HMI (Screen, Button, and Sound)

The AT1000 provides a simple yet functional Human-Machine Interface (HMI) that allows engineers to provide user feedback and interaction during test sequences. The HMI consists of:

• A color LCD screen (80 × 160 resolution)
• An audio speaker for notifications
• A rotary knob for user interaction

The image below shows the different elements on the front panel of the AT1000 device:

HMI Capabilities

Before diving into programming details, here’s what the HMI is designed for:

1. Displaying status messages and progress information to the user.
2. Allowing simple user interactions during test sequences.

What the HMI is not made for

The AT1000's HMI and API are not designed for building complex navigation menus, displaying images, or playing user-defined sound effects. While the hardware is capable of advanced graphics and audio, the HMI is intentionally simplified for ease of use in test automation.

Note

The code examples in the following section assume that tester variable represents an open AT1000 device. The code to open an AT1000 device and create tester variable is not included for simplicity.

Screen Control

The AT1000 screen can display text messages, update the foreground and background colors, and show a progress bar.

NodeJS

// Set the screen color (foreground: white, background: blue)
tester.screen().color("#FFFFFF", "#0000FF");

//Clear all content on the screen
tester.screen().cls();

// Display some text, and replace any previous text.
tester.screen().print("Test is \nin progress...");

// Update the progress bar to 75%.
// Setting progress to 0 hides the progress bar
tester.screen().progress(75);

Python

 
# Assuming `tester` is an instance of a class controlling the screen
tester.screen().color("#FFFFFF", "#0000FF")  # Set foreground (white) and background (blue)

tester.screen().cls()  # Clear the screen

tester.screen().print("Test is \nin progress...")  # Display text

tester.screen().progress(75)  # Update the progress bar to 75%

Speaker Control

The built-in speaker emits predefined sound effects for success, notifications, and failures. These sounds help alert users about test status.

NodeJS

 
// Play success sound at full volume
tester.audio().success();

// Play a notification sound at 50% volume
tester.audio().notification(50);

// Play a failure sound at 80% volume
tester.audio().failure(80);

Python

 

# Play success sound at full volume
tester.audio().success()

# Play a notification sound at 50% volume
tester.audio().notification(50)

# Play a failure sound at 80% volume
tester.audio().failure(80)

Knob Interaction

The rotary knob allows for two types of user interactions:

• Push interaction (pressing the knob)
• Rotation interaction (turning left or right, returning pulse counts)

NodeJS

 
let event = tester.knob.wait_event(20);

console.log("Button press: " + event.pushed);
console.log("Knob rotation: " + event.rotation);

Python

 
# Wait for an event from the knob, with a timeout of 20 seconds
event = tester.knob.wait_event(20)

# Print the button press state and knob rotation value
print(f"Button press: {event.pushed}")
print(f"Knob rotation: {event.rotation}")

Summary

The AT1000’s HMI API enables simple and effective user interaction by controlling:

• The screen (color, messages, progress bar)
• The speaker (predefined sound effects)
• The rotary knob (button push & rotation detection)

These features help engineers create intuitive test sequences without unnecessary complexity.

API Reference

Accessing HMI

NodeJS

const hmi = tester.hmi;

Python

hmi = tester.hmi

---

HMI Module Methods

reset()

Resets the HMI to its default state.

NodeJS

await tester.hmi.reset();

Python

await tester.hmi.reset()

Returns: Promise<void> / Awaitable[None]

---

screen()

Access the screen interface for display operations.

NodeJS

const screen = tester.hmi.screen();

Python

screen = tester.hmi.screen()

Returns: Screen instance

---

audio()

Access the audio interface for sound playback.

NodeJS

const audio = tester.hmi.audio();

Python

audio = tester.hmi.audio()

Returns: Audio instance

---

knob()

Access the rotary knob interface for user input.

NodeJS

const knob = tester.hmi.knob();

Python

knob = tester.hmi.knob()

Returns: Knob instance

---

Screen Class

print(text)

Displays text on the screen.

NodeJS

await screen.print("Test in progress...");

Python

await screen.print("Test in progress...")

Parameters:

• text (string / str): Text to display (max 1024 characters)

Returns: Promise<string> / Awaitable[str] - The displayed text

Exceptions:

• Throws validation error if text exceeds 1024 characters

---

colors(config) / color(fg, bg)

Sets the screen color scheme.

NodeJS

await screen.colors({
  text: "#FFFFFF",
  progress: "#00FF00",
  background: "#000000"
});

// Or simplified version:
await screen.color("#FFFFFF", "#0000FF");

Python

await screen.colors({
    "text": "#FFFFFF",
    "progress": "#00FF00",
    "background": "#000000"
})

# Or simplified version:
await screen.color("#FFFFFF", "#0000FF")

Parameters:

• config (Color): Color configuration object:
  • text (string / str, optional): Text color in hex format (#RRGGBB)
  • progress (string / str, optional): Progress bar color in hex format (#RRGGBB)
  • background (string / str, optional): Background color in hex format (#RRGGBB)

Returns: Promise<Color> / Awaitable[Color] - The applied color configuration

Exceptions:

• Throws validation error if color strings are not valid hex colors (#RRGGBB format)

---

progress(value)

Sets the progress bar value.

NodeJS

await screen.progress(50);  // 50%
await screen.progress(0);   // Hide progress bar

Python

await screen.progress(50)  # 50%
await screen.progress(0)   # Hide progress bar

Parameters:

• value (number / int): Progress percentage (0 to 100). Setting to 0 hides the progress bar.

Returns: Promise<Progress> / Awaitable[Progress] - Object containing the progress value

Exceptions:

• Throws validation error if value is outside the range [0, 100]

---

clear() / cls()

Clears the screen display.

NodeJS

await screen.cls();
// or
await screen.clear();

Python

await screen.cls()
# or
await screen.clear()

Returns: Promise<void> / Awaitable[None]

---

Audio Class

play(config)

Plays a sound with specified volume.

NodeJS

await audio.play({
  sound_id: "success",
  volume: 80
});

Python

await audio.play({
    "sound_id": "success",
    "volume": 80
})

Parameters:

• config (PlaybackConfiguration):
  • sound_id (string / str, required): Sound identifier - one of:
    • "success" - Success/pass sound
    • "warning" - Warning sound
    • "failure" - Failure/error sound
    • "notification_1" - Notification sound 1
    • "notification_2" - Notification sound 2
    • "imperial_march" - Imperial March theme !
  • volume (number / int, required): Volume level (0 to 100)

Returns: Promise<PlaybackConfiguration> / Awaitable[PlaybackConfiguration] - The playback configuration

Exceptions:

• Throws validation error if sound_id is not one of the valid values
• Throws validation error if volume is outside the range [0, 100]

---

success([volume])

Plays the success sound.

NodeJS

await audio.success();      // Full volume
await audio.success(50);    // 50% volume

Python

await audio.success()      # Full volume
await audio.success(50)    # 50% volume

Parameters:

• volume (number / int, optional): Volume level (0 to 100). Defaults to 100.

Returns: Promise<void> / Awaitable[None]

---

notification([volume])

Plays a notification sound.

NodeJS

await audio.notification();     // Full volume
await audio.notification(50);   // 50% volume

Python

await audio.notification()     # Full volume
await audio.notification(50)   # 50% volume

Parameters:

• volume (number / int, optional): Volume level (0 to 100). Defaults to 100.

Returns: Promise<void> / Awaitable[None]

---

failure([volume])

Plays the failure sound.

NodeJS

await audio.failure();      // Full volume
await audio.failure(80);    // 80% volume

Python

await audio.failure()      # Full volume
await audio.failure(80)    # 80% volume

Parameters:

• volume (number / int, optional): Volume level (0 to 100). Defaults to 100.

Returns: Promise<void> / Awaitable[None]

---

Knob Class

wait_event(timeout_ms)

Waits for a knob event (rotation or button press) with a timeout.

NodeJS

const event = await knob.wait_event(5000);  // Wait up to 5 seconds

if (event) {
  console.log("Button pressed:", event.pushed);
  console.log("Rotation delta:", event.rotation);
} else {
  console.log("Timeout - no event");
}

Python

event = await knob.wait_event(5000)  # Wait up to 5 seconds

if event:
    print(f"Button pressed: {event.pushed}")
    print(f"Rotation delta: {event.rotation}")
else:
    print("Timeout - no event")

Parameters:

• timeout_ms (number / int): Timeout in milliseconds

Returns: Promise<KnobEvent | null> / Awaitable[KnobEvent | None] - Event object or null/None if timeout

KnobEvent properties:

• pushed (boolean / bool): True if button was pressed during this event
• rotation (number / int): Rotation change (positive = clockwise, negative = counter-clockwise)

---

is_button_pressed()

Checks if the knob button is currently pressed.

NodeJS

const pressed = await knob.is_button_pressed();
console.log("Button is", pressed ? "pressed" : "not pressed");

Python

pressed = await knob.is_button_pressed()
print("Button is", "pressed" if pressed else "not pressed")

Returns: Promise<boolean> / Awaitable[bool] - True if button is pressed, false otherwise

---

Types

Color

{
  text?: string,        // Hex color: #RRGGBB
  progress?: string,    // Hex color: #RRGGBB
  background?: string   // Hex color: #RRGGBB
}

Progress

{
  progress: number  // 0 to 100
}

PlaybackConfiguration

{
  sound_id: "success" | "warning" | "failure" | 
            "notification_1" | "notification_2" | "imperial_march",
  volume: number  // 0 to 100
}

KnobEvent

{
  pushed: boolean,
  rotation: number
}

---

Notes

• Screen resolution is 80 × 160 pixels
• Screen supports multi-line text with \n line breaks
• Maximum screen text length is 1024 characters
• Colors must be in hex format with leading # (e.g., #FF0000)
• Volume ranges from 0 (mute) to 100 (maximum)
• Knob rotation is cumulative since last read (positive = clockwise)
• The wait_event() method blocks until an event occurs or timeout
• Use cls() or clear() before updating screen to prevent text overlap
• Progress bar value is independent of displayed text