Sensors

The sensor subsystem exposes an API to uniformly access sensor devices. Common operations are: reading data and executing code when specific conditions are met.

Basic Operation

Channels

Fundamentally, a channel is a quantity that a sensor device can measure.

Sensors can have multiple channels, either to represent different axes of the same physical property (e.g. acceleration); or because they can measure different properties altogether (ambient temperature, pressure and humidity). Complex sensors cover both cases, so a single device can expose three acceleration channels and a temperature one.

It is imperative that all sensors that support a given channel express results in the same unit of measurement. Consult the API Reference for all supported channels, along with their description and units of measurement:

Values

Sensor devices return results as sensor_value. This representation avoids use of floating point values as they may not be supported on certain setups.

Fetching Values

Getting a reading from a sensor requires two operations. First, an application instructs the driver to fetch a sample of all its channels. Then, individual channels may be read. In the case of channels with multiple axes, they can be read in a single operation by supplying the corresponding _XYZ channel type and a buffer of 3 sensor_value objects. This approach ensures consistency of channels between reads and efficiency of communication by issuing a single transaction on the underlying bus.

Below is an example illustrating the usage of the BME280 sensor, which measures ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure. Note that sensor_sample_fetch() is only called once, as it reads and compensates data for both channels.

 1
 2/*
 3 * Get a device structure from a devicetree node with compatible
 4 * "bosch,bme280". (If there are multiple, just pick one.)
 5 */
 6static const struct device *get_bme280_device(void)
 7{
 8	const struct device *const dev = DEVICE_DT_GET_ANY(bosch_bme280);
 9
10	if (dev == NULL) {
11		/* No such node, or the node does not have status "okay". */
12		printk("\nError: no device found.\n");
13		return NULL;
14	}
15
16	if (!device_is_ready(dev)) {
17		printk("\nError: Device \"%s\" is not ready; "
18		       "check the driver initialization logs for errors.\n",
19		       dev->name);
20		return NULL;
21	}
22
23	printk("Found device \"%s\", getting sensor data\n", dev->name);
24	return dev;
25}
26
27void main(void)
28{
29	const struct device *dev = get_bme280_device();
30
31	if (dev == NULL) {
32		return;
33	}
34
35	while (1) {
36		struct sensor_value temp, press, humidity;
37
38		sensor_sample_fetch(dev);
39		sensor_channel_get(dev, SENSOR_CHAN_AMBIENT_TEMP, &temp);
40		sensor_channel_get(dev, SENSOR_CHAN_PRESS, &press);
41		sensor_channel_get(dev, SENSOR_CHAN_HUMIDITY, &humidity);
42
43		printk("temp: %d.%06d; press: %d.%06d; humidity: %d.%06d\n",
44		      temp.val1, temp.val2, press.val1, press.val2,
45		      humidity.val1, humidity.val2);
46
47		k_sleep(K_MSEC(1000));
48	}
49}

Configuration and Attributes

Setting the communication bus and address is considered the most basic configuration for sensor devices. This setting is done at compile time, via the configuration menu. If the sensor supports interrupts, the interrupt lines and triggering parameters described below are also configured at compile time.

Alongside these communication parameters, sensor chips typically expose multiple parameters that control the accuracy and frequency of measurement. In compliance with Zephyr’s design goals, most of these values are statically configured at compile time.

However, certain parameters could require runtime configuration, for example, threshold values for interrupts. These values are configured via attributes. The example in the following section showcases a sensor with an interrupt line that is triggered when the temperature crosses a threshold. The threshold is configured at runtime using an attribute.

Triggers

Triggers in Zephyr refer to the interrupt lines of the sensor chips. Many sensor chips support one or more triggers. Some examples of triggers include: new data is ready for reading, a channel value has crossed a threshold, or the device has sensed motion.

To configure a trigger, an application needs to supply a sensor_trigger and a handler function. The structure contains the trigger type and the channel on which the trigger must be configured.

Because most sensors are connected via SPI or I2C buses, it is not possible to communicate with them from the interrupt execution context. The execution of the trigger handler is deferred to a thread, so that data fetching operations are possible. A driver can spawn its own thread to fetch data, thus ensuring minimum latency. Alternatively, multiple sensor drivers can share a system-wide thread. The shared thread approach increases the latency of handling interrupts but uses less memory. You can configure which approach to follow for each driver. Most drivers can entirely disable triggers resulting in a smaller footprint.

The following example contains a trigger fired whenever temperature crosses the 26 degree Celsius threshold. It also samples the temperature every second. A real application would ideally disable periodic sampling in the interest of saving power. Since the application has direct access to the kernel config symbols, no trigger is registered when triggering was disabled by the driver’s configuration.

  1
  2#define UCEL_PER_CEL 1000000
  3#define UCEL_PER_MCEL 1000
  4#define TEMP_INITIAL_CEL 25
  5#define TEMP_WINDOW_HALF_UCEL 500000
  6
  7static const char *now_str(void)
  8{
  9	static char buf[16]; /* ...HH:MM:SS.MMM */
 10	uint32_t now = k_uptime_get_32();
 11	unsigned int ms = now % MSEC_PER_SEC;
 12	unsigned int s;
 13	unsigned int min;
 14	unsigned int h;
 15
 16	now /= MSEC_PER_SEC;
 17	s = now % 60U;
 18	now /= 60U;
 19	min = now % 60U;
 20	now /= 60U;
 21	h = now;
 22
 23	snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%u:%02u:%02u.%03u",
 24		 h, min, s, ms);
 25	return buf;
 26}
 27
 28#ifdef CONFIG_MCP9808_TRIGGER
 29
 30static struct sensor_trigger trig;
 31
 32static int set_window(const struct device *dev,
 33		      const struct sensor_value *temp)
 34{
 35	const int temp_ucel = temp->val1 * UCEL_PER_CEL + temp->val2;
 36	const int low_ucel = temp_ucel - TEMP_WINDOW_HALF_UCEL;
 37	const int high_ucel = temp_ucel + TEMP_WINDOW_HALF_UCEL;
 38	struct sensor_value val = {
 39		.val1 = low_ucel / UCEL_PER_CEL,
 40		.val2 = low_ucel % UCEL_PER_CEL,
 41	};
 42	int rc = sensor_attr_set(dev, SENSOR_CHAN_AMBIENT_TEMP,
 43				 SENSOR_ATTR_LOWER_THRESH, &val);
 44	if (rc == 0) {
 45		val.val1 = high_ucel / UCEL_PER_CEL,
 46		val.val2 = high_ucel % UCEL_PER_CEL,
 47		rc = sensor_attr_set(dev, SENSOR_CHAN_AMBIENT_TEMP,
 48				     SENSOR_ATTR_UPPER_THRESH, &val);
 49	}
 50
 51	if (rc == 0) {
 52		printf("Alert on temp outside [%d, %d] milli-Celsius\n",
 53		       low_ucel / UCEL_PER_MCEL,
 54		       high_ucel / UCEL_PER_MCEL);
 55	}
 56
 57	return rc;
 58}
 59
 60static inline int set_window_ucel(const struct device *dev,
 61				  int temp_ucel)
 62{
 63	struct sensor_value val = {
 64		.val1 = temp_ucel / UCEL_PER_CEL,
 65		.val2 = temp_ucel % UCEL_PER_CEL,
 66	};
 67
 68	return set_window(dev, &val);
 69}
 70
 71static void trigger_handler(const struct device *dev,
 72			    const struct sensor_trigger *trig)
 73{
 74	struct sensor_value temp;
 75	static size_t cnt;
 76	int rc;
 77
 78	++cnt;
 79	rc = sensor_sample_fetch(dev);
 80	if (rc != 0) {
 81		printf("sensor_sample_fetch error: %d\n", rc);
 82		return;
 83	}
 84	rc = sensor_channel_get(dev, SENSOR_CHAN_AMBIENT_TEMP, &temp);
 85	if (rc != 0) {
 86		printf("sensor_channel_get error: %d\n", rc);
 87		return;
 88	}
 89
 90	printf("trigger fired %u, temp %g deg C\n", cnt,
 91	       sensor_value_to_double(&temp));
 92	set_window(dev, &temp);
 93}
 94#endif
 95
 96void main(void)
 97{
 98	const struct device *const dev = DEVICE_DT_GET_ANY(microchip_mcp9808);
 99	int rc;
100
101	if (dev == NULL) {
102		printf("Device not found.\n");
103		return;
104	}
105	if (!device_is_ready(dev)) {
106		printf("Device %s is not ready.\n", dev->name);
107		return;
108	}
109
110#ifdef CONFIG_MCP9808_TRIGGER
111	rc = set_window_ucel(dev, TEMP_INITIAL_CEL * UCEL_PER_CEL);
112	if (rc == 0) {
113		trig.type = SENSOR_TRIG_THRESHOLD;
114		trig.chan = SENSOR_CHAN_AMBIENT_TEMP;
115		rc = sensor_trigger_set(dev, &trig, trigger_handler);
116	}
117
118	if (rc != 0) {
119		printf("Trigger set failed: %d\n", rc);
120		return;
121	}
122	printk("Trigger set got %d\n", rc);
123#endif
124
125	while (1) {
126		struct sensor_value temp;
127
128		rc = sensor_sample_fetch(dev);
129		if (rc != 0) {
130			printf("sensor_sample_fetch error: %d\n", rc);
131			break;
132		}
133
134		rc = sensor_channel_get(dev, SENSOR_CHAN_AMBIENT_TEMP, &temp);
135		if (rc != 0) {
136			printf("sensor_channel_get error: %d\n", rc);
137			break;
138		}
139
140		printf("%s: %g C\n", now_str(),
141		       sensor_value_to_double(&temp));
142
143		k_sleep(K_SECONDS(2));
144	}
145}

API Reference

group sensor_interface

Sensor Interface.

Defines

SENSOR_G

The value of gravitational constant in micro m/s^2.

SENSOR_PI

The value of constant PI in micros.

SENSOR_INFO_DEFINE(name, ...)
SENSOR_INFO_DT_DEFINE(node_id)
SENSOR_DEVICE_DT_DEFINE(node_id, init_fn, pm_device, data_ptr, cfg_ptr, level, prio, api_ptr, ...)

Like DEVICE_DT_DEFINE() with sensor specifics.

Defines a device which implements the sensor API. May define an element in the sensor info iterable section used to enumerate all sensor devices.

Parameters
  • node_id – The devicetree node identifier.

  • init_fn – Name of the init function of the driver.

  • pm_device – PM device resources reference (NULL if device does not use PM).

  • data_ptr – Pointer to the device’s private data.

  • cfg_ptr – The address to the structure containing the configuration information for this instance of the driver.

  • level – The initialization level. See SYS_INIT() for details.

  • prio – Priority within the selected initialization level. See SYS_INIT() for details.

  • api_ptr – Provides an initial pointer to the API function struct used by the driver. Can be NULL.

SENSOR_DEVICE_DT_INST_DEFINE(inst, ...)

Like SENSOR_DEVICE_DT_DEFINE() for an instance of a DT_DRV_COMPAT compatible.

Parameters

Typedefs

typedef void (*sensor_trigger_handler_t)(const struct device *dev, const struct sensor_trigger *trigger)

Callback API upon firing of a trigger.

Param dev

Pointer to the sensor device

Param trigger

The trigger

typedef int (*sensor_attr_set_t)(const struct device *dev, enum sensor_channel chan, enum sensor_attribute attr, const struct sensor_value *val)

Callback API upon setting a sensor’s attributes.

See sensor_attr_set() for argument description

typedef int (*sensor_attr_get_t)(const struct device *dev, enum sensor_channel chan, enum sensor_attribute attr, struct sensor_value *val)

Callback API upon getting a sensor’s attributes.

See sensor_attr_get() for argument description

typedef int (*sensor_trigger_set_t)(const struct device *dev, const struct sensor_trigger *trig, sensor_trigger_handler_t handler)

Callback API for setting a sensor’s trigger and handler.

See sensor_trigger_set() for argument description

typedef int (*sensor_sample_fetch_t)(const struct device *dev, enum sensor_channel chan)

Callback API for fetching data from a sensor.

See sensor_sample_fetch() for argument description

typedef int (*sensor_channel_get_t)(const struct device *dev, enum sensor_channel chan, struct sensor_value *val)

Callback API for getting a reading from a sensor.

See sensor_channel_get() for argument description

Enums

enum sensor_channel

Sensor channels.

Values:

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_ACCEL_X

Acceleration on the X axis, in m/s^2.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_ACCEL_Y

Acceleration on the Y axis, in m/s^2.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_ACCEL_Z

Acceleration on the Z axis, in m/s^2.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_ACCEL_XYZ

Acceleration on the X, Y and Z axes.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_GYRO_X

Angular velocity around the X axis, in radians/s.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_GYRO_Y

Angular velocity around the Y axis, in radians/s.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_GYRO_Z

Angular velocity around the Z axis, in radians/s.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_GYRO_XYZ

Angular velocity around the X, Y and Z axes.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_MAGN_X

Magnetic field on the X axis, in Gauss.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_MAGN_Y

Magnetic field on the Y axis, in Gauss.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_MAGN_Z

Magnetic field on the Z axis, in Gauss.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_MAGN_XYZ

Magnetic field on the X, Y and Z axes.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_DIE_TEMP

Device die temperature in degrees Celsius.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_AMBIENT_TEMP

Ambient temperature in degrees Celsius.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_PRESS

Pressure in kilopascal.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_PROX

Proximity. Adimensional. A value of 1 indicates that an object is close.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_HUMIDITY

Humidity, in percent.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_LIGHT

Illuminance in visible spectrum, in lux.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_IR

Illuminance in infra-red spectrum, in lux.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_RED

Illuminance in red spectrum, in lux.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_GREEN

Illuminance in green spectrum, in lux.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_BLUE

Illuminance in blue spectrum, in lux.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_ALTITUDE

Altitude, in meters

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_PM_1_0

1.0 micro-meters Particulate Matter, in ug/m^3

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_PM_2_5

2.5 micro-meters Particulate Matter, in ug/m^3

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_PM_10

10 micro-meters Particulate Matter, in ug/m^3

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_DISTANCE

Distance. From sensor to target, in meters

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_CO2

CO2 level, in parts per million (ppm)

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_VOC

VOC level, in parts per billion (ppb)

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_GAS_RES

Gas sensor resistance in ohms.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_VOLTAGE

Voltage, in volts

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_CURRENT

Current, in amps

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_POWER

Power in watts

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_RESISTANCE

Resistance , in Ohm

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_ROTATION

Angular rotation, in degrees

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_POS_DX

Position change on the X axis, in points.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_POS_DY

Position change on the Y axis, in points.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_POS_DZ

Position change on the Z axis, in points.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_RPM

Revolutions per minute, in RPM.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_GAUGE_VOLTAGE

Voltage, in volts

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_GAUGE_AVG_CURRENT

Average current, in amps

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_GAUGE_STDBY_CURRENT

Standby current, in amps

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_GAUGE_MAX_LOAD_CURRENT

Max load current, in amps

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_GAUGE_TEMP

Gauge temperature

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_GAUGE_STATE_OF_CHARGE

State of charge measurement in %

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_GAUGE_FULL_CHARGE_CAPACITY

Full Charge Capacity in mAh

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_GAUGE_REMAINING_CHARGE_CAPACITY

Remaining Charge Capacity in mAh

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_GAUGE_NOM_AVAIL_CAPACITY

Nominal Available Capacity in mAh

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_GAUGE_FULL_AVAIL_CAPACITY

Full Available Capacity in mAh

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_GAUGE_AVG_POWER

Average power in mW

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_GAUGE_STATE_OF_HEALTH

State of health measurement in %

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_GAUGE_TIME_TO_EMPTY

Time to empty in minutes

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_GAUGE_TIME_TO_FULL

Time to full in minutes

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_GAUGE_CYCLE_COUNT

Cycle count (total number of charge/discharge cycles)

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_GAUGE_DESIGN_VOLTAGE

Design voltage of cell in V (max voltage)

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_GAUGE_DESIRED_VOLTAGE

Desired voltage of cell in V (nominal voltage)

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_GAUGE_DESIRED_CHARGING_CURRENT

Desired charging current in mA

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_ALL

All channels.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_COMMON_COUNT

Number of all common sensor channels.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_PRIV_START = SENSOR_CHAN_COMMON_COUNT

This and higher values are sensor specific. Refer to the sensor header file.

enumerator SENSOR_CHAN_MAX = INT16_MAX

Maximum value describing a sensor channel type.

enum sensor_trigger_type

Sensor trigger types.

Values:

enumerator SENSOR_TRIG_TIMER

Timer-based trigger, useful when the sensor does not have an interrupt line.

enumerator SENSOR_TRIG_DATA_READY

Trigger fires whenever new data is ready.

enumerator SENSOR_TRIG_DELTA

Trigger fires when the selected channel varies significantly. This includes any-motion detection when the channel is acceleration or gyro. If detection is based on slope between successive channel readings, the slope threshold is configured via the SENSOR_ATTR_SLOPE_TH and SENSOR_ATTR_SLOPE_DUR attributes.

enumerator SENSOR_TRIG_NEAR_FAR

Trigger fires when a near/far event is detected.

enumerator SENSOR_TRIG_THRESHOLD

Trigger fires when channel reading transitions configured thresholds. The thresholds are configured via the SENSOR_ATTR_LOWER_THRESH, SENSOR_ATTR_UPPER_THRESH, and SENSOR_ATTR_HYSTERESIS attributes.

enumerator SENSOR_TRIG_TAP

Trigger fires when a single tap is detected.

enumerator SENSOR_TRIG_DOUBLE_TAP

Trigger fires when a double tap is detected.

enumerator SENSOR_TRIG_FREEFALL

Trigger fires when a free fall is detected.

enumerator SENSOR_TRIG_MOTION

Trigger fires when motion is detected.

enumerator SENSOR_TRIG_STATIONARY

Trigger fires when no motion has been detected for a while.

enumerator SENSOR_TRIG_COMMON_COUNT

Number of all common sensor triggers.

enumerator SENSOR_TRIG_PRIV_START = SENSOR_TRIG_COMMON_COUNT

This and higher values are sensor specific. Refer to the sensor header file.

enumerator SENSOR_TRIG_MAX = INT16_MAX

Maximum value describing a sensor trigger type.

enum sensor_attribute

Sensor attribute types.

Values:

enumerator SENSOR_ATTR_SAMPLING_FREQUENCY

Sensor sampling frequency, i.e. how many times a second the sensor takes a measurement.

enumerator SENSOR_ATTR_LOWER_THRESH

Lower threshold for trigger.

enumerator SENSOR_ATTR_UPPER_THRESH

Upper threshold for trigger.

enumerator SENSOR_ATTR_SLOPE_TH

Threshold for any-motion (slope) trigger.

enumerator SENSOR_ATTR_SLOPE_DUR

Duration for which the slope values needs to be outside the threshold for the trigger to fire.

enumerator SENSOR_ATTR_HYSTERESIS
enumerator SENSOR_ATTR_OVERSAMPLING

Oversampling factor

enumerator SENSOR_ATTR_FULL_SCALE

Sensor range, in SI units.

enumerator SENSOR_ATTR_OFFSET

The sensor value returned will be altered by the amount indicated by offset: final_value = sensor_value + offset.

enumerator SENSOR_ATTR_CALIB_TARGET

Calibration target. This will be used by the internal chip’s algorithms to calibrate itself on a certain axis, or all of them.

enumerator SENSOR_ATTR_CONFIGURATION

Configure the operating modes of a sensor.

enumerator SENSOR_ATTR_CALIBRATION

Set a calibration value needed by a sensor.

enumerator SENSOR_ATTR_FEATURE_MASK

Enable/disable sensor features

enumerator SENSOR_ATTR_ALERT

Alert threshold or alert enable/disable

enumerator SENSOR_ATTR_FF_DUR

Free-fall duration represented in milliseconds. If the sampling frequency is changed during runtime, this attribute should be set to adjust freefall duration to the new sampling frequency.

enumerator SENSOR_ATTR_COMMON_COUNT

Number of all common sensor attributes.

enumerator SENSOR_ATTR_PRIV_START = SENSOR_ATTR_COMMON_COUNT

This and higher values are sensor specific. Refer to the sensor header file.

enumerator SENSOR_ATTR_MAX = INT16_MAX

Maximum value describing a sensor attribute type.

Functions

int sensor_attr_set(const struct device *dev, enum sensor_channel chan, enum sensor_attribute attr, const struct sensor_value *val)

Set an attribute for a sensor.

Parameters
  • dev – Pointer to the sensor device

  • chan – The channel the attribute belongs to, if any. Some attributes may only be set for all channels of a device, depending on device capabilities.

  • attr – The attribute to set

  • val – The value to set the attribute to

Returns

0 if successful, negative errno code if failure.

int sensor_attr_get(const struct device *dev, enum sensor_channel chan, enum sensor_attribute attr, struct sensor_value *val)

Get an attribute for a sensor.

Parameters
  • dev – Pointer to the sensor device

  • chan – The channel the attribute belongs to, if any. Some attributes may only be set for all channels of a device, depending on device capabilities.

  • attr – The attribute to get

  • val – Pointer to where to store the attribute

Returns

0 if successful, negative errno code if failure.

static inline int sensor_trigger_set(const struct device *dev, const struct sensor_trigger *trig, sensor_trigger_handler_t handler)

Activate a sensor’s trigger and set the trigger handler.

The handler will be called from a thread, so I2C or SPI operations are safe. However, the thread’s stack is limited and defined by the driver. It is currently up to the caller to ensure that the handler does not overflow the stack.

Function properties (list may not be complete)

supervisor

Parameters
  • dev – Pointer to the sensor device

  • trig – The trigger to activate

  • handler – The function that should be called when the trigger fires

Returns

0 if successful, negative errno code if failure.

int sensor_sample_fetch(const struct device *dev)

Fetch a sample from the sensor and store it in an internal driver buffer.

Read all of a sensor’s active channels and, if necessary, perform any additional operations necessary to make the values useful. The user may then get individual channel values by calling sensor_channel_get.

Since the function communicates with the sensor device, it is unsafe to call it in an ISR if the device is connected via I2C or SPI.

Parameters
  • dev – Pointer to the sensor device

Returns

0 if successful, negative errno code if failure.

int sensor_sample_fetch_chan(const struct device *dev, enum sensor_channel type)

Fetch a sample from the sensor and store it in an internal driver buffer.

Read and compute compensation for one type of sensor data (magnetometer, accelerometer, etc). The user may then get individual channel values by calling sensor_channel_get.

This is mostly implemented by multi function devices enabling reading at different sampling rates.

Since the function communicates with the sensor device, it is unsafe to call it in an ISR if the device is connected via I2C or SPI.

Parameters
  • dev – Pointer to the sensor device

  • type – The channel that needs updated

Returns

0 if successful, negative errno code if failure.

int sensor_channel_get(const struct device *dev, enum sensor_channel chan, struct sensor_value *val)

Get a reading from a sensor device.

Return a useful value for a particular channel, from the driver’s internal data. Before calling this function, a sample must be obtained by calling sensor_sample_fetch or sensor_sample_fetch_chan. It is guaranteed that two subsequent calls of this function for the same channels will yield the same value, if sensor_sample_fetch or sensor_sample_fetch_chan has not been called in the meantime.

For vectorial data samples you can request all axes in just one call by passing the specific channel with _XYZ suffix. The sample will be returned at val[0], val[1] and val[2] (X, Y and Z in that order).

Parameters
  • dev – Pointer to the sensor device

  • chan – The channel to read

  • val – Where to store the value

Returns

0 if successful, negative errno code if failure.

static inline int32_t sensor_ms2_to_g(const struct sensor_value *ms2)

Helper function to convert acceleration from m/s^2 to Gs.

Parameters
  • ms2 – A pointer to a sensor_value struct holding the acceleration, in m/s^2.

Returns

The converted value, in Gs.

static inline void sensor_g_to_ms2(int32_t g, struct sensor_value *ms2)

Helper function to convert acceleration from Gs to m/s^2.

Parameters
  • g – The G value to be converted.

  • ms2 – A pointer to a sensor_value struct, where the result is stored.

static inline int32_t sensor_rad_to_degrees(const struct sensor_value *rad)

Helper function for converting radians to degrees.

Parameters
  • rad – A pointer to a sensor_value struct, holding the value in radians.

Returns

The converted value, in degrees.

static inline void sensor_degrees_to_rad(int32_t d, struct sensor_value *rad)

Helper function for converting degrees to radians.

Parameters
  • d – The value (in degrees) to be converted.

  • rad – A pointer to a sensor_value struct, where the result is stored.

static inline double sensor_value_to_double(const struct sensor_value *val)

Helper function for converting struct sensor_value to double.

Parameters
Returns

The converted value.

static inline int sensor_value_from_double(struct sensor_value *val, double inp)

Helper function for converting double to struct sensor_value.

Parameters
  • val – A pointer to a sensor_value struct.

  • inp – The converted value.

Returns

0 if successful, negative errno code if failure.

struct sensor_value
#include <sensor.h>

Representation of a sensor readout value.

The value is represented as having an integer and a fractional part, and can be obtained using the formula val1 + val2 * 10^(-6). Negative values also adhere to the above formula, but may need special attention. Here are some examples of the value representation:

 0.5: val1 =  0, val2 =  500000
-0.5: val1 =  0, val2 = -500000
-1.0: val1 = -1, val2 =  0
-1.5: val1 = -1, val2 = -500000

Public Members

int32_t val1

Integer part of the value.

int32_t val2

Fractional part of the value (in one-millionth parts).

struct sensor_trigger
#include <sensor.h>

Sensor trigger spec.

Public Members

enum sensor_trigger_type type

Trigger type.

enum sensor_channel chan

Channel the trigger is set on.

struct sensor_driver_api
#include <sensor.h>