USB API?
Hello fellow Pokit Users!
I've been buzzing the idea to try to connect my pro by USB to my Linux box and see if i could get any metadata through so i could make a personal interface.
My puzzle starts for me here, as i do not want to reinvent the wheel and now need to figure if such an API protocol as already been made available and how to access/communicate with it?
Could anyone point me to any data-info-link nuggets of wisdom where i could educate myself and have fun while learning to do it by myself?
Thanks in advance for your help.
L.V.
P.S. Already know to communicate by Bluetooth, wondering if by USB the transfer data rate would be worth it if well implemented?
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A precision:
The hoped for gains are are a better API to control the meter, selecting modes and obtaining a stream of continuous data that could be served by the OS.
This way could result in a fast API mini server app, that could be tapped by the multitude of applications out there or i may just rolling a quick and dirty, one in serious need of TLC to emulate that of the android/ios app.
Any Devs or Users have ideas to share on how that could be achieved? To be clear, my intent is to learn how to do it by trial and error using such info. What would be the penultimate informational dump is a skeleton-framed proto-design of a server software! How would this signal be acquired such as a continuous datastream that could have a(Bit-Banged?) protocol I could be parsed through iteratively?
Ambitious much? I'll admit to it!
Still, better go for broke when you use Delusions of Adequacy!
Have fun,
LV
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Hi Lucas Vaillancourt
I understand your wish for a USB API for Pokit Pro.There are two problems here:
- Due to safety requirements the USB port on the Pokit Pro is isolated to 12kV from the rest of the circuit, so we designed it to be for power only (no data). This is because it is not trivial (expensive and large) to isolate data to anything approaching 12kV but its pretty simple to make an isolation transformer go to pretty much any voltage you want.
- Due to legal requirements we are unable to release API's for anything MAINS rated due to the way EU law is written. according to the EU LVD, manufacturers are solely responsible for ensuring compliance to the relevant standards (in this case IEC 61010). Unfortunately the standards have been developed in such away that makes compliance require certain components in the app act in very specific ways. For example the standard talks about how the hold button must display on the screen (in the app in our case) in an unambiguous way to ensure the user understands that the displayed value is not a live reading. There are a number of other relevant clauses that also affect the app. To ensure compliance we formally verify all of these components are working as specified in the standard on every release. There is no method for us to be able to 100% guarantee a third party will do this if we release an API to the public.
We are not against having an open API you can see the one for Pokit Meter here.
The Pokit Meter is rated to <70V therefore is not required to comply with the EU LVD legislation or the standard requirements.
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Oh well, that pulls the brakes on this line of thoughts. Thank you for explaining the reasoning behind the curtain as to why it isn't a feasible avenue, very much appreciated.
Let's see, how has the bluetooth api come along vis-a-vis it's usage with a computer as opposed to a phone/tablet? I've seen some hints of usage on github... Has any support been requested before now for either a linux/windows/mac port of the current application?
My goal is to basicaly make the usage of any pokit pro meter available on a laptop. A small widget-like or a full-blown application would be awesome if the android/ios application hasn't been ported yet.
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