Many options exist for developing and implementing
monitoring systems for research and scientific applications. Commercially, available systems and devices, however, are usually built using
proprietary tools and programming instructions,
and often offer limited flexibility for end users. The use of open-source hardware and software has been embraced by the research and scientific
communities and can be used to target unique data and information requirements.
Development based on the Arduino microcontroller project has resulted in many
successful applications, and the Arduino hardware and software environment
continues to expand and become more powerful but can be intimidating for users
with limited electronics or programming experience. The open-source Python
language has gained in popularity and is being taught in schools and
universities as an introduction to computer programming and software
development due to its simple structure, ease of use, and large standard
library of functions. A project called CircuitPython was developed to extend
the use of Python to programming hardware devices such as programmable
microcontrollers and maintains much of the original Python language and features, with additional support for
accessing and controlling microcontroller hardware. The objective of the work
reported here is to discuss the CircuitPython programming language and
demonstrate its use in the development of research and scientific applications.
Several open-source sensing and monitoring systems developed using
open-source hardware and the open-source CircuitPython programming language are
presented and described.
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