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Welcome to Instrumation

Instrumation is a powerful, modern Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) for RF test stations. It allows you to control complex lab equipment (DMMs, Network Analyzers, Signal Generators, etc.) using a simple, unified Python API.

Key Feature: Digital Twins

Develop and test your automation scripts without actual hardware using built-in high-fidelity simulation drivers.

Main Features

  • Intelligent Discovery: Automatically find instruments over HiSLIP, USB, or GPIB with one-click "AUTO" addresses.
  • Virtual Front Panel (VFP): Real-time web dashboard for visualizing traces and instrument health.
  • Async Support: Native parallel execution for high-speed automated test sequences.
  • Golden Master: Record real hardware sessions and replay them later for deterministic testing.
  • Plugin System: Dynamically load community-developed drivers from any directory.

Real Hardware Validation

Instrumation has been validated against real lab equipment. Check out our experiment reports:

PyVISA vs Instrumation

See how Instrumation eliminates boilerplate when programming a signal generator:

Aspect PyVISA (raw SCPI) Instrumation
Discovery Manual — find the resource string Auto — just pass "AUTO"
Connection rm.open_resource("TCPIP0::...") with hardcoded address connect_instrument("AUTO", "SG") — type-aware routing
Configuration sg.write(":FREQ:CW 2.4e9") — raw SCPI strings sg.set_frequency(2.4e9) — typed method with validation
Cleanup Manual sg.close() — easy to forget Context manager — automatic with block
Offline Dev Requires real hardware Digital Twin — set INSTRUMATION_MODE=SIM
Portability Vendor-specific SCPI for each brand One API — works on Keysight, Rigol, Tektronix, Siglent, R&S, Anritsu

Side-by-Side Code

# PyVISA: 8 lines, manual config, raw SCPI
import pyvisa
rm = pyvisa.ResourceManager()
sg = rm.open_resource("TCPIP0::192.168.1.100::inst0::INSTR")
sg.write("*RST")
sg.write(":FREQ:CW 2.4e9")
sg.write(":POW:AMPL -10")
sg.write(":OUTP ON")
sg.close()

# Instrumation: 5 lines, zero config, type-safe
from instrumation import connect_instrument

with connect_instrument("AUTO", "SG") as sg:
    sg.set_frequency(2.4e9)
    sg.set_amplitude(-10)
    sg.set_output(True)

No resource manager. No SCPI strings. No hardcoded addresses. Just your test logic.

Quick Install

pip install instrumation

Simple Example

from instrumation.factory import get_instrument

# Works with real hardware or simulation
with get_instrument("AUTO", "DMM") as dmm:
    result = dmm.measure_voltage()
    print(f"Measured: {result.value} {result.unit}")

Next Steps