Getting started

This guide takes you from a clean machine to a running experiment. You do not need any hardware: Quatm’s simulation mode exercises the same runtime and data path as a real device.

Edition note. The installation commands below set up Quatm Core, the open-source runtime. The desktop GUI, browser console and commercial driver catalogue are provided with Quatm Platform; contact sales@quatm.com for the platform distribution.

What you will do

• Install the framework and create a laboratory project.
• Understand the project directory and device_db.py.
• Write a small Experiment class with parameters.
• Run it from the desktop GUI or the web console.
• Inspect the generated HDF5 data and analysis.

Requirements

• Python 3.9 or newer.
• Windows 10 (1809+) or Windows 11 on x86-64; macOS 13 or newer; Linux x86-64 (Ubuntu 22.04/24.04, Debian 12, or an equivalent environment). ARM64 desktop support is limited; consult the Qt 6.11 supported-platform matrix.
• Optional: a supported FPGA/ADwin controller or VISA/serial/TCP/USB/GPIB instruments for real experiments.

Install

git clone https://github.com/quatm-team/quatm-core.git
cd quatm-core
python -m venv python_venv
source python_venv/bin/activate        # Windows: python_venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -e .
pip install -e ".[hardware]"           # optional hardware dependencies

Verify

from quatm.experiment import Experiment

class HelloQuatm(Experiment):
    def build(self):
        print("Quatm ready")

    def run(self):
        print("Hello, Quatm!")

HelloQuatm().run()

Create or open a project

A Quatm project contains configuration/, experiments/ and Data/. With Quatm Platform, a project normally includes a launcher; run it to open the laboratory environment.

If you start from an empty project, use the platform launcher:

python -m quatm.GUI.entries.start_quatm --root <project>

The first run creates a minimal configuration and opens the Operations Console. Open-source core users can also use the Python API directly and organise configuration/ and experiments/ in their own project.

Next steps

1. Basic configuration — connect devices and understand the project files.
2. Your first experiment — parameters, sequencing and execution.
3. Experiment editing — the full runtime model.
4. Device drivers — driver modes and custom instruments.
5. FAQ — installation, device, data and upgrade questions.