ContactPi

Use buttons connected to a Rasberry Pi GPIO to trigger Hog 4 comment macros.

If you are new to Raspberry Pi consider reading some brief introductory tips.

Preparing the Raspberry Pi

• Install Raspbian the usual way.

• Enable the ssh server.

  • On a Mac within the terminal:

  > touch /Volumes/boot/ssh
  

  • On Windows:
    1. Go to the boot folder created on the SD card
    2. Create a blank text document named SSH

• Eject the SD card and boot the Raspberry Pi.

• Use SSH to log into the Pi from your computers Command Line (Windows) or Terminal (Mac):

> ssh pi@PI_IP_ADDRESS

• The default password is raspberry.

• Use sudo raspi-config to;

  • set locale
  • set timezone
  • enlarge the file-system to fill the SD card
  • reboot

• Update the package manager and install the aptitude program.

> sudo apt-get update
> sudo apt-get install aptitude

• Use aptitude to upgrade the Pi.

> sudo aptitude upgrade

• Reboot the Pi.

> sudo shutdown -r now

• Logging back into the Pi, install sane set of software packages.

> sudo aptitude install git python3-pip python3-gpiozero
> sudo pip3 install gpiozero antlr4-python3-runtime python-osc

Installing

• Change directory into /home/pi:

> cd /home/pi

If you didn't notice any change you might already be in the correct directory. You can confirm this by using the command pwd to print the working directory. It should print: /home/pi

• Download ContactPi:

> git clone --recurse-submodules https://git.company235.com/kevin/ContactPi.git

• Change directory into ContactPi:

> cd ContactPi

Enabling on Boot

• Link the service file to systemd:

> sudo cp buttons.service /lib/systemd/system/buttons.service

• Enable the service at startup:

> sudo systemctl daemon-reload
> sudo systemctl enable buttons.service

• Start the buttons service:

> sudo systemctl start buttons.service

Hardware Setup

• Connect one side of the button to ground, the other to a GPIO pin.

You may use any of the numbered GPIO pins available on the PI:

Configuring

Buttons and Macros

Nano is a command line text editor that is available by default on the Pi. For a usage overview, read The Beginner's Guide to Nano

• Use nano to configure the pinout and macro settings.

> nano buttons.cfg

This file configures which Raspberry Pi GPIO pins trigger which comment macros.

The button section contains a comma separated list of named button sections.

This is a sample buttons.cfg file:

[button]
names=switch1,switch2,switch3,switch4

[switch1]
pin: 12
close: "gl21/2"
open: "gl21/1"

[switch2]
pin: 16
close: "gl22/2"
open: "gl22/1"

[switch3]
pin: 20
close: "gl23/2"
open: "gl23/1"

[switch4]
pin: 21
close: "gl24/2"
open: "gl24/1"

ContactPi uses Bacon Script to abstract the underlying OSC. The README file of that project contains additional details about the syntax for configuring comment macros.

• Once the file has been configured press ctrl+x to exit.

Hog Servers

• Use nano to configure the Hog server settings.

> nano server.cfg

Contact Pi only sends OSC commands to the first server in this list unless the net number is explicitly specified in the comment macro. EXAMPLEh22.

This is a sample server.cfg file:

[network]
hogs = hog4_235, hedgehog_235, server_pc, server_rackhog

[hog4_235]
ip: 10.235.1.53
port: 7001
net: 53

[hedgehog_235]
ip: 10.235.1.63
port: 7001
net: 63

[server_pc]
ip: 10.235.1.12
port: 7001
net: 12

[server_rackhog]
ip: 10.235.1.22
port: 7001
net: 22

• Once the file has been configured ctrl+x to exit.

• Restart buttons.service to apply changes.

> sudo systemctl restart buttons.service

• Check the status of the buttons systemd service.

> sudo systemctl status buttons.service

  ● buttons.service - OSC Button Watcher
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/buttons.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Fri 2020-11-20 14:27:43 EST; 3s ago
   Main PID: 1032 (python3)
      Tasks: 6 (limit: 1433)
     CGroup: /system.slice/buttons.service
             └─1032 /usr/bin/python3 /home/pi/ContactPi/buttond.py

             Nov 20 14:27:43 raspberrypi systemd[1]: Started OSC Button Watcher.
             Nov 20 14:27:43 raspberrypi python3[1032]: Adding Hog device at net# 53
             Nov 20 14:27:43 raspberrypi python3[1032]: Adding Hog device at net# 63
             Nov 20 14:27:43 raspberrypi python3[1032]: Adding Hog device at net# 12
             Nov 20 14:27:43 raspberrypi python3[1032]: Adding Hog device at net# 22