Simulation (Digital Twins)

One of the unique features of Instrumation is the ability to write code using "Digital Twins". This allows you to develop your automation scripts at home or in the office, and then take them to the lab when ready.

Enabling Simulation Mode

To enable simulation mode, set the INSTRUMATION_MODE environment variable to SIM.

Windows (PowerShell)macOS / Linux

# Enable SIM mode
$env:INSTRUMATION_MODE="SIM"

# Revert to REAL mode (or just unset)
$env:INSTRUMATION_MODE="REAL"
# OR
Remove-Item Env:INSTRUMATION_MODE

# Enable SIM mode
export INSTRUMATION_MODE="SIM"

# Revert to REAL mode
export INSTRUMATION_MODE="REAL"
# OR
unset INSTRUMATION_MODE

How it Works

When INSTRUMATION_MODE is set to SIM, the get_instrument factory will return a Simulated version of the driver you requested.

Example

from instrumation.factory import get_instrument

# In SIM mode, this returns a SimulatedSpectrumAnalyzer
with get_instrument("AUTO", "SA") as sa:
    res = sa.get_peak_value()
    print(f"Simulated Peak: {res.value} {res.unit}")

Configurable Latency

Real hardware has transport delays (GPIB, LAN). You can simulate this in your tests:

sa = get_instrument("AUTO", "SA")
sa.latency = 0.5  # Add 500ms delay to every command