometer class.

  • blimputils.gyroscope: Provides the Gyroscope class.

  • blimputils.magnetometer: Provides the Magnetometer class.

  • blimputils.motor: Provides the Motor class.

  • blimputils.utils: Utility functions.

  • blimputils.interfaces: Abstract base classes (e.g., SensorInterface).

Refer to the Sphinx documentation for detailed API references.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please ensure your code follows PEP8 and includes type hints and docstrings.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details

Contents: