Connecting Hardware Devices

Tychos supports two types of hardware devices that can feed live sensor data directly into your simulation: Vernier wireless sensors (via Bluetooth) and USB serial devices (Micro:bit, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, ESP32, and others).

Open Devices from the Settings panel to connect and manage devices:

---

Vernier Wireless Sensors

Vernier's wireless sensors connect over Bluetooth LE using Vernier's GoDirect technology. Click + Add Vernier to scan for nearby sensors.

Compatible devices: Any Vernier GoDirect wireless sensor (force, temperature, motion, pH, etc.)

Requirements: Your browser must support Web Bluetooth (Chrome or Edge on desktop).

---

USB Serial Devices

Click + Connect Serial Device to connect any microcontroller that outputs data over USB as text. This uses the Web Serial API built into Chrome and Edge.

Compatible devices include:

• Micro:bit

• Arduino (Uno, Nano, Mega, etc.)

• Raspberry Pi (via USB serial)

• ESP32 / ESP8266

• Any device that sends text over a serial port

Data Format

Your device should send data over serial at 115200 baud in one of these formats:

JSON object (recommended for multiple values):

{"temperature": 22.5, "pressure": 1013.2}

Key-value pairs (one per line):

temperature:22.5
pressure:1013.2

CSV (values are labeled col_0, col_1, etc.):

22.5,1013.2

---

Reading Device Data in Code

Once a device is connected, use scenario.get_device(index) to access it in your simulation code. Devices are indexed in the order they were connected (starting at 0).

# Get the first connected device
sensor = scenario.get_device(0)

# Read a value from the device
temp = sensor.data["temperature"]

The data dictionary is updated automatically each frame as new serial data arrives.

Example (Python): Plotting live temperature

# Setup
g = graph(title="Temperature")
sensor = scenario.get_device(0)

# Loop
if sensor:
    temp = sensor.data.get("temperature", 0)
    g.plot(x=t, y=temp, color="red")

Multiple devices

vernier = scenario.get_device(0)   # first connected
arduino = scenario.get_device(1)   # second connected

force = vernier.data.get("Force", 0)
angle = arduino.data.get("angle", 0)

---

Arduino Example Sketch

Here is a minimal Arduino sketch that sends data in JSON format:

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
}

void loop() {
  float temperature = analogRead(A0) * (5.0 / 1023.0) * 100.0;
  Serial.print("{\"temperature\":");
  Serial.print(temperature, 2);
  Serial.println("}");
  delay(100);
}

---

Micro:bit Example (MakeCode / Python)

In MicroPython on the Micro:bit:

from microbit import *
import utime

uart.init(baudrate=115200)

while True:
    x = accelerometer.get_x()
    y = accelerometer.get_y()
    uart.write('{"x":' + str(x) + ',"y":' + str(y) + '}\n')
    utime.sleep_ms(100)