@mainpage
Segnix
What Is It?
Segnix is an open-source interface library for hardware manipulation based on Linux platform and compatible with Arduino API. You can develop with it by using C/C++ and Python. Segnix is dedicated to provide a fast, efficient and unified software development environment for the person like you with a strong electronic design idea.
CAUTION!
Before November 22, 2014, Segnix was named ITEAD-OS-SDK
What Can It Do?
Through Segnix, users can directly access to the Linux platform hardware resources such as GPIO, UART, SPI, I2C etc. Segnix supports various hardware platforms, such as Iteaduino Plus A10/A20, IBOX, ITEAD Core EVB, Raspberry Pi and Raspberry Pi Model B+ and so on. Meanwhile, It also provides a great amount of libraries for all kinds of child board like NFC(PN532) module, GPS shield, GSM(SIM900/SIM908) shield, nRF24L01 module, OLED and LCD module etc.
Simplifying the hardware operation makes it possible for software engineers who are not familiar with the underlying hardware and junior developers to understand more about "Code World" and "Physical World". It can also work as a rapid prototyping development tool.
Features
At present, Segnix has a set of core features as below:
- Support for upper-layer time functions
- Support for PWM output with any GPIO
- Support for GPIO operations
- Support for GPIO 8bit/16bit bus operations
- Support for UART bus operations
- Support for I2C bus operations
- Support for SPI bus operations
- Support for external interrupts operations(Only for
ITEAD CORE EVB
) - Support for ADC (Only for
BeagleBone Black
)
Based on core features, plenty of functional features can be reached:
- Support for SSD1306-based I2C OLED screen operations
- Support for 1602 LiquidCrystal module
- Support for GPS module
- Support for GSM(SIM900/SIM908) module including GPRS/GPS operations
- Support for NFC(PN532) module
- Support for nRF24L01 module
- Support for Temperature and Humidity module
- Support for IoTgo platform
- Support for Nextion
Where Can It Run?
At present, platforms supported by Segnix are following:
- Iteaduino Plus A10/A20
- ITEAD CORE EVB(IBOX)
- Raspberry Pi Rv2
- Raspberry Pi Model B+
- BeagleBone Black
Which Language for Developing?
You can implement your design based on Segnix in C or C++. Segnix API, which is compatible with Arduino API, makes it easier for those who have some understanding of Arduino to get started. Without any codes modified, the libraries and user's codes for Arduino can be run on Segnix prefectly.
Segnix Python API, especially and amazingly, is provided for Python users. A few beautiful lines of code will achieve your goals!
Documentation
Online Segnix API can be reached at Segnix API. You can also find some important and helpful documents in directory Segnix/doc.
Installation and Uninstallation
Before all, we assume that you have installed the required packages:
build-essential git-core
in your Debian system. If not, you can install
them by command:
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install build-essential git-core
If you are a Python user, the following packages should be installed:
$ sudo apt-get install python2.7 python2.7-dev
Note
Segnix Python API depends python2.7 not python3.x.
Download and Install Segnix in Debian
Only a few steps, DO IT !
Step 1: Getting the Source Code
You can download Segnix by command:
$ git clone https://github.com/itead/Segnix.git
$ cd Segnix
or you can get Segnix via other ways you prefer at https://github.com/itead/Segnix
NOTE
All the commands of the following steps should be run under Segnix's source code directory.
Step 2: Configure Your Board
For now, platforms supported by Segnix and the configuration commands are below. You MUST choose the one fitting your board.
-
Iteaduino Plus A10/A20
$ make Iteaduino_Plus
-
ITEAD CORE EVB
$ make ITEAD_CORE_EVB
-
Raspberry Pi Rv2
$ make Raspberry_Pi_Rv2
-
Raspberry Pi Model B+
$ make Raspberry_Pi_Model_BPlus
-
Beagle bone black
$ make BeagleBone_Black
Step 3: Select Functional Libraries to Install (Optional)
If you DO NOT want to customize the libraries to be installed, just skip this step. nine of ten skip to next step directly!
It's allowed for user to select functional libraries to install. Open file
config.mk
and edit it by adding or removing letter "#" at the head of each
line for deselecting or selecting the corresponding library. More
description for selecting libraries can be found in config.mk
. For example:
$ vi config.mk
Editing... and Save
Step 4: Compile and Install
Installing Segnix requires root(super user)'s privilege. Run command:
$ make
$ sudo make install
If you are a lover of Python, you can install Segnix Python API by running:
$ sudo make SDK_Python_install
Version and Help
To check the version of Segnix installed, run command:
$ segnix -v
For some brief help information:
$ segnix --help
Uninstall
To uninstall the Segnix, just run command:
$ cd Segnix
$ sudo make uninstall
If you have installed Segnix Python API, you can uninstall it by running:
$ sudo make SDK_Python_uninstall
How to Start
Segnix Python API will be recommanded for Python users. Segnix works well with C(.c) and C++(.cpp) programs. Especially, it is compatiable with Arduino Sketch(.ino).
Compilation Helper: segnix
segnix is a script to compile your program conveniently. before November 22, 2014, segnix was named iteadcompile. Actually, segnix is a link to iteadcompile.
$ segnix --help
Usage:
segnix objname source.ino [source2.ino] [...]
segnix objname source.cpp [source2.cpp] [...]
segnix objname source.c [source2.c] [...]
Examples for .ino
segnix hello hello.ino
segnix led led1.ino led2.ino
segnix led *.ino
Examples for .cpp
segnix hello hello.cpp
segnix led led1.cpp led2.cpp
segnix led *.cpp
Examples for .c
segnix hello hello.c
segnix led led1.c led2.c
segnix led *.c
NOTES:
objname cannot cantian ".ino" or ".c" or ".cpp"
Version:
segnix [-v]
segnix [--version]
To use Segnix in Python
Create a new file named blink.py
which reads as follow:
#! /usr/bin/env python
from iteadsdk import *
LED = PG9
pinMode(LED, OUTPUT)
while True:
digitalWrite(LED, HIGH)
delay(1000)
digitalWrite(LED, LOW)
delay(1000)
Make blink.py
executable:
$ chmod +x blink.py
Then, run it:
$ sudo ./blink.py
You can get commutative HIGH and LOW from GPIO PG9, if you've run it on ITEAD CORE EVB or other platforms based on Allwinner A10/A20 SoC.
To use Segnix in C program
Create a new file named "led.c" which reads as follow:
#include <itead.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#define STATUS_LED1 PG9
void setup(void)
{
printf("setup begin\n");
pinMode(STATUS_LED1,OUTPUT);
}
void loop(void)
{
digitalWrite(STATUS_LED1,HIGH);
delay(1000);
digitalWrite(STATUS_LED1,LOW);
delay(1000);
}
void main(int argc, char **argv)
{
setup();
while(1)
{
loop();
}
}
Then run segnix in the terminal
$ segnix LED led.c
You can run the LED program after compilation:
$ sudo ./LED
To use Segnix in C++ program
Create a new file named "led.cpp" which reads as follow:
#include <itead.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#define STATUS_LED1 PG9
void setup(void)
{
printf("setup begin\n");
pinMode(STATUS_LED1,OUTPUT);
}
void loop(void)
{
digitalWrite(STATUS_LED1,HIGH);
delay(1000);
digitalWrite(STATUS_LED1,LOW);
delay(1000);
}
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
setup();
while(1)
{
loop();
}
return 0;
}
Then run segnix in the terminal
$ segnix LED led.cpp
You can run the LED program after compilation:
$ sudo ./LED
To use Segnix like an Arduino sketch(.ino)
Create a new file named "led.ino" which contains the following lines:
#include <stdio.h>
#define STATUS_LED1 PG9
void setup(void)
{
printf("setup begin\n");
pinMode(STATUS_LED1,OUTPUT);
}
void loop(void)
{
digitalWrite(STATUS_LED1,HIGH);
delay(1000);
digitalWrite(STATUS_LED1,LOW);
delay(1000);
}
Then run command as below to compile led.ino:
$ segnix LED led.ino
You can run the LED program after compilation:
$ sudo ./LED
Note: How to understand debug information from compiler
You DO NOT include the itead.h explicitly in your source file with suffix .ino.
segnix will take care of everything. That means you need to know the method
you should use for locating your .ino sketch bugs. Actually,if you have a sketch
named "Hello.ino" with a bug at level ERROR in line 25, you will get some ERROR
informations telling the ERROR bug in "Hello.cpp" with line 26(25+1) when
command "segnix Hello Hello.ino" is executed. Why? segnix insert one
line like include "itead.h"
in the head of your Hello.ino, change the suffix
.ino to .cpp and compile(using g++) Hello.cpp to generate Hello which is
executable binary file. When you encounter other bugs in your sketch,debug
skills on C++ program will also helpful for solving your problems.
Plan for Next Stage
Segnix will support much more hardware platforms and functional modules in the future. In the Linux thriving time, Segnix will make any impossible fanatic idea possible, are you ready?
How to Contribute
If you are interested and want to contribute to this project, yet you are suffering from lack of the related hardware. It does not matter. Just write an E-mail to [email protected], attach your github username in it and say something about your experience on the related projects, ITEAD Studio will send you a hardware for free after approval.
After receiving Iteaduino Plus A10/A20, you only need to:
- Fork this project
- Coding
- Push
License GPL
Copyright (C) 2013 ITEAD Studio
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.