RealTime OpenControl (RTOC)

Version 1.9.7.3

This README is available in GERMAN here.

RealTime OpenControl enables simple real-time data recording, visualization and editing. The recording can be done with a local Python scripts or via TCP locally/from the network. Visualization and editing is available locally, in the network (TCP and HTML) and via Telegram on the smartphone. You have full control over your python-plugins via TCP and Telegram.

In addition to data recording, events can also be recorded. These can, for example, trigger a telegram message.

Possible applications:

Central measurement data recording of laboratory instruments with PC connection (e.g. power supply unit, multimeter, sensors, microcontroller)
Central recording of measurement data from Internet devices (e.g. mobile weather stations, drones, smartphones)
Remote monitoring and control of processes and devices with PC and Smartphone (Telegram) (e.g. 3D printing, heating, Custom-SmartHome)
Controlling between several devices (e.g.: power regulation of a power supply unit on the temperature sensor of a multimeter)
Decentralized data recording (e.g. on Raspberry) and access via network connection (smart projects)

Getting Started

RTOC is written in Python 3. Tested on Windows and Linux.

Python 3 (and pip3) need to be installed on the System. But you can also download the Stand-Alone-Builts for Windows and Linux below.

Installing with Python3 (recommended)

RTOC is available in the Python package manager PIP:

pip3 install RTOC

After installing you can run RTOC with

// local RTOC-instance including GUI
python3 -m RTOC
// local RTOC-instance without GUI (only TCP-Server, [HTTP-Server, Telegram-Bot])
python3 -m RTOC -s
// remote RTOC-instance with GUI
python3 -m RTOC -r <ADRESS>

After the first start RTOC creates a directory for user plugins, temporary user data and settings.

user@rtoc-server:~$ ls .RTOC
config.json  // Settings for RTOC
devices/ 	 // Directory for user-plugins
plotStyles.json // Custom plotstyles for signals are stored in this file

Installing with Builds (not tested well)

Download the latest release builds for Windows (soon also Linux) here.

Extract the .zip file into a directory. RTOC is started by double-clicking on "RTOC.exe". Alternatively via command line

// local RTOC-instance including GUI
./RTOC
// local RTOC-instance without GUI (only TCP-Server, [HTTP-Server, Telegram-Bot])
./RTOC -s
// remote RTOC-instance with GUI
./RTOC -r <ADRESS>

After the first start RTOC creates a directory for user plugins, temporary user data and settings.

user@rtoc-server:~$ ls .RTOC
config.json  // Settings for RTOC
devices/ 	 // Directory for user-plugins
plotStyles.json // Custom plotstyles for signals are stored in this file

Install manually

To use RTOC, the following dependencies must be installed

pip3 install numpy pyqt5 pyqtgraph markdown2 xslxwriter scipy pandas ezodf

The following packages should also be installed

pip3 install python-telegram-bot matplotlib requests python-nmap bokeh pycryptdomex pyGithub

You can use different stylesheets if you want. Just install one of these with pip: 'QDarkStyle', 'qtmodern', 'qdarkgraystyle'.

The RTOC repository can then be cloned with

git clone git@github.com:Haschtl/RealTimeOpenControl.git

Now RTOC can be started:

cd kellerlogger
// local RTOC-instance including GUI
python3 RTOC
// local RTOC-instance without GUI (only TCP-Server, [HTTP-Server, Telegram-Bot])
python3 RTOC -s
// remote RTOC-instance with GUI
python3 RTOC -r <ADRESS>

After the first start RTOC creates a directory for user plugins, temporary user data and settings.

user@rtoc-server:~$ ls .RTOC
config.json  // Settings for RTOC
devices/ 	 // Directory for user-plugins
plotStyles.json // Custom plotstyles for signals are stored in this file

First steps

Wiki

Read the Wiki for full documentation

Default/Example Plugins:

function generator: generates sine, square, sawtooth, random, AC, DC
NetWoRTOC: Control and data exchange between several RTOC-servers

You can get more plugins from the RTOC-plugin-repository. Simply follow the steps described in the documentation:

System: For recording many system variables (CPU, Memory, Network,...)
Octoprint: Recording of 3D printers
DPS5020: power supply unit recording and control (possibly also DPS5005, ...)
HoldPeak VC820: Multimeter Measurement Recording (also other VC820)
...

First GUI-Run

The graphical user interface of RTOC offers a wealth of functions for data display and processing.

measuring tools
Customize and save plot styles
Save and load session
Create multiple plots
Run in the background
Import and export data
Scripts:
- Multi-Tab Script Editor
- The user can interact with the signals and plugins during runtime:
  - Execute plugin functions or set plugin parameters
  - Edit signals, create new signals, crop, overlay, ...
  - Scaling, shifting of signals
  - Run multiple scripts in parallel

Complete GUI-tutorial here.

Write simple Python-Plugin

Python plugins are integrated into RTOC and can be used to

send data as stream(=append) or plot(=replace) to RTOC
send events

Plugins can not access all measurements. This can be done with a TCP connection to RTOC.

Example-Plugins here.

Simple local TCP-Datastream

TCP clients can establish a connection to the RTOC server on the same computer or in the network (check firewall settings). With the necessary port shares on the router and dynamic DNS, the RTOC server can also be accessed from the Internet.

TCP communication takes place with JSONs, which allows communication in all programming languages and also, for example, with an ESP8266/ESP32 microcontroller. This connection can also be end-to-end-encrypted with AES.

The client can