2. The Python API¶

The Python API, package parol6, is two things: a controller process that owns the robot, talks to the control board over serial at 100 Hz, plans the motion and checks collisions; and a client library that sends it commands over UDP, from the same PC or any other on the network, with a blocking interface for scripts and an asynchronous one for applications. A dry-run client runs the same planning without a robot, for tests.

This chapter walks through it in the order you use it. The reference lists every method: Python API reference, read from the API's source at the version this site describes.

In this chapter¶

Installation
The controller: starting it, the serial port, simulator mode, the environment variables
Clients: the sync client, the async client, the dry-run client, the Robot lifecycle helper
Motion: joint, linear, circular, spline and process moves, speed and duration, blending, profiles
Jogging and servoing: streamed velocity and position targets
Tools and the TCP: selecting a tool, gripper actions, the TCP transform
I/O, delays and checkpoints
Status and waiting: queries, the status stream, waiting for commands
Errors
Examples

In three lines¶

from parol6 import RobotClient
with RobotClient() as rbt:            # the controller runs already: parol6-server --serial COM5
    rbt.home(wait=True); rbt.move_j([90, -90, 180, 0, 0, 180], speed=0.5)

Architecture¶

flowchart LR
    subgraph Client["Your program"]
        RC["RobotClient / AsyncRobotClient"]
        DR["DryRunRobotClient (no robot)"]
    end
    subgraph Controller["parol6-server"]
        UDP["UDP 5001: commands and queries"]
        Q["Command queue"]
        MP["Motion planner (subprocess)"]
        SP["Segment player, 100 Hz loop"]
        ST["Status broadcast (multicast, 50 Hz)"]
    end
    CB["Control board (serial, 3 Mbaud, 100 Hz)"]
    RC -- commands --> UDP --> Q --> MP --> SP --> CB
    CB -- telemetry --> SP --> ST -- status --> RC

The controller is the only process that touches the serial port. The planner runs in a subprocess so that a long plan never delays the 100 Hz loop; the loop plays the planned segments and streams the jog and servo targets. Status goes out as multicast, so any number of listeners see the robot's state without asking.

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