.hom Python Scripting

The .hom scripting panel lets you write Python scripts that run closed-loop experiments: reading neural data, making decisions, and sending commands back to the device — all in real time. No firmware upload is needed; scripts run entirely in the HMCLS app.

Two Scripts

Script	When it runs
setup.hom	Once when you press Run
loop.hom	Repeatedly at your chosen Hz rate

HOM Script API

These functions are automatically available in both scripts:

Function	Description
send("CMD")	Send a UDP command to the device (e.g. send("FLAG SET 1"))
log("message")	Print a message to the panel's log output
end()	Stop the loop cleanly
Signal(indice, tools, window)	Declare a channel to analyze each tick
N	Current loop iteration index (integer, starts at 0)

Signal Declarations

Signal(indice, tools, window) — declare this in setup.hom.

Parameter	Description
indice	Channel index (0-based)
tools	List of metrics to compute each tick: "latest", "mean", "rms", "std", "peak_to_peak", "sample_rate", "fft_max", "fft_power"
window	Analysis window size in samples

After declaration, the Signal object is updated each loop tick. Access metrics as signal.rms, signal.mean, etc.

Example

setup.hom:

ch0 = Signal(0, ["rms", "mean"], window=1000)
ch1 = Signal(1, ["rms"], window=1000)
log("Setup complete")

loop.hom:

if ch0.rms > 500:
    send("FLAG SET 1")
    log(f"Spike burst detected on ch0: RMS={ch0.rms:.1f}")

if N % 100 == 0:
    log(f"Tick {N}: ch0_rms={ch0.rms:.1f}, ch1_rms={ch1.rms:.1f}")

Panel Controls

Control	Description
setup.hom card	Click to open the script editor for setup
loop.hom card	Click to open the script editor for the loop
Python interpreter	Auto-detected or manually selected Python path
Loop Hz	Script tick rate: 0.01–100 Hz
Run (▶)	Start the scripting loop
Stop (■)	Stop the loop
Status dot	Green = running, red = stopped/error
Tick counter	Shows current iteration N
Log output	Last 100 log() lines

Script Editor Modal

• Syntax highlighting for Python keywords, HOM builtins, strings, comments
• Tab / Shift+Tab for indentation
• Load… / Save… to import/export .py or .hom files
• Apply button to save changes to the panel

Persistence

Scripts and the Python interpreter path are saved in the app between sessions.

Python Requirement

A Python 3.x interpreter must be available on your system. The app auto-detects common installations. You can also click Browse… to select a specific interpreter.

Tips

• Start with a slow loop rate (1–2 Hz) when developing. Use log() to print intermediate values. Once working, increase to your desired rate.
• Use N % 100 == 0 to print periodic status without flooding the log.
• Call end() inside the loop to stop gracefully after a condition is met.