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Add a DECTRIS SIMPLON API camera interface - #168

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Baharis wants to merge 9 commits into
instamatic-dev:mainfrom
Baharis:dectris-camera
Open

Add a DECTRIS SIMPLON API camera interface #168
Baharis wants to merge 9 commits into
instamatic-dev:mainfrom
Baharis:dectris-camera

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@Baharis

@Baharis Baharis commented Aug 28, 2026

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Context

I received a request to implement a DECTRIS SIMPLON API in Instamatic for a future user interested in using Instamatic with a JEOL + DECTRIS setup. I contacted another group who already got a similar setup working, but unfortunately due to unexpected circumstances I could not base my implementation on theirs. Consequently, I sat down today with the SIMPLON 1.8 API documentation and wrote the interface to the best of my abilities.

I called the new interface simplon after the API it communicates with. It is designed to work with any camera that uses this API, including DECTRIS QUADRO and SINGLA. It uses requests library, which has already been an implicit dependency of Instamatic via package virtualbox. Otherwise, the implementation it is similar to that of ASI-dedicated serval.

I already tested connection and some functionality against ansto-simplon-api. However, for simplicity, I decided to read images from the slower monitor rather than a file stream, and said module is not implemented in their (otherwise great) tool. Consequently, I will test the new code on the live detector next week and merge the code after it is confirmed to work.

Code additions

  • camera_simplon.py: Implementation for DECTRIS detectors via the SIMPLON API;
  • simplon.yaml: Configuration file with default values set for DECTRIS QUADRO;
  • camera.py: Added 'simplon' as one of available camera options;
  • pyproject.toml, requirements.txt: Added explicit requests >= 2.0.0 dependency;
  • readme.md: Added support for "DECTRIS cameras through SIMPLON API".

@Baharis Baharis self-assigned this Aug 28, 2026
@Baharis Baharis changed the title Dectris camera Add a DECTRIS SIMPLON API camera interface Aug 28, 2026
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