A repository for my python codes to operate a Tenx (M&S) USB foam missile launcher.

On windows you will need LibUSB -- I used LibUSB0.1 1.27. If you don't know what that means, find out more on the pyusb github page. Once you've downloaded LibUSB0.1 run the gui to install the filter for your device (Vendor=0x1130, Product=0x0202).

On linux you might have permissions issues. If you do read the troubleshooting section. You might also want to change the backend to libusb1 in lib/launcher.py.

• Clone the project: https://github.com/iconicporridge/tenx_launcher_hq.git
• Move into the directory: cd tenx_launcher_hq
• I'd recommend creating a conda environment using the provided file:
  • conda env create -f environment.yml
  • conda activate usb-launcher
• Or you can create a pip virtual environment (warning: I'm not sure PyQT installs very nicely from pip):
  • python -m venv usb-launcher
  • Use the path to the virtual environment to install the requirements file: ./usb-launcher/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt.
  • Going forward use the virtual environment python: ./usb-launcher/bin/python3 instead of just python.
• Run the application: python command_centre.py
• You should get this GUI if your device is detected.

You might need extra permissions to use a USB device from python. One way is to use sudo, but you might not want your kids to have your password.

An alternative is setting udev rules. I've included an example udev rule 99-missile-launcher.rules, which goes in /etc/udev/rules.d on Ubuntu like systems. You'll need to modify the rule to use your username, then place it in the correct directory and restart your computer.

LibUSB is not a default on windows like it is for most linux systems. There are a variety of different LibUSB 'backends' available. The most common is called LibUSB1.0 but that didn't work on windows for this project (it worked fine on Arch). I'm using LibUSB0.1. You can change the backend in lib/launcher.py. Find out more at the pyusb project.