Driving Requirements ━━ ♡ ━━

• Recording Deflection Data The software captures raw deflection data from the rangefinder.
• Conversion of Measurements It converts deflection measurements into thrust measurements along with their respective uncertainties.
• Graphical Display: The software presents deflection measurements and their uncertainties graphically. It supports exporting both figures and raw data.
• Calibration System: The thrust stand requires an integrated calibration system capable of calibrating to 10 micronewtons.

Design - Python Overview

PySerial: ━━ ♡ ━━

• ୨୧ Python library enabling communication between the computer and external hardware, such as the Arduino.
• ୨୧ Instructs the Arduino to perform tasks like moving a stepper motor a certain number of steps.
• ୨୧ Defines variables for motor control flags and markers
• ୨୧ Sets a newline character for message termination.
• ୨୧ Attempts to open the specified serial port at a baud rate of 9600.
• ୨୧ sendData() function structures and sends motor control commands over the serial port.
• ୨୧ Commands include motor activation flag, speed, angle, direction, and newline termination.
• ୨୧ Employs an EMI low pass filter to control the smoothing effect of the filter.

NI-DAQmx / nidaqmx: ━━ ♡ ━━

• ୨୧ Facilitates communication with the NI DAQ-6009 device provided by National Instruments.
• ୨୧ Controls and interacts with DAQ devices for data acquisition, control, and configuration.
• ୨୧ Facilitates communication with the NI DAQ-6009 device.
• ୨୧ Integration with PySerial allows interaction with DAQ for data acquisition, control, and configuration.

Graphical User Interface (GUI) Tkinter: ━━ ♡ ━━

• ୨୧ Ideal for simple GUI applications, emphasizing basic user interaction and data display.
• ୨୧ Simplifies user interaction and data presentation in Python applications.
• ୨୧ Utilizes Tkinter to create a graphical user interface for motor control.
• ୨୧ Includes widgets such as sliders, entry boxes, labels, and buttons for user interaction.

Design - Arduino Overview ━━ ♡ ━━

• Serial Communication: ୨୧ Arduino communicates with the computer via a serial port. ୨୧ Commands from the computer control the stepper motor.
• Parameter Conversion: ୨୧ Received parameters are converted for motor control: speed is converted to a delay between steps, and angle to the number of steps required for rotation.
• Stepper Motor Control: ୨୧ Four digital output pins interface with the stepper motor's driver.
• Motor Operation: ୨୧ Loop continuously checks for incoming data. ୨୧ Parsed parameters determine motor speed, angle, and direction.
• Motor Control Functions: ୨୧ stepper_Anticlockwise() and stepper_Clockwise() control motor rotation.
• Data Processing: ୨୧ The Parse_the_Data() function extracts and parses parameters from the received string.

Test Objective - Calibration ━━ ♡ ━━

• Electrostatic Fin Connection: ୨୧ Facilitates communication with the electrostatic fin for precise control and manipulation.
• Laser Displacement Sensing: ୨୧ Utilizes laser displacement sensing technology integrated with the NI DAQ-6009 device.
• Displacement Measurement: ୨୧ Enables accurate measurement of displacements in real-time.

Summary ━━ ♡ ━━

This project integrates Python, Arduino, and NI DAQ technologies to control a thrust stand, record deflection data, and perform calibration. It employs PySerial and NI-DAQmx/nidaqmx for communication and data acquisition, while Tkinter provides a user-friendly interface. The system ensures precise measurement and control of thrust parameters for various applications.