QFirmata on Windows 10

MScottM

I'm trying to start a project trying to control a servo on an Arduino from a Qt GUI. I'm trying to work with a project on GitHub: callaa/qfirmata but the installation instructions don't work (assume they are for Linux).

I went ahead and created a blank QML project and added the primary Firmata file myself:

#include <QGuiApplication>
#include <QQmlApplicationEngine>
#include <QQmlEngine>
#include "qfirmata-master/src/firmata.h"

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    QCoreApplication::setAttribute(Qt::AA_EnableHighDpiScaling);
    QGuiApplication app(argc, argv);

    qmlRegisterType<Firmata>("Firmata", 1, 0, "Firmata");

    QQmlApplicationEngine engine;    
        const QUrl url(QStringLiteral("qrc:/main.qml"));    
        QObject::connect(&engine, &QQmlApplicationEngine::objectCreated,    
                         &app, [url](QObject *obj, const QUrl &objUrl) {    
            if (!obj && url == objUrl)    
                QCoreApplication::exit(-1);    
        }, Qt::QueuedConnection);    
        engine.load(url);    
    
        return app.exec();    
    }

Then I added the files into the .pro file like so:

SOURCES += \
    main.cpp \
    qfirmata-master/plugin.cpp \
    qfirmata-master/src/firmata.cpp \
    <snip - added them all>

HEADERS += \
    qfirmata-master/plugin.h \
    qfirmata-master/src/firmata.h \
   <snip - added them all>

and imported Firmata in my main.qml:

import QtQuick 2.12
import QtQuick.Window 2.12

import Firmata 1.0

Window {
    visible: true
    width: 640
    height: 480
    title: qsTr("Hello World")

    Firmata {
        backend: SerialFirmata {
            device: "COM4"
             //Configure pin #13 as a digital output pin
             //(On Arduino Uno and other boards, this pin has a built-in LED)
             //The value of the pin (on/off) is bound to the value of the switch widget
            DigitalPin {
                output: true
                pin: 13
                value: led_switch.checked
            }
        }
    }
}

(code is from an example in the Firmata folder)

When I try to run this Qt complains that 'SerialFirmata is not a type', also, when I try different things to troubleshoot, it will complain that other things in the included files are 'not a type' such as DigitalPin, so I think I'm missing something fundamental.

I'm wondering if anyone has gotten anything like this working on Windows 10?

Pablo J. Rogina

@MScottM said in QFirmata on Windows 10:

but the installation instructions don't work

Please show any errors/output of what "didn't work"
In addition, please describe your environment (so far we only know th OS, so state Qt version and compiler in use)

As a workaround, could it be possible that you try using this QFirmata in a virtual machine with Linux?

MScottM

Hi @Pablo-J-Rogina!

Here is more info:

Qt Creator 4.10.1
Kit- Desktop Qt 5.12.3 MinGW 64bit

The install instructions state:
Build:

qmake-qt5
make

Install (as root):

make install

I used the Qt 5.12.3 command window and changed directory to the qfirmata-master folder. Since qmake-qt5 is not a valid command, I used 'qmake' - this created various makefiles in the directory. Then I tried 'qmake install' and it reported 'cannot find file: install'.

aha_1980

@MScottM if you read the instructions correctly, it's make and make install, not qmake install!

You might need to replace make by mingw32-make though (assuming you use MinGW).

Afterwards you can use it like any other Qt module.

Regards

MScottM

@aha_1980 said in QFirmata on Windows 10:

mingw32-make

Hi @aha_1980!

Thank you for that suggestion - I didn't know 'mingw32-make' was possible. I tried it:

mingw32-make

then:

mingw32-make install

and it completed without errors. I tried to run the servo example, as suggested in the Github page by running it with qmlscene, but it failed reporting 'servo.qml:7 module Firmata is not installed'.

I think I need to add a file: '\qfirmata-master\Firmata\qmldir' to the .pro file, but I'm not exactly sure how. I'll keep trying to figure this out!

Best regards

MScottM

Sorry to bump this! I've made a little progress, but now I'm seeing a different behavior and I need some help!!

The SERVO example program compiled and ran once, but even though I can see the RX/TX lights flashing in response to the inputs from the GUI, the servo didn't respond (tried all possible pins & looked at pins that weren't selected by software). The next time I tried to run the program, it DID run, but Qt says it can't find the Firmata import:

What is going on!!?

I'm continuing to try what I can think of, hoping someone has some insight!

EDIT:

I put the import path into the .pro file:

INCLUDEPATH += $$PWD/qfirmata-master/imports/Firmata

# Additional import path used to resolve QML modules in Qt Creator's code model
QML_IMPORT_PATH += $$PWD/qfirmata-master/imports/Firmata

And the error changed to this:

QML module does not contain information about components contained in plugins.

Module path: C:/Qt/5.12.3/mingw73_64/qml/Firmata
See "Using QML Modules with Plugins" in the documentation.

Automatic type dump of QML module failed.
Errors:
"C:\Qt\5.12.3\mingw73_64\bin\qmlplugindump.exe" returned exit code 3.
Arguments: -nonrelocatable Firmata 1.0 .
QQmlComponent: Component is not ready
file:///C:/Qt/5.12.3/mingw73_64/qml/typelist.qml:3:1: plugin cannot be loaded for module "Firmata": The plugin 'C:/Qt/5.12.3/mingw73_64/qml/Firmata/qmlfirmataplugin.dll' uses incompatible Qt library. (Cannot mix debug and release libraries.)

Wondering about the incompatible library...?

MScottM

Solved - it's working. Issue was with the Arduino.

MrZhao

@MScottM I also encountered the same problem as you, could you tell me how you solved it? Thank you very much!

MrZhao

@MScottM Error: SerialFirmata is not a type