Configure a numato board

Configure a numato board to integrate Numato GPIO Peripheral Modules into your robot:

Navigate to the Config tab of your robot’s page in the Viam app. Click on the Components subtab and click Create component. Select the board type, then select the numato model. Enter a name for your board and click Create.

An example configuration for a numato board in the Viam app Config Builder.

Copy and paste the following attribute template into your board’s Attributes box. Then remove and fill in the attributes as applicable to your board, according to the table below.

{
  "pins": <int>
}

{
  "pins": 32
}

{
  "components": [
    {
      "name": "<your-numato-board>",
      "model": "numato",
      "type": "board",
      "namespace": "rdk",
      "attributes": {
        "pins": <number>
      },
      "depends_on": []
    }
  ]
}

The following attributes are available for numato boards:

NameTypeInclusionDescription
pinsintRequiredNumber of GPIO pins available on the module.
analogsobjectOptionalAttributes of any pins that can be used as Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) inputs. See configuration info.

Attribute Configuration

Configuring these attributes on your board allows you to integrate analog-to-digital converters into your robot.

analogs

An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) takes a continuous voltage input (analog signal) and converts it to an discrete integer output (digital signal).

ADCs are useful when building a robot, as they enable your board to read the analog signal output by most types of sensors and other hardware components.

To integrate an ADC into your robot, you must first physically connect the pins on your ADC to your board. If your ADC communicates with your board using SPI, you need to wire and configure the SPI bus in addition to the analogs.

Then, integrate analogs into the attributes of your board by adding the following to your board’s JSON configuration:

// "attributes": { ... ,
"analogs": [
  {
    "chip_select": "<chip-select-pin-number-on-board>",
    "name": "<your-analog-reader-name>",
    "pin": "<pin-number-on-adc>",
    "spi_bus": "<your-spi-bus-name>",
    "average_over_ms": <int>,
    "samples_per_sec": <int>
  }
]

{
  "components": [
    {
      "model": "pi",
      "name": "your-board",
      "type": "board",
      "attributes": {
        "analogs": [
          {
            "chip_select": "24",
            "name": "current",
            "pin": "1",
            "spi_bus": "main"
          },
          {
            "chip_select": "24",
            "name": "pressure",
            "pin": "0",
            "spi_bus": "main"
          }
        ],
        "spis": [
          {
            "bus_select": "0",
            "name": "main"
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

The following properties are available for analogs:

NameTypeInclusionDescription
namestringRequiredYour name for the analog reader.
pinstringRequiredThe pin number of the ADC’s connection pin, wired to the board. This should be labeled as the physical index of the pin on the ADC.
chip_selectstringRequiredThe pin number of the board’s connection pin, wired to the ADC.
spi_busstringOptionalThe name of the SPI bus connecting the ADC and board. Required if your board must communicate with the ADC with the SPI protocol.
average_over_msintOptionalDuration in milliseconds over which the rolling average of the analog input should be taken.
samples_per_secintOptionalSampling rate of the analog input in samples per second.


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