Tinymovr API¶

Overview¶

This document outlines the main API used to interface with Tinymovr. This API comprises a series of read/write endpoints. The endpoints are defined taking into account the capabilities and constraints of the CAN bus, the main communication bus used by Tinymovr.

The Tinymovr API allows full hardware control from within Python scripts, using a high-level interface to hardware. At the same time, it is possible to interface directly with the CAN bus endpoints, for instance in an embedded application. In both cases, the API Reference provides all the necessary information.

Tinymovr API is part of Tinymovr Studio. For help installing Studio, please take a look at Studio Installation.

Use with Python¶

Here below is an example using the API from Python scripts and controlling hardware:

import can
from tinymovr import Tinymovr

bus = can.Bus(bustype="cantact", channel="COM1", bitrate=1000000)
iface = CAN(bus)
tm = Tinymovr(node_id=1, iface=iface)

tm.calibrate()

The above code block will instantiate a Tinymovr with CAN bus id of 1 and calibrate it. Following the above, you can issue commands such as:

tm.position_control()
tm.set_pos_setpoint(0)

tm.velocity_control()
tm.set_vel_setpoint(80000)

API Reference¶

Note

Where “float32” is mentioned, an IEEE 754, 32-bit floating point representation is assumed.

state¶

endpoint: 0x03

type: Read-only

Retrieves an object containing the controller state, control mode and error flags. The object is pretty-printed if inside the Tinymovr Studio iPython environment.

This command has been revised as of firmware 0.8.2 and studio 0.3.3 to report multiple error flags if available. The above and newer versions can display up to five error flags simultaneously, and with the order that they were registered by the firmware error handler.

Tinymovr Studio 0.3.3 and newer is backwards compatible with the legacy error reporting system, as such newer Studio versions can be used with older firmware. However, newer firmware (0.8.2 and later) is not compatible with older Studio versions. Make sure that you run the latest version of Studio before upgrading your firmware.

Return Values¶

Member	Description	Data Type	Data Offset
`errors`	Legacy Error Flag	uint8	0
`state`	Control State	uint8	1
`mode`	Control Mode	uint8	2
`errors`	1st Error Flag	uint8	3
`...`	2nd Error Flag	uint8	4
`...`	3rd Error Flag	uint8	5
`...`	4th Error Flag	uint8	6
`...`	5th Error Flag	uint8	7

Example¶

Legacy system

>>>tmx.state
{"error": 0, "state": 0, "mode": 0}

New system

>>>tmx.state
State: Idle     Mode: Position
Errors:
    Invalid State (1): Attempt to transition to invalid state

>>>tmx.state.mode
0

set_state()¶

endpoint: 0x07

type: Write-only

Sets the controller state and control mode.

Note

Results of calibration are not automatically saved to Non-Volatile Memory (NVM). You need to issue a save_config command after calibration is finished to save calibration data to NVM.

Arguments¶

Member	Description	Data Type	Data Offset
`state`	Control State	uint8	1
`mode`	Control Mode	uint8	2

Example¶

>>>tmx.set_state(state=0, mode=0)

can_config¶

endpoint: 0x05

type: Read-only

Retrieves the CAN configuration.

Return Values¶

Member	Description	Data Type	Data Offset
`id`	CAN Bus ID	uint8	0
`baud_rate`	Baud Rate	uint16	1

Example¶

>>>tmx.can_config
{"id": 1, "baud_rate": 250}

set_can_config()¶

endpoint: 0x06

type: Write-only

Sets the CAN configuration.

Arguments¶

Member	Description	Data Type	Data Offset
`id`	CAN Bus ID	uint8	0
`baud_rate`	Baud Rate	uint16	1

Example¶

>>>tmx.set_can_config(id=1, baud_rate=250)

encoder_estimates¶

endpoint: 0x09

type: Read-only

Retrieves the position and velocity encoder estimates.

Return Values¶

Member	Description	Data Type	Data Offset	Default Unit
`position`	Position Estimate	float32	0	ticks
`velocity`	Velocity Estimate	float32	4	ticks/second

Example¶

>>>tmx.encoder_estimates
{"position": 1000.0, "velocity": 0.0}

setpoints¶

endpoint: 0x0A

type: Read-only

Retrieves the position and velocity setpoints of the controller.

Return Values¶

Member	Description	Data Type	Data Offset	Default Unit
`position`	Position Setpoint	float32	0	tick
`velocity`	Velocity Setpoint	float32	4	tick/second

Example¶

>>>tmx.setpoints
{"position": 1000.0, "velocity": 0.0}

set_pos_setpoint()¶

endpoint: 0x0C

type: Write-only

Sets the position setpoint, and optionally velocity and current feed-forward values. Due to the fact that data types of feed-forward values are range-limited, multiples of the root units are used.

Arguments¶

Member	Description	Data Type	Data Offset	Default Unit
`position`	Position Setpoint	float32	0	tick
`velocity`	Velocity Setpoint	int16	4	decatick/second
`current`	Current Setpoint	int16	6	centiampere

Example¶

>>>tmx.set_pos_setpoint(1000.0)

>>>tmx.set_pos_setpoint(position=1000.0, velocity=10000.0, current=0.0)

set_vel_setpoint()¶

endpoint: 0x0D

type: Write-only

Sets the velocity setpoint, and optionally current feed-forward value.

Arguments¶

Member	Description	Data Type	Data Offset	Default Unit
`velocity`	Velocity Setpoint	float32	0	ticks/second
`current`	Current Setpoint	float32	4	ampere

Example¶

>>>tmx.set_vel_setpoint(10000.0)

>>>tmx.set_vel_setpoint(velocity=10000.0, current=0.0)

set_cur_setpoint()¶

endpoint: 0x0E

type: Write-only

Sets the current (Iq) setpoint.

Arguments¶

Member	Description	Data Type	Data Offset	Default Unit
`current`	Current Setpoint	float32	0	amperes

Example¶

>>>tmx.set_cur_setpoint(0.5)

limits¶

endpoint: 0x15

type: Read-only

Retrieves the velocity and current limits of the controller.

Return Values¶

Member	Description	Data Type	Data Offset	Default Unit
`velocity`	Velocity Limit	float32	0	tick/second
`current`	Current Limit	float32	4	ampere

Example¶

>>>tmx.limits
{"velocity": 300000.0, "current": 10.0}

set_limits()¶

endpoint: 0x0F

type: Write-only

Sets the velocity and current limits of the controller.

Arguments¶

Member	Description	Data Type	Data Offset	Default Unit
`velocity`	Velocity Limit	float32	0	tick/second
`current`	Current Limit	float32	4	ampere

Example¶

>>>tmx.set_limits(velocity=200000.0, current=15.0)

gains¶

endpoint: 0x18

type: Read-only

Retrieves the position and velocity gains of the controller.

Return Values¶

Member	Description	Data Type	Data Offset	Default Unit
`position`	Position Gain	float32	0	1/second
`velocity`	Velocity Gain	float32	4	ampere*second/tick

Example¶

>>>tmx.gains
{"position": 35.0, "velocity": 0.000012}

set_gains()¶

endpoint: 0x19

type: Write-only

Sets the position and velocity gains of the controller.

Arguments¶

Member	Description	Data Type	Data Offset	Default Unit
`position`	Position Gain	float32	0	1/second
`velocity`	Velocity Gain	float32	4	ampere*second/tick

Example¶

>>>tmx.set_gains(position=25.0, velocity=0.00001)

integrator_gains¶

endpoint: 0x18

type: Read-only

Retrieves the velocity integrator gain of the controller.

Return Values¶

Member	Description	Data Type	Data Offset	Default Unit
`velocity`	Velocity Integrator Gain	float32	0	ampere*second/tick

Example¶

>>>tmx.integrator_gains
{"velocity": 0.0001}

set_integrator_gains()¶

endpoint: 0x19

type: Write-only

Sets the velocity integrator gain of the controller.

Arguments¶

Member	Description	Data Type	Data Offset	Default Unit
`velocity`	Velocity Integrator Gain	float32	0	ampere*second/tick

Example¶

>>>tmx.set_integrator_gains(velocity=0.0001)

Iq¶

endpoint: 0x14

type: Read-only

Retrieves the current (Iq) setpoint and estimate.

Return Values¶

Member	Description	Data Type	Data Offset	Default Unit
`setpoint`	Iq Setpoint	float32	0	ampere
`estimate`	Iq Estimate	float32	4	ampere

Example¶

>>>tmx.Iq
{"setpoint": 1.0, "estimate": 0.9}

Iphase¶

endpoint: 0x10

type: Read-only

Retrieves the measured phase currents.

Return Values¶

Member	Description	Data Type	Data Offset	Default Unit
`A`	A Phase Current	int16	0	ampere
`B`	B Phase Current	int16	0	ampere
`C`	C Phase Current	int16	0	ampere

Example¶

>>>tmx.Iphase
{"A": 1.0, "B": -0.6, "C": -0.4}

device_info¶

endpoint: 0x1A

type: Read-only

Retrieves device-related information.

Return Values¶

Member	Description	Data Type	Data Offset	Default Unit
`device_id`	Device ID	uint32	0
`fw_major`	FW Major Ver.	uint8	4
`fw_minor`	FW Minor Ver.	uint8	5
`fw_patch`	FW Patch Ver.	uint8	6
`temp`	MCU Temp	uint8	7	°C

Example¶

>>>tmx.device_info
{"device_id": 99999, "fw_major": 0, "fw_minor": 7, "fw_patch": 1, "temp": 45}

motor_config¶

endpoint: 0x1E

type: Read-only

Retrieves attached motor config.

Return Values¶

Member	Description	Data Type	Data Offset	Default Unit
`flags`	Calibrated, Gimbal	uint8	0
`R`	Phase Resistance	uint16	1	milliohm
`pole_pairs`	Motor Pole Pairs	uint8	3
`L`	Phase Inductance	uint16	4	microhenry

Example¶

>>>tmx.motor_config
{"flags": 1, "R": 200, "pole_pairs": 11, "L": 100}

set_motor_config¶

endpoint: 0x1F

type: Write-only

Sets attached motor properties.

Arguments¶

Member	Description	Data Type	Data Offset	Default Unit
`flags`	Gimbal	uint8	0
`R`	Phase Resistance	uint16	1	milliohm
`L`	Phase Inductance	uint16	3	microhenry

Example¶

>>>tmx.set_motor_config(1, 5000, 2000)

timings¶

endpoint: 0x1B

type: Read-only

Retrieves MCU timings in each control cycle.

Return Values¶

Member	Description	Data Type	Data Offset
`total`	Total MCU Cycles	uint32	0
`busy`	Busy MCU Cycles	uint32	4

Example¶

>>>tmx.timings
{"total": 7500, "busy": 1000}

estop()¶

endpoint: 0x02

type: Write-only

Emergency stop: Idles the MCU immediately.

Arguments¶

No arguments.

Example¶

>>>tmx.estop()

reset()¶

endpoint: 0x16

type: Write-only

Resets the MCU.

Arguments¶

No arguments.

Example¶

>>>tmx.reset()

save_config()¶

endpoint: 0x1C

type: Write-only

Saves board configuration to Non-Volatile Memory.

Note

Saving config to NVM only works when Tinymovr is in idle mode, otherwise the command is ignored.

Arguments¶

No arguments.

Example¶

>>>tmx.save_config()

erase_config()¶

endpoint: 0x1D

type: Write-only

Erases board configuration and resets the MCU.

Arguments¶

No arguments.

Example¶

>>>tmx.erase_config()