202201031452 Tiny Instrument Element

• Source: [ @lelli2009 The Tiny Instrument Element ]
• Tags: #instrument-control #web-based #restful-api

The idea of developing an architecture to control devices through a RESTful API (see: literature/202201031433 RESTful API for instrument control ) is not only a technical advantage but also that it empowers different types of users to interact with instruments in the same way web platforms have different types of users. For example:

• END USER : Can use the tool but has no underlying understanding of the technology.
• Advanced User : Is able to perform some simple customization, follow guides, etc.
• API Developer : Has programming skills and can build on top of an existing API (for example a user interface) or can aggregate data
• Tool Programmer : Is the product owner, has the ultimate knowledge on how to build, customize, extend the instrument.

An instrument can be described by its:

• Parameters : hold configuration information
• Attributes : hold instrument variables (inputs and outputs)
• Commands : hold actions that the device can perform
• Finite State Machine : specifies a state transition automata, used to constrain in which states can commands be executed.

In this work they also describe a specific case analysis but it's hard to know what are they talking about.