Instrumental

Instrumental is a Python-based library for controlling lab hardware like cameras, DAQs, oscilloscopes, spectrometers, and more. It has high-level drivers for instruments from NI, Tektronix, Thorlabs, PCO, Photometrics, Burleigh, and others.

Note

As of version 0.7, Instrumental has dropped support for Python 2 and now requires Python 3.7+.

Instrumental’s goal is to make common tasks simple to perform, while still providing the flexibility to perform complex tasks with relative ease. It also makes it easy to mess around with instruments in the shell. For example, to list the available instruments and open one of them:

>>> from instrumental import instrument, list_instruments
>>> paramsets = list_instruments()
>>> paramsets
[<ParamSet[TSI_Camera] serial='05478' number=0>,
 <ParamSet[K10CR1] serial='55000247'>
 <ParamSet[NIDAQ] model='USB-6221 (BNC)' name='Dev1'>]
>>> daq = instrument(paramsets[2])
>>> daq.ai0.read()
<Quantity(5.04241962841, 'volt')>

If you’re going to be using an instrument repeatedly, save it for later:

>>> daq.save_instrument('myDAQ')

Then you can simply open it by name:

>>> daq = instrument('myDAQ')

You can even access and control instruments on remote machines. Check out Working with Instruments for more detailed info.

Instrumental also bundles in some additional support code, including:

  • Plotting and curve fitting utilities

  • Utilities for acquiring and organizing data

Instrumental makes use of NumPy, SciPy, Matplotlib, and Pint, a Python units library. It optionally uses PyVISA/VISA and other drivers for interfacing with lab equipment.

To download Instrumental or browse its source, see our GitHub page.

You can cite Instrumental through Zenodo (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.2556398).

Note

Instrumental is currently still under heavy development, so its interfaces are subject to change. Contributions are greatly appreciated, see Writing Drivers and Developer’s Guide for more info.

User Guide