Velbus HTTP interface

This project is an HTTP(s) interface to the Velbus domotica system.

Dependencies

On debian:

• python3 3.7 or higher (default on buster, not supported on stretch)
• build-essential, python3-dev to compile C-extensions for some of the Python dependencies
• (optional) nodejs and npm for the React Web Frontend

Quickstart

1. Clone this repository

   git clone https://github.com/niobos/velbuspy.git
   cd velbuspy

2. Create a new Python VirtualEnv (optional, but highly recommended) and make sure you have current setuptools and wheels:

   $ python3 -m venv venv
   $ source venv/bin/activate
   (venv) $ pip install setuptools wheel

3. Install structattr:

   (venv) $ pip install git+https://github.com/niobos/structattr.git

4. Install velbuspy:

   (venv) $ pip install -e .

5. (Optional): install and build the React Web Frontend:

   (venv) $ git clone https://github.com/niobos/velbusjs.git
   (venv) $ cd velbusjs
   (venv) $ $EDITOR public/index.html
   (venv) $ npm install
   (venv) $ npm run build

6. Run the daemon for /dev/ttyUSB0 (substitute for the port actually in use)

   (venv) $ python src/run.py --static-dir velbusjs/build /dev/ttyUSB0

7. Point your browser to http://localhost:8080/

Debugging tips

You can fake a serial port with socat: socat -d -d PTY -

Design considerations

• VelbusMessages could also be dataclasses. They are currently slotted attr-classes for performance reasons: A simple serialize-deserialize roundtrip with timeit gives:

  • 23.09 seconds for dataclass
  • 20.17 seconds for attrs
  • 19.73 seconds for slotted attrs

• bit manipulation is done via bitstrings. It's significantly faster than bitstruct.