As a Senior Automation Engineer, I spend half my life debugging communication protocols. Modbus, MQTT, CAN Bus, Ethernet/IP... you name it.
The problem is, most professional tools (like Vector CANalyzer or proprietary PLC software) are:
- Expensive (Thousands of dollars).
- Windows-only (I love Docker/Linux).
- Closed Source (I can't customize them).
So, over the past few weekends, I decided to build my own "Survival Toolkit" using Python.
Here are the 5 open-source tools I created to replace expensive software, all available on my GitHub.
1. The "Privacy-First" AI Datasheet Reader
Problem: I have hundreds of PDF datasheets to read, but I can't upload them to ChatGPT due to NDA/Privacy concerns.
Solution: A 100% offline RAG system using Docker + Llama 3.
It runs entirely on my local machine (RTX 3060). No data leaves the building.
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Stack:
Docker,Ollama,ChromaDB,Streamlit. - Repo: Local-AI-Knowledge-Base-Docker-Llama3
2. The J1939 & CAN Bus Sniffer
Problem: Debugging vehicle ECUs usually requires a $300+ hardware adapter just to see the data.
Solution: A Python GUI that works with cheap USB-CAN adapters (slcan) and automatically decodes J1939 PGNs.
It even has a "Demo Mode" to simulate traffic if you don't have hardware.
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Stack:
Python,tkinter,python-can. - Feature: Decodes Engine Speed, Temp, and other PGNs instantly.
- Repo: Python-CAN-Bus-J1939-Sniffer-GUI
3. The "Anti-Freezing" Modbus Logger
Problem: Writing a simple Python script to read RS485 is easy, but the GUI always freezes (blocks) while waiting for the sensor to reply.
Solution: A multi-threaded Modbus RTU Master.
It separates the UI thread from the Serial polling thread, so the app remains responsive 100% of the time.
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Stack:
Python,tkinter,pyserial,threading. - Repo: Python-Modbus-Serial-Logger-GUI
4. The MQTT Data Recorder
Problem: Sometimes I just want to save MQTT sensor data to an Excel file for analysis, without setting up a database.
Solution: A lightweight MQTT Client that logs everything to CSV automatically.
Updated to support the latest Paho-MQTT v2.0 standard.
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Stack:
Python,paho-mqtt,csv. - Repo: Python-MQTT-Data-Logger-GUI
5. The Virtual Ethernet/IP Lab
Problem: Learning the CIP protocol (used by Rockwell/Omron PLCs) is hard without physical hardware.
Solution: A Mock PLC Server + Raw Socket Client.
It simulates the full Forward Open handshake and Implicit Messaging on your localhost.
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Stack:
Pure Python,socket,struct. - Repo: Python-EthernetIP-Raw-Socket-Client
🎁 Conclusion
Building your own tools is the best way to learn. Not only do you save money on licenses, but you also get full control over the source code.
I have open-sourced the documentation and basic architecture for all these projects on GitHub.
If you want the complete, production-ready source code for ALL these tools (5-in-1), I've bundled them together here:
👉 The Ultimate Senior Engineer Toolkit (Gumroad)
Happy coding!
Top comments (4)
Hi Chun Liang,
Happy to see your post. It's really useful news for me. I'd love to collaborate with you. How do you like it? I look forward to your response.
Thanks,
Conner
Hi Conner, thanks for reading! Could you share more details here about what kind of collaboration you have in mind?
Since my background is in .NET and Python with Industrial IoT, I’d love to collaborate by helping modernize the UIs or build .NET versions of a couple of your tools — especially Modbus and MQTT. I think combining our stacks could make the toolkit more polished and cross-platform. happy to share more if that aligns with what you’re looking for.
Hi Conner, thanks for the offer!
For now, I’m intentionally sticking to Python & Tkinter. The main goal of these tools is to provide a lightweight, editable codebase that automation engineers (who mostly use Python) can easily customize without learning a new stack like .NET.
I want to keep the dependencies minimal for my customers. But I appreciate the reach-out, and I'll definitely let you know if I plan to expand into the C# ecosystem in the future!
Best, Phil