This is the server component of the piccolo3 spectral system.

The piccolo3 server is multithreaded python3 application that controls multiple Ocean Optics spectrometers using the seabreeze package. The piccolo3 server itself is controlled via the constrained application protocol (CoAP). It also uses the python3 asyncio framework for co-routines.

The piccolo3 server is designed to run on a raspberry pi system. It makes use of the GPIO system to control the shutters.

On an up-to-date rapbian buster system install the following packages

apt install python3-numpy python3-psutil python3-configobj python3-daemon \
            python3-tz python3-gpiozero python3-dateutil python3-lockfile \
			python3-bitarray python3-scipy python3-sqlalchemy python3-usb \
			python3-virtualenv

Create a virtual environment with access to system packages

python3 -m venv --system-site-packages /path/to/venv

and activate it

. /path/to/venv/bin/activate

Install the piccolo3-common package and then the server package.

The piccolo3 server is configured using two config files:

1. the server configuration typically stored in /etc/piccolo.cfg:

[coap]
# The server address to listen on, can be an IP address or resolvable host name. By default listen on all interfaces
address = ::
# The port to listen on. By default use the CoAP port 5683
port = 5683

[daemon]
# run piccolo server as daemon
daemon = False
# name of PID file
pid_file = /var/run/piccolo.pid

# configure the data directory
[datadir]
mount = True
datadir = piccolo3_data
device = /dev/sda1

[logging]
debug = False

2. the instrument specific configuration file which is stored in the datadir configured in the server configuration file. Have a long at the example file pdata/piccolo.config.

Once configured, you can run the server using

piccolo3-server -s /etc/piccolo.cfg

Have a look at coap.md for instructions on how to communicate with the server using the CoAP protocol. Alternatively, install the piccolo3-client to communicate with the piccolo3 server using python. You can also use the piccolo3-web web application to control the server using a browser.