Linux Python Serial Communication

Serial communication is a common way to exchange data between devices, and it is widely used in many applications. In this article, we will focus on how to use Python on Linux to establish serial communication with other devices.

Setting up the serial port

Before we can start communicating over the serial port, we need to configure the port settings such as baud rate, parity, data bits, and stop bits. This can be done using the pyserial library in Python.

import serial

ser = serial.Serial('/dev/ttyUSB0', baudrate=9600, parity=serial.PARITY_NONE, stopbits=serial.STOPBITS_ONE, bytesize=serial.EIGHTBITS)

In the code snippet above, we create an instance of the Serial class and specify the port name (/dev/ttyUSB0 in this case), baud rate, parity, stop bits, and data bits.

Sending and receiving data

Once the serial port is configured, we can start sending and receiving data. To send data, we can use the write() method, and to receive data, we can use the read() method.

ser.write(b'Hello, world!')
data = ser.read(10)
print(data)

In the code above, we send the string "Hello, world!" over the serial port and read 10 bytes of data from the port.

Example scenario

Let's consider a simple scenario where a Raspberry Pi is connected to an Arduino over the serial port. The Raspberry Pi sends a command to the Arduino to toggle an LED on and off.

sequenceDiagram
    participant RaspberryPi
    participant Arduino

    RaspberryPi->>Arduino: Send command "toggle"
    Arduino->>RaspberryPi: Receive command

In this scenario, the Raspberry Pi will send the command "toggle" to the Arduino, and the Arduino will receive the command and toggle the LED accordingly.

Conclusion

In this article, we have discussed how to use Python on Linux for serial communication. By configuring the serial port settings and using the pyserial library, we can easily send and receive data over the serial port. Serial communication is a powerful tool for interfacing with various devices and can be used in a wide range of applications.

Remember to always close the serial port when you are done communicating to release the resources properly.

ser.close()

With the knowledge of serial communication in Python, you can now explore and develop your own projects that involve communicating with other devices over the serial port.