[Pythonmac-SIG] Python access to RS-232, USB, MIDI?

[Arthur Elsenaar]

On Jan 14, 2005, at 02:10, Lance Boyle wrote:

> I'm brainstorming on a project that involves communicating with a head 
> tracker (I need only azimuth). I haven't decided on an actual head 
> tracker, but am looking at a Polhemus. (Comments on head trackers are 
> also welcomed--gaming devices or 3D mice?)
>
> It looks like that I might need to communicate via RS-232 or USB (is 
> there a MIDI tracker?). I want to keep this simple and clobber the 
> problem with minimum fuss, so naturally I think of Python, 
> AppleScript, etc. I'm pretty much a neophyte with such things 
> (although I wrote a 3D plotting program for a Tektronix pen plotter a 
> _long_ time ago).

Have a look at what http://www.makingthings.com has to offer. They 
built really nice IO modules (USB, serial, etc.) for mere mortals (read 
artists) that hook up to almost anything from Flash to Max/MSP, Java, 
C, etc. I haven't checked recently if there's a python binding already, 
but it shouldn't be hard for an experienced programmer to create.

We've had great success with our art students working with these 
modules.

Arthur