How would I open and run a python program on a raspberry pi from a main python program on a windows pc?

Question

I am running a main python program on a Windows PC that is hooked to equipment that cannot be ran on an Raspberry pi. At a certain point in the main program, I want to call/execute a Rpi program to run. I need the GPIO pins from the Rpi to turn on a relay/s. Is there a way to wirelessly(or serially) open and run the program on the raspberry pi from the main program already running on the Windows PC?

Maybe I am not thinking of something, is there an easier and just as cheap solution to turn on a relay from the Windows PC program?

Any points in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

The easiest way to do this is with Remote GPIO which is all documented at that link. However, the gist of it is pretty simple as follows.

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On the Raspberry Pi, run these steps:

• sudo apt install pigpio
• sudo raspi-config and enable "Remote GPIO"
• sudo systemctl enable pigpiod

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On the Windows PC, run these steps:

• pip install gpiozero pigpio
• Assuming your RaspberryPi has IP address 192.168.1.3, run PIGPIO_ADDR=192.168.1.3 python3 YourScript.py

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Your script on Windows PC would then look like this:

from gpiozero import LED
from time import sleep

red = LED(17)

while True:
    red.on()
    sleep(1)
    red.off()
    sleep(1)