Installation and setup

Install

Install from PyPI:

python -m pip install --upgrade acconeer-exptool[app]

Note

Depending on your environment, you might have to replace python with python3 or py.

The Exploration Tool application uses PySide6. If you have other versions of PyQt/PySide installed, it may cause conflicts. If this is the case for you, we recommend using virtual environments to separate the two installations.

To install on OS:s not supporting PySide6, install only the algo package:

python -m pip install --upgrade acconeer-exptool[algo]

Attention

You will not be able to run the Exploration Tool Application when installing only the algo package

To install the latest version from source; download or clone the repository. Run the following command in the newly created directory:

python -m pip install --upgrade .[app]

Note

Any edit to the source code requires reinstalling acconeer-exptool unless you are using an editable install:

python -m pip install -e .[app]

Windows Setup

Windows users might need to install drivers that allow proper function of Acconeer’s modules.

See the corresponding setup guide for your module:

• Setting up your XM112

• Setting up your XM122

• Setting up your XM132

• Setting up your XC120 + XE121

Linux setup

After installing the acconeer-exptool package, you can run:

python -m acconeer.exptool.setup

which interactively configures your machine and downloads needed dependencies. This is done in order for your machine to work at its best with Exploration tool. acconeer.exptool.setup performs the same steps that described in the sections below.

Serial port permissions

If you are running Linux together with an XM112, XM122, or XM132 module through UART, you probably need permission to access the serial port. Access is obtained by adding yourself to the dialout group:

sudo usermod -a -G dialout $USER

Reboot for the changes to take effect.

Note

If you have ModemManager installed and running it might try to connect to the module, which has proven to cause problems. If you are having issues, try disabling the ModemManager service.

USB permissions

If you are using Linux together with an XC120, the USB communication is preferred over serial port communication. To be able to access the USB device. Either run the scripts with sudo or create an udev rule as follows. Create and edit:

sudo nano /etc/udev/rules.d/50-xc120.rules

with the following content:

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0483", ATTRS{idProduct}=="a41d", MODE:="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0483", ATTRS{idProduct}=="a42c", MODE:="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0483", ATTRS{idProduct}=="a42d", MODE:="0666"

This method is confirmed to work for *Ubuntu 20.04.

SPI permissions

If you are using Linux together with an XM112, you probably need permission to access the SPI bridge USB device. Either run the scripts with sudo or create an udev rule as follows. Create and edit:

sudo nano /etc/udev/rules.d/50-ft4222.rules

with the following content:

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0403", ATTRS{idProduct}=="601c", MODE:="0666"

This method is confirmed to work for *Ubuntu 20.04.

Ubuntu 20.04

To run the application on Ubuntu 20.04, libxcb-xinerama0-dev and libusb-1.0-0 needs to be installed:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y libxcb-xinerama0-dev libusb-1.0-0

Udev needs to be informed that rules have changed if changes have been made in /etc/udev/rules/:

sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
sudo udevadm trigger

An USB device have to be disconnected and reconnected before the udev permissions are updated.

Launching the application

After installing the Exploration Tool, it is launched with:

python -m acconeer.exptool.app