Python bindings for the Myo SDK

The Python myo package is a ctypes based wrapper for the Myo shared libraries provided by Thalmic Labs. The aim is to provide a complete Python interface for the Myo SDK as a high level API to developers using Pytho 2 or 3.

There are two ways you can use the Myo bindings, by polling data or by getting push notifications. Basically, your way to start and end a connection with Myo(s) is like this:

import myo as libmyo; libmyo.init()

hub = libmyo.Hub()
hub.run(1000, listener)
try:
    # Wait until something happens or the hub is shut down.
    while hub.running:
        time.sleep(0.25)
finally:
    hub.shutdown()

Note: It is very important that you wrap everything in a try-finally clause to be able to shut down the hub when you want to exit the application as the Hub starts a non-daemon thread. Also, if the hub is garbage collected without it being shutdown(), a warning will be printed.

By the way, we prefer to import the myo package as libmyo as it is very likely you will have a myo variable in your local scope that represents a single armband.

Pushing

You must implement the myo.device_listener.DeviceListener class and pass an instance of it to myo.Hub.run(). Any event that is sent via the Myo will end up in your listener.

Generally, implementing a DeviceListener should be preferred if it will not involve any more complexities in your application.

class Listener(libmyo.DeviceListener):

    def on_pair(self, myo, timestamp):
        print("Hello, Myo!")

    def on_unpair(self, myo, timestamp):
        print("Goodbye, Myo!")

    def on_orientation_data(self, myo, timestamp, quat):
        print("Orientation:", quat.x, quat.y, quat.z, quat.w)

Pulling

Pulling can be done by using an instance of myo.device_listener.Feed as the listener to Hub.run(). The Feed will cache any data when its received and it can be accessed through a MyoProxy object at any time.

feed = libmyo.device_listener.Feed()
hub.run(1000, feed)
try:
    myo = feed.wait_for_single_device(timeout=10)
    if not myo:
        print("No Myo connected after 10 seconds.")
        return

    print("Hello, Myo!")
    while hub.running and myo.connected:
        quat = myo.orientation
        print("Orientation:", quat.x, quat.y, quat.z, quat.w)
    print("Goodbye, Myo!")
finally:
    hub.shutdown()

Check the examples directory for more.

Requirements

• six for Python 2 and 3 compatibility

Getting Started

1. Download myo-python or clone it from GitHub
2. Install it, for testing with pip install -e myo-python/ or add it to your PYTHONPATH
3. Download the Myo SDK and make sure make it's in your PATH

These example assume that the Myo SDK is inside your current working directory.

Windows

> git clone [email protected]:NiklasRosenstein/myo-python.git
> virtualenv env --no-site-packages
> env/Scripts/activate
> pip install -e .
> set PATH=%PATH%;.\myo-sdk-win-0.8.1\bin
> python myo-python\examples\hello_myo.py

Windows (Cygwin)

$ git clone [email protected]:NiklasRosenstein/myo-python.git
$ virtualenv env --no-site-packages
$ source env/bin/activate
$ pip install -e .
$ export PATH=$PATH:$(pwd)/myo-sdk-win-0.8.1/bin
$ python myo-python/examples/hello_myo.py

Mac

$ git clone [email protected]:NiklasRosenstein/myo-python.git
$ virtualenv env --no-site-packages
$ source env/bin/activate
$ pip install -e .
$ export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=$DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH:$(pwd)/myo-sdk-mac-0.8.1/myo.framework
$ python myo-python/examples/hello_myo.py

For a list of all contributors, see here.

Projects using Myo Python

• Myo Matlab

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This project is licensed under the MIT License. Copyright © 2015 Niklas Rosenstein