R testbench: A Python library for instruments remote control and electronic test bench automation

Applications involving nuclear materials require instruments remote control and electronic test bench automation. Software solutions exist but are either proprietary or low-level programming. In this paper, a high-level open-source software solution, R-testbench, is presented. It is a Python package that allows to manage and control instruments remotely and to fetch data for saving and post-processing. The communication with instruments is built on the well-known and reliable Virtual Instrument Software Architecture (VISA) standard. The main advantages of the proposed solution are the high-level interface and the automatic instrument recognition, which facilitate the user experience. The Python package has been validated by unit tests and by application to a real use case involving experiments with nuclear materials.