Mathematica - Dual Relay Bricklet

This is the description of the Mathematica API bindings for the Dual Relay Bricklet. General information and technical specifications for the Dual Relay Bricklet are summarized in its hardware description.

An installation guide for the Mathematica API bindings is part of their general description.

Examples

The example code below is Public Domain (CC0 1.0).

Simple

Download (ExampleSimple.nb)

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Needs["NETLink`"]
LoadNETAssembly["Tinkerforge",NotebookDirectory[]<>"../../.."]

host="localhost"
port=4223
uid="XYZ"(*Change XYZ to the UID of your Dual Relay Bricklet*)

(*Create IPConnection and device object*)
ipcon=NETNew["Tinkerforge.IPConnection"]
dr=NETNew["Tinkerforge.BrickletDualRelay",uid,ipcon]
ipcon@Connect[host,port]

(*Turn relays alternating on/off 10 times with 1 second delay*)
For[i=0,i<5,i++,
 Pause[1];
 dr@SetState[True,False];
 Pause[1];
 dr@SetState[False,True]
]

(*Clean up*)
ipcon@Disconnect[]
ReleaseNETObject[dr]
ReleaseNETObject[ipcon]

API

Generally, every function of the Mathematica bindings that returns a value can throw a Tinkerforge.TimeoutException. This exception gets thrown if the device did not respond. If a cable based connection is used, it is unlikely that this exception gets thrown (assuming nobody plugs the device out). However, if a wireless connection is used, timeouts will occur if the distance to the device gets too big.

Since .NET/Link does not support multiple return values directly, we use the out keyword to return multiple values from a function. For further information about the out keyword in .NET/Link see the corresponding Mathematica .NET/Link documentation.

The namespace for all Brick/Bricklet bindings and the IPConnection is Tinkerforge.*.

Basic Functions

BrickletDualRelay[uid, ipcon] → dualRelay
Parameters:
  • uid – Type: String
  • ipcon – Type: NETObject[IPConnection]
Returns:
  • dualRelay – Type: NETObject[BrickletDualRelay]

Creates an object with the unique device ID uid:

dualRelay=NETNew["Tinkerforge.BrickletDualRelay","YOUR_DEVICE_UID",ipcon]

This object can then be used after the IP Connection is connected.

The .NET runtime has built-in garbage collection that frees objects that are no longer in use by a program. But because Mathematica can not automatically tell when a Mathematica "program" doesn't use a .NET object anymore, this has to be done by the program. For this the ReleaseNETObject[] function is used in the examples.

For further information about object management in .NET/Link see the corresponding Mathematica .NET/Link documentation.

BrickletDualRelay@SetState[relay1, relay2] → Null
Parameters:
  • relay1 – Type: True/False, Default: False
  • relay2 – Type: True/False, Default: False

Sets the state of the relays, true means on and false means off. For example: (true, false) turns relay 1 on and relay 2 off.

If you just want to set one of the relays and don't know the current state of the other relay, you can get the state with GetState[] or you can use SetSelectedState[].

All running monoflop timers will be aborted if this function is called.

BrickletDualRelay@GetState[out relay1, out relay2] → Null
Output Parameters:
  • relay1 – Type: True/False, Default: False
  • relay2 – Type: True/False, Default: False

Returns the state of the relays, true means on and false means off.

Advanced Functions

BrickletDualRelay@SetMonoflop[relay, state, time] → Null
Parameters:
  • relay – Type: Integer, Range: [1 to 2]
  • state – Type: True/False
  • time – Type: Integer, Unit: 1 ms, Range: [0 to 232 - 1]

The first parameter can be 1 or 2 (relay 1 or relay 2). The second parameter is the desired state of the relay (true means on and false means off). The third parameter indicates the time that the relay should hold the state.

If this function is called with the parameters (1, true, 1500): Relay 1 will turn on and in 1.5s it will turn off again.

A monoflop can be used as a failsafe mechanism. For example: Lets assume you have a RS485 bus and a Dual Relay Bricklet connected to one of the slave stacks. You can now call this function every second, with a time parameter of two seconds. The relay will be on all the time. If now the RS485 connection is lost, the relay will turn off in at most two seconds.

BrickletDualRelay@GetMonoflop[relay, out state, out time, out timeRemaining] → Null
Parameters:
  • relay – Type: Integer, Range: [1 to 2]
Output Parameters:
  • state – Type: True/False
  • time – Type: Integer, Unit: 1 ms, Range: [0 to 232 - 1]
  • timeRemaining – Type: Integer, Unit: 1 ms, Range: [0 to 232 - 1]

Returns (for the given relay) the current state and the time as set by SetMonoflop[] as well as the remaining time until the state flips.

If the timer is not running currently, the remaining time will be returned as 0.

BrickletDualRelay@SetSelectedState[relay, state] → Null
Parameters:
  • relay – Type: Integer, Range: [1 to 2]
  • state – Type: True/False

Sets the state of the selected relay (1 or 2), true means on and false means off.

A running monoflop timer for the selected relay will be aborted if this function is called.

The other relay remains untouched.

BrickletDualRelay@GetIdentity[out uid, out connectedUid, out position, out {hardwareVersion1, hardwareVersion2, hardwareVersion3}, out {firmwareVersion1, firmwareVersion2, firmwareVersion3}, out deviceIdentifier] → Null
Output Parameters:
  • uid – Type: String, Length: up to 8
  • connectedUid – Type: String, Length: up to 8
  • position – Type: Integer, Range: [ToCharacterCode["a"][[0]] to ToCharacterCode["h"][[0]], ToCharacterCode["z"][[0]]]
  • hardwareVersioni – Type: Integer
    • 1: major – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 2: minor – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 3: revision – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 255]
  • firmwareVersioni – Type: Integer
    • 1: major – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 2: minor – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 3: revision – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 255]
  • deviceIdentifier – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 216 - 1]

Returns the UID, the UID where the Bricklet is connected to, the position, the hardware and firmware version as well as the device identifier.

The position can be 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g' or 'h' (Bricklet Port). A Bricklet connected to an Isolator Bricklet is always at position 'z'.

The device identifier numbers can be found here. There is also a constant for the device identifier of this Bricklet.

Callbacks

Callbacks can be registered to receive time critical or recurring data from the device. The registration is done by assigning a function to a callback property of the device object:

MyCallback[sender_,value_]:=Print["Value: "<>ToString[value]]

AddEventHandler[dualRelay@ExampleCallback,MyCallback]

For further information about event handling using .NET/Link see the corresponding Mathematica .NET/Link documentation.

The available callback property and their type of parameters are described below.

Note

Using callbacks for recurring events is always preferred compared to using getters. It will use less USB bandwidth and the latency will be a lot better, since there is no round trip time.

event BrickletDualRelay@MonoflopDoneCallback[sender, relay, state]
Callback Parameters:
  • sender – Type: NETObject[BrickletDualRelay]
  • relay – Type: Integer, Range: [1 to 2]
  • state – Type: True/False

This callback is triggered whenever a monoflop timer reaches 0. The parameter contain the relay (1 or 2) and the current state of the relay (the state after the monoflop).

Virtual Functions

Virtual functions don't communicate with the device itself, but operate only on the API bindings device object. They can be called without the corresponding IP Connection object being connected.

BrickletDualRelay@GetAPIVersion[] → {apiVersion1, apiVersion2, apiVersion3}
Output Parameters:
  • apiVersioni – Type: Integer
    • 1: major – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 2: minor – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 3: revision – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 255]

Returns the version of the API definition implemented by this API bindings. This is neither the release version of this API bindings nor does it tell you anything about the represented Brick or Bricklet.

BrickletDualRelay@GetResponseExpected[functionId] → responseExpected
Parameters:
  • functionId – Type: Integer, Range: See constants
Returns:
  • responseExpected – Type: True/False

Returns the response expected flag for the function specified by the function ID parameter. It is true if the function is expected to send a response, false otherwise.

For getter functions this is enabled by default and cannot be disabled, because those functions will always send a response. For callback configuration functions it is enabled by default too, but can be disabled by SetResponseExpected[]. For setter functions it is disabled by default and can be enabled.

Enabling the response expected flag for a setter function allows to detect timeouts and other error conditions calls of this setter as well. The device will then send a response for this purpose. If this flag is disabled for a setter function then no response is sent and errors are silently ignored, because they cannot be detected.

The following constants are available for this function:

For functionId:

  • BrickletDualRelay`FUNCTIONUSETUSTATE = 1
  • BrickletDualRelay`FUNCTIONUSETUMONOFLOP = 3
  • BrickletDualRelay`FUNCTIONUSETUSELECTEDUSTATE = 6
BrickletDualRelay@SetResponseExpected[functionId, responseExpected] → Null
Parameters:
  • functionId – Type: Integer, Range: See constants
  • responseExpected – Type: True/False

Changes the response expected flag of the function specified by the function ID parameter. This flag can only be changed for setter (default value: false) and callback configuration functions (default value: true). For getter functions it is always enabled.

Enabling the response expected flag for a setter function allows to detect timeouts and other error conditions calls of this setter as well. The device will then send a response for this purpose. If this flag is disabled for a setter function then no response is sent and errors are silently ignored, because they cannot be detected.

The following constants are available for this function:

For functionId:

  • BrickletDualRelay`FUNCTIONUSETUSTATE = 1
  • BrickletDualRelay`FUNCTIONUSETUMONOFLOP = 3
  • BrickletDualRelay`FUNCTIONUSETUSELECTEDUSTATE = 6
BrickletDualRelay@SetResponseExpectedAll[responseExpected] → Null
Parameters:
  • responseExpected – Type: True/False

Changes the response expected flag for all setter and callback configuration functions of this device at once.

Constants

BrickletDualRelay`DEVICEUIDENTIFIER

This constant is used to identify a Dual Relay Bricklet.

The GetIdentity[] function and the IPConnection@EnumerateCallback callback of the IP Connection have a deviceIdentifier parameter to specify the Brick's or Bricklet's type.

BrickletDualRelay`DEVICEDISPLAYNAME

This constant represents the human readable name of a Dual Relay Bricklet.