Linux + Python + USB = win

My first in-lab update! Last (academic) year I spent an annoying amount of time attempting to get a mote and a PC to talk to each other with absolutely no luck. Well, no coherent luck, I was getting random bits of data but never useful bits. That was using C++, a serial port, and NesC for the mote software (written by someone else). Using our cool new Gumstix means I switched to using Python (on both ends) and a USB port, a much more up-to-date and friendly combination indeed. It took approximately 5 mins to get the PC talking to the stick. That’s right, 5 minutes. Now I can concentrate on making it do useful things rather than making it work. Win.

Edit:
And now they can communicate via Bluetooth as well as USBNet. Yay for developer-friendly things.