libfitbit

by Kyle Machulis kyle@nonpolynomial.com

Nonpolynomial Labs - http://www.nonpolynomial.com

libfitbit is part of the OpenYou project for Open Source Health Hardware access - http://openyou.org

If you find libfitbit useful, please donate to the project at http://pledgie.com/campaigns/14375

WARNING: This project is only for the ANT based Fitbit Ultra tracker. Newer trackers like the One, the Zip, the Flex, the Force and maybe upcoming ones use the bluetooth protocol, and are thus incompatible with this project. If you are looking for a utility to synchronise your bluetooth based tracker with the Fitbit services, have a look at https://bitbucket.org/benallard/galileo .

Credits and Thanks

Thanks to Matt Cutts for hooking me up with the hardware - http://www.twitter.com/mattcutts

Description

libfitbit is an implementation of the data retrieval protocol for the fitbit health tracking device. It also implements a synchronization client for synchronizing data with the fitbit website on platforms not supported by Fitbit currently.

The main goal of the library is to augment the services already provided by the fitbit website, allowing for developers to make interesting new applications that access the fitbit data in smaller time chunks on the local machine, as well as giving users the ability to back up their own data without having to rely on the web service.

Currently, the library only implements a proof of concept of the protocol and web interface in python. This will be turned into a C library, which can then be SWIG'd or otherwise interfaced to other languages.

The fitbit reverse engineering document in the doc directory may also be used for implementing the protocol in new languages without having to read code (not that my ability to convey the protocol in english is all that clear).

Package Information

Source repo @ http://www.github.com/qdot/libfitbit

Platform Support

• Linux - Tested on Ubuntu 10.10
• OS X - Untested, should work?
• Windows - Won't work at the moment. May be able to create serial interface to talk to CP2012 chip? Haven't done research yet.

Library Requirements

• Python - http://www.python.org
• libusb-1.0 - http://www.libusb.org
• pyusb 1.0+ - http://sourceforge.net/projects/pyusb/files/

Platform Cavaets

Linux

You'll need to either run as root or set up a udev rule to switch out permissions on the base VID/PID. We'll hopefully have a udev rule checked in shortly.

OS X

FitBit original driver is claiming the device resulting in premission errors when libusb wants to claims it.

A solution that works everytime is simply to disable the driver by renaming it:

cd /System/Library/Extensions
sudo mv SiLabsUSBDriver.kext SiLabsUSBDriver.kext.disabled

And reboot.

To re-enable it, just rename it again, and reboot again.

Windows

Don't even know if it works there yet. :D

Future Plans

• Breaking ANT access library out into its own repo
• Windows support
• Finish figuring out data types
• Implement library in C

License

Copyright (c) 2011, Kyle Machulis/Nonpolynomial Labs
All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, 
with or without modification, are permitted provided 
that the following conditions are met:

   * Redistributions of source code must retain the 
     above copyright notice, this list of conditions 
     and the following disclaimer.
   * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the 
     above copyright notice, this list of conditions and 
     the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or 
     other materials provided with the distribution.
   * Neither the name of the Nonpolynomial Labs nor the names 
     of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote 
     products derived from this software without specific 
     prior written permission.

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