Part 1: Setup
PhidgetInterfaceKit 8/8/8
Welcome to the 1018 user guide! In order to get started, make sure you have the following hardware on hand:
- a 1018 Phidget InterfaceKit
- a USB cable and computer
- something to use with the 1018 (e.g. LEDs, switches, analog sensors, etc)
Select your Operating System:
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
Step 2: Connect Devices
Step 3: Verify Connection
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
Before you begin using your Phidgets, you will need to install the Phidget Library.
1. Download the installer for your system:
● 32-bit Installer Download
● 64-bit Installer Download
If you're unsure which one you should get, press ⊞ WIN + Pause/Break:
Before installing our libraries, be sure to read our Software License.
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
2. Open the download. If it asks you for permission, select Run
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
3a. Select Next
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
3b. Read the Licence Agreement. Select Next.
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
3c. Choose Installation Location. Select Next.
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
3d. Confirm Install
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
3e. Wait for Installation to complete. This should only take a few moments.
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
3f. Installation Complete. Close installation Window.
Step 2: Connect Devices
● Connect USB Cable to your computer and PhidgetInterfaceKit
● Connect any sensors or LEDs you want to use
Step 3: Verify Connection
1. Open the Phidgets Control Panel:
If your Control Panel does not open, look in your taskbar. Double click the Phidget Icon.
Step 3: Verify Connection
2. If connected, your Phidgets will appear in the Phidget Control Panel.
Done!
If you're able to see and interact with your devices in the Phidget Control Panel, you're done with the Setup part of this guide.
Scroll down to Part 2: Using Your Phidget for the next step.
For more help installing in Windows (e.g. manual install, using a VM, etc.), visit this page:
● Windows Advanced Information
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
Step 2: Connect Devices
Step 3: Verify Connection
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
Before you begin using your Phidgets, you will need to install the Phidget Library.
1. Download the installer for your system:
● OS X 10.11+: Installer Download
● Mac OS X 10.7 - OS X 10.10: Installer Download
● Mac OS X 10.5 - OS X 10.6: Installer Download
Before installing our libraries, be sure to read our Software License.
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
2. Open the download and double click on Phidgets.pkg
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
3a. Select Continue
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
3b. Read and continue. Read the License and click Agree.
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
3c. Here, you have the option to select the installation location. Select Install to continue.
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
3d. MacOS may ask for permission to install. Enter your username and password and Install Software.
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
3e. Wait for Installation to complete. This should only take a few moments.
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
3f. You may see a message that the extension has been blocked. Select Open Security Preferences.
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
3g. Beside the message for Phidgets Inc, Click Allow.
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
3h. Installation Complete, Click Close.
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
3i. To delete the installer, click Move to Trash.
Step 2: Connect Devices
● Connect USB Cable to your computer and PhidgetInterfaceKit
● Connect any sensors or LEDs you want to use
Step 3: Verify Connection
1. Open the Phidgets Control Panel:
Step 3: Verify Connection
2. If connected, your Phidgets will appear in the Phidget Control Panel.
Done!
If you're able to see and interact with your devices in the Phidget Control Panel, you're done with the Setup part of this guide.
Scroll down to Part 2: Using Your Phidget for the next step.
For more info installing in MacOS (e.g. developer tools, driver extension, etc.), visit this page:
● MacOS Advanced Information
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
Step 2: Connect Devices
Step 3: Verify Connection
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
1. First, you need to install the libusb-1.0 development libraries. For example, in Debian based distributions:
apt-get install libusb-1.0-0-dev
You’ll also need a C compiler and builder, if you don’t already have one installed.
apt-get install gcc
apt-get install make
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
2. Next, download and unpack the Phidgets library:
● libphidget22
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
3. Use the following commands in the location you unpacked to install the library:
./configure
make
sudo make install
Step 1: Install Phidgets Library
4. (Optional) You can also download and unpack the following optional packages:
● phidget22networkserver - Phidget Network Server, which
enables the use of Phidgets over your network
● phidget22admin - Admin tool to track who is connected to your
Phidgets when using the network server
● libphidget22extra - Required for phidget22networkserver
and phidget22admin
● libphidget22java - The Java libraries for Phidget22
For installation instructions for these packages, see the README file included with each one.
Step 2: Connect Devices
● Connect USB Cable to your computer and PhidgetInterfaceKit
● Connect any sensors or LEDs you want to use
Step 3: Verify Connection
1. The easiest way to verify that your libraries are working properly is to compile and run an example program. Download and unpack this C example that will
detect any Phidget:
● HelloWorld C Example
Step 3: Verify Connection
2. Next, open the terminal in the location where you unpacked the example. Compile and run using:
gcc HelloWorld.c -o HelloWorld -lphidget22
sudo ./HelloWorld
ou should receive a “Hello” line for each Phidget channel that is discovered:
You need to run it with sudo in order to be able to access USB devices. In order to use
Phidgets without sudo, you need to set your udev rules. See the Advanced Information page on the final slide of this guide for details.
Done!
If you're able to see your devices in the Hello World example, you're done with the Setup part of this guide.
Scroll down to Part 2: Using Your Phidget for the next step.
For more info installing in Linux (e.g. Udev rules, old versions, etc.), visit this page:
● Linux Advanced Information
Part 2: Using Your Phidget
About
The 1018 PhidgetInterfaceKit 8/8/8 has:
- 8 Digital Inputs for reading switches or logic-level sensors
- 8 Digital Outputs for LEDs or simple logic-level output
- 8 Analog Inputs for reading 0-5V sensors
Each analog port can be opened as a VoltageInput or a VoltageRatioInput object, depending on what kind of sensor you're connecting to.
Explore Your Phidget Channels Using The Control Panel
You can use your Control Panel to explore your Phidget's channels.
1. Open your Control Panel, and you will find the following channels:
2. Double click on a channel to open an example program. Each channel belongs to the Digital Input, Digital Output, Voltage Input or Voltage Ratio Input channel class:
Expand All
In your Control Panel, double click on "Digital Input":
In your Control Panel, double click on "Digital Output":
In your Control Panel, double click on "Voltage Input":
In your Control Panel, double click on "Voltage Ratio Input":
Part 3: Create your Program
Part 4: Advanced Topics and Troubleshooting
Expand All
Before you open a Phidget channel in your program, you can set these properties to specify which channel to open. You can find this information through the Control Panel.
1. Open the Control Panel and double-click on the red map pin icon:
2. The Addressing Information window will open. Here you will find all the information you need to address your Phidget in your program.
See the Phidget22 API for your language to determine exact syntax for each property.
Note: Graphing and logging is currently only supported in the Windows version of the Phidget Control Panel.
In the Phidget Control Panel, open the channel for your device and click on the 
icon next to the data type that you want to plot. This will open up a new window:
If you need more complex functionality such as logging multiple sensors to the same sheet or performing calculations on the data, you'll need to write your own program. Generally this will involve addressing the correct channel, opening it, and then creating an Event Handler and adding graphing/logging code to it.
The quickest way to get started is to download some sample code for your desired programming language and then search google for logging or plotting in that language (e.g. "how to log to csv in python") and add the code to the existing change handler.
Filtering
You can perform filtering on the raw data in order to reduce noise in your graph. For more information, see the Control Panel Graphing page.
Graph Type
You can perform a transform on the incoming data to get different graph types that may provide insights into your sensor data. For more information on how to use these graph types, see the Control Panel Graphing page.
The Change Trigger is the minimum change in the sensor data needed to trigger a new data event.
The Data Interval is the time (in ms) between data events sent out from your Phidget.
The Data Rate is the reciprocal of Data Interval (measured in Hz), and setting it will set the reciprocal value for Data Interval and vice-versa.
You can modify one or both of these values to achieve different data outputs. You can learn more about these properties here.
Firmware Upgrade
MacOS users can upgrade device firmware by double-clicking the device row in the Phidget Control Panel.
Linux users can upgrade via the phidget22admin tool (see included readme for instructions).
Windows users can upgrade the firmware for this device using the Phidget Control Panel as shown below.
Firmware Downgrade
Firmware upgrades include important bug fixes and performance improvements, but there are some situations where you may want to revert to an old version of the firmware (for instance, when an application you're using is compiled using an older version of phidget22 that doesn't recognize the new firmware).
MacOS and Linux users can downgrade using the phidget22admin tool in the terminal (see included readme for instructions).
Windows users can downgrade directly from the Phidget Control Panel if they have driver version 1.9.20220112 or newer:
Firmware Version Numbering Schema
Phidgets device firmware is represented by a 3-digit number. For firmware patch notes, see the device history section on the Specifications tab on your device's product page.
- If the digit in the 'ones' spot changes, it means there have been bug fixes or optimizations. Sometimes these changes can drastically improve the performance of the device, so you should still upgrade whenever possible. These upgrades are backwards compatible, meaning you can still use this Phidget on a computer that has Phidget22 drivers from before this firmware upgrade was released.
- If the digit in the 'tens' spot changes, it means some features were added (e.g. new API commands or events). These upgrades are also backwards compatible, in the sense that computers running old Phidget22 drivers will still be able to use the device, but they will not be able to use any of the new features this version added.
- If the digit in the 'hundreds' spot changes, it means a major change has occurred (e.g. a complete rewrite of the firmware or moving to a new architecture). These changes are not backwards compatible, so if you try to use the upgraded board on a computer with old Phidget22 drivers, it will show up as unsupported in the Control Panel and any applications build using the old libraries won't recognize it either. Sometimes, when a Phidget has a new hardware revision (e.g. 1018_2 -> 1018_3), the firmware version's hundreds digit will change because entirely new firmware was needed (usually because a change in the processor). In this case, older hardware revisions won't be able to be upgraded to the higher version number and instead continue to get bug fixes within the same major revision.
If you want to know more about the capabilities of the analog inputs on this device, check the Analog Input Primer.
If you want to know more about the capabilities of the digital inputs on this device, check the Digital Input Primer.
If you want to know more about the capabilities of the digital outputs on this device, check the InterfaceKit Digital Outputs.
