C# - Accelerometer Bricklet

This is the description of the C# API bindings for the Accelerometer Bricklet. General information and technical specifications for the Accelerometer Bricklet are summarized in its hardware description.

An installation guide for the C# API bindings is part of their general description.

Examples

The example code below is Public Domain (CC0 1.0).

Simple

Download (ExampleSimple.cs)

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using System;
using Tinkerforge;

class Example
{
    private static string HOST = "localhost";
    private static int PORT = 4223;
    private static string UID = "XYZ"; // Change XYZ to the UID of your Accelerometer Bricklet

    static void Main()
    {
        IPConnection ipcon = new IPConnection(); // Create IP connection
        BrickletAccelerometer a = new BrickletAccelerometer(UID, ipcon); // Create device object

        ipcon.Connect(HOST, PORT); // Connect to brickd
        // Don't use device before ipcon is connected

        // Get current acceleration
        short x, y, z;
        a.GetAcceleration(out x, out y, out z);

        Console.WriteLine("Acceleration [X]: " + x/1000.0 + " g");
        Console.WriteLine("Acceleration [Y]: " + y/1000.0 + " g");
        Console.WriteLine("Acceleration [Z]: " + z/1000.0 + " g");

        Console.WriteLine("Press enter to exit");
        Console.ReadLine();
        ipcon.Disconnect();
    }
}

Callback

Download (ExampleCallback.cs)

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using System;
using Tinkerforge;

class Example
{
    private static string HOST = "localhost";
    private static int PORT = 4223;
    private static string UID = "XYZ"; // Change XYZ to the UID of your Accelerometer Bricklet

    // Callback function for acceleration callback
    static void AccelerationCB(BrickletAccelerometer sender, short x, short y, short z)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Acceleration [X]: " + x/1000.0 + " g");
        Console.WriteLine("Acceleration [Y]: " + y/1000.0 + " g");
        Console.WriteLine("Acceleration [Z]: " + z/1000.0 + " g");
        Console.WriteLine("");
    }

    static void Main()
    {
        IPConnection ipcon = new IPConnection(); // Create IP connection
        BrickletAccelerometer a = new BrickletAccelerometer(UID, ipcon); // Create device object

        ipcon.Connect(HOST, PORT); // Connect to brickd
        // Don't use device before ipcon is connected

        // Register acceleration callback to function AccelerationCB
        a.AccelerationCallback += AccelerationCB;

        // Set period for acceleration callback to 1s (1000ms)
        // Note: The acceleration callback is only called every second
        //       if the acceleration has changed since the last call!
        a.SetAccelerationCallbackPeriod(1000);

        Console.WriteLine("Press enter to exit");
        Console.ReadLine();
        ipcon.Disconnect();
    }
}

Threshold

Download (ExampleThreshold.cs)

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using System;
using Tinkerforge;

class Example
{
    private static string HOST = "localhost";
    private static int PORT = 4223;
    private static string UID = "XYZ"; // Change XYZ to the UID of your Accelerometer Bricklet

    // Callback function for acceleration reached callback
    static void AccelerationReachedCB(BrickletAccelerometer sender, short x, short y,
                                      short z)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Acceleration [X]: " + x/1000.0 + " g");
        Console.WriteLine("Acceleration [Y]: " + y/1000.0 + " g");
        Console.WriteLine("Acceleration [Z]: " + z/1000.0 + " g");
        Console.WriteLine("");
    }

    static void Main()
    {
        IPConnection ipcon = new IPConnection(); // Create IP connection
        BrickletAccelerometer a = new BrickletAccelerometer(UID, ipcon); // Create device object

        ipcon.Connect(HOST, PORT); // Connect to brickd
        // Don't use device before ipcon is connected

        // Get threshold callbacks with a debounce time of 10 seconds (10000ms)
        a.SetDebouncePeriod(10000);

        // Register acceleration reached callback to function AccelerationReachedCB
        a.AccelerationReachedCallback += AccelerationReachedCB;

        // Configure threshold for acceleration "greater than 2 g, 2 g, 2 g"
        a.SetAccelerationCallbackThreshold('>', 2*1000, 0, 2*1000, 0, 2*1000, 0);

        Console.WriteLine("Press enter to exit");
        Console.ReadLine();
        ipcon.Disconnect();
    }
}

API

Generally, every method of the C# bindings that returns a value can throw a Tinkerforge.TimeoutException. This exception gets thrown if the device did not respond. If a cable based connection is used, it is unlikely that this exception gets thrown (assuming nobody plugs the device out). However, if a wireless connection is used, timeouts will occur if the distance to the device gets too big.

Since C# does not support multiple return values directly, we use the out keyword to return multiple values from a method.

The namespace for all Brick/Bricklet bindings and the IPConnection is Tinkerforge.*.

All methods listed below are thread-safe.

Basic Functions

class BrickletAccelerometer(string uid, IPConnection ipcon)
Parameters:
  • uid – Type: string
  • ipcon – Type: IPConnection
Returns:
  • accelerometer – Type: BrickletAccelerometer

Creates an object with the unique device ID uid:

BrickletAccelerometer accelerometer = new BrickletAccelerometer("YOUR_DEVICE_UID", ipcon);

This object can then be used after the IP Connection is connected.

void BrickletAccelerometer.GetAcceleration(out short x, out short y, out short z)
Output Parameters:
  • x – Type: short, Unit: 1/1000 gₙ, Range: ?
  • y – Type: short, Unit: 1/1000 gₙ, Range: ?
  • z – Type: short, Unit: 1/1000 gₙ, Range: ?

Returns the acceleration in x, y and z direction. The values are given in gₙ/1000 (1gₙ = 9.80665m/s²). The range is configured with SetConfiguration().

If you want to get the acceleration periodically, it is recommended to use the AccelerationCallback callback and set the period with SetAccelerationCallbackPeriod().

short BrickletAccelerometer.GetTemperature()
Returns:
  • temperature – Type: short, Unit: 1 °C, Range: [-103 to 152]

Returns the temperature of the accelerometer.

void BrickletAccelerometer.LEDOn()

Enables the LED on the Bricklet.

void BrickletAccelerometer.LEDOff()

Disables the LED on the Bricklet.

bool BrickletAccelerometer.IsLEDOn()
Returns:
  • on – Type: bool, Default: false

Returns true if the LED is enabled, false otherwise.

Advanced Functions

void BrickletAccelerometer.SetConfiguration(byte dataRate, byte fullScale, byte filterBandwidth)
Parameters:
  • dataRate – Type: byte, Range: See constants, Default: 6
  • fullScale – Type: byte, Range: See constants, Default: 1
  • filterBandwidth – Type: byte, Range: See constants, Default: 2

Configures the data rate, full scale range and filter bandwidth. Possible values are:

  • Data rate of 0Hz to 1600Hz.
  • Full scale range of ±2gₙ up to ±16gₙ.
  • Filter bandwidth between 50Hz and 800Hz.

Decreasing data rate or full scale range will also decrease the noise on the data.

The following constants are available for this function:

For dataRate:

  • BrickletAccelerometer.DATA_RATE_OFF = 0
  • BrickletAccelerometer.DATA_RATE_3HZ = 1
  • BrickletAccelerometer.DATA_RATE_6HZ = 2
  • BrickletAccelerometer.DATA_RATE_12HZ = 3
  • BrickletAccelerometer.DATA_RATE_25HZ = 4
  • BrickletAccelerometer.DATA_RATE_50HZ = 5
  • BrickletAccelerometer.DATA_RATE_100HZ = 6
  • BrickletAccelerometer.DATA_RATE_400HZ = 7
  • BrickletAccelerometer.DATA_RATE_800HZ = 8
  • BrickletAccelerometer.DATA_RATE_1600HZ = 9

For fullScale:

  • BrickletAccelerometer.FULL_SCALE_2G = 0
  • BrickletAccelerometer.FULL_SCALE_4G = 1
  • BrickletAccelerometer.FULL_SCALE_6G = 2
  • BrickletAccelerometer.FULL_SCALE_8G = 3
  • BrickletAccelerometer.FULL_SCALE_16G = 4

For filterBandwidth:

  • BrickletAccelerometer.FILTER_BANDWIDTH_800HZ = 0
  • BrickletAccelerometer.FILTER_BANDWIDTH_400HZ = 1
  • BrickletAccelerometer.FILTER_BANDWIDTH_200HZ = 2
  • BrickletAccelerometer.FILTER_BANDWIDTH_50HZ = 3
void BrickletAccelerometer.GetConfiguration(out byte dataRate, out byte fullScale, out byte filterBandwidth)
Output Parameters:
  • dataRate – Type: byte, Range: See constants, Default: 6
  • fullScale – Type: byte, Range: See constants, Default: 1
  • filterBandwidth – Type: byte, Range: See constants, Default: 2

Returns the configuration as set by SetConfiguration().

The following constants are available for this function:

For dataRate:

  • BrickletAccelerometer.DATA_RATE_OFF = 0
  • BrickletAccelerometer.DATA_RATE_3HZ = 1
  • BrickletAccelerometer.DATA_RATE_6HZ = 2
  • BrickletAccelerometer.DATA_RATE_12HZ = 3
  • BrickletAccelerometer.DATA_RATE_25HZ = 4
  • BrickletAccelerometer.DATA_RATE_50HZ = 5
  • BrickletAccelerometer.DATA_RATE_100HZ = 6
  • BrickletAccelerometer.DATA_RATE_400HZ = 7
  • BrickletAccelerometer.DATA_RATE_800HZ = 8
  • BrickletAccelerometer.DATA_RATE_1600HZ = 9

For fullScale:

  • BrickletAccelerometer.FULL_SCALE_2G = 0
  • BrickletAccelerometer.FULL_SCALE_4G = 1
  • BrickletAccelerometer.FULL_SCALE_6G = 2
  • BrickletAccelerometer.FULL_SCALE_8G = 3
  • BrickletAccelerometer.FULL_SCALE_16G = 4

For filterBandwidth:

  • BrickletAccelerometer.FILTER_BANDWIDTH_800HZ = 0
  • BrickletAccelerometer.FILTER_BANDWIDTH_400HZ = 1
  • BrickletAccelerometer.FILTER_BANDWIDTH_200HZ = 2
  • BrickletAccelerometer.FILTER_BANDWIDTH_50HZ = 3
void BrickletAccelerometer.GetIdentity(out string uid, out string connectedUid, out char position, out byte[] hardwareVersion, out byte[] firmwareVersion, out int deviceIdentifier)
Output Parameters:
  • uid – Type: string, Length: up to 8
  • connectedUid – Type: string, Length: up to 8
  • position – Type: char, Range: ['a' to 'h', 'z']
  • hardwareVersion – Type: byte[], Length: 3
    • 0: major – Type: byte, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 1: minor – Type: byte, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 2: revision – Type: byte, Range: [0 to 255]
  • firmwareVersion – Type: byte[], Length: 3
    • 0: major – Type: byte, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 1: minor – Type: byte, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 2: revision – Type: byte, Range: [0 to 255]
  • deviceIdentifier – Type: int, Range: [0 to 216 - 1]

Returns the UID, the UID where the Bricklet is connected to, the position, the hardware and firmware version as well as the device identifier.

The position can be 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g' or 'h' (Bricklet Port). A Bricklet connected to an Isolator Bricklet is always at position 'z'.

The device identifier numbers can be found here. There is also a constant for the device identifier of this Bricklet.

Callback Configuration Functions

void BrickletAccelerometer.SetAccelerationCallbackPeriod(long period)
Parameters:
  • period – Type: long, Unit: 1 ms, Range: [0 to 232 - 1], Default: 0

Sets the period with which the AccelerationCallback callback is triggered periodically. A value of 0 turns the callback off.

The AccelerationCallback callback is only triggered if the acceleration has changed since the last triggering.

long BrickletAccelerometer.GetAccelerationCallbackPeriod()
Returns:
  • period – Type: long, Unit: 1 ms, Range: [0 to 232 - 1], Default: 0

Returns the period as set by SetAccelerationCallbackPeriod().

void BrickletAccelerometer.SetAccelerationCallbackThreshold(char option, short minX, short maxX, short minY, short maxY, short minZ, short maxZ)
Parameters:
  • option – Type: char, Range: See constants, Default: 'x'
  • minX – Type: short, Unit: 1/1000 gₙ, Range: [-215 to 215 - 1], Default: 0
  • maxX – Type: short, Unit: 1/1000 gₙ, Range: [-215 to 215 - 1], Default: 0
  • minY – Type: short, Unit: 1/1000 gₙ, Range: [-215 to 215 - 1], Default: 0
  • maxY – Type: short, Unit: 1/1000 gₙ, Range: [-215 to 215 - 1], Default: 0
  • minZ – Type: short, Unit: 1/1000 gₙ, Range: [-215 to 215 - 1], Default: 0
  • maxZ – Type: short, Unit: 1/1000 gₙ, Range: [-215 to 215 - 1], Default: 0

Sets the thresholds for the AccelerationReachedCallback callback.

The following options are possible:

Option Description
'x' Callback is turned off
'o' Callback is triggered when the acceleration is outside the min and max values
'i' Callback is triggered when the acceleration is inside the min and max values
'<' Callback is triggered when the acceleration is smaller than the min value (max is ignored)
'>' Callback is triggered when the acceleration is greater than the min value (max is ignored)

The following constants are available for this function:

For option:

  • BrickletAccelerometer.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OFF = 'x'
  • BrickletAccelerometer.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OUTSIDE = 'o'
  • BrickletAccelerometer.THRESHOLD_OPTION_INSIDE = 'i'
  • BrickletAccelerometer.THRESHOLD_OPTION_SMALLER = '<'
  • BrickletAccelerometer.THRESHOLD_OPTION_GREATER = '>'
void BrickletAccelerometer.GetAccelerationCallbackThreshold(out char option, out short minX, out short maxX, out short minY, out short maxY, out short minZ, out short maxZ)
Output Parameters:
  • option – Type: char, Range: See constants, Default: 'x'
  • minX – Type: short, Unit: 1/1000 gₙ, Range: [-215 to 215 - 1], Default: 0
  • maxX – Type: short, Unit: 1/1000 gₙ, Range: [-215 to 215 - 1], Default: 0
  • minY – Type: short, Unit: 1/1000 gₙ, Range: [-215 to 215 - 1], Default: 0
  • maxY – Type: short, Unit: 1/1000 gₙ, Range: [-215 to 215 - 1], Default: 0
  • minZ – Type: short, Unit: 1/1000 gₙ, Range: [-215 to 215 - 1], Default: 0
  • maxZ – Type: short, Unit: 1/1000 gₙ, Range: [-215 to 215 - 1], Default: 0

Returns the threshold as set by SetAccelerationCallbackThreshold().

The following constants are available for this function:

For option:

  • BrickletAccelerometer.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OFF = 'x'
  • BrickletAccelerometer.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OUTSIDE = 'o'
  • BrickletAccelerometer.THRESHOLD_OPTION_INSIDE = 'i'
  • BrickletAccelerometer.THRESHOLD_OPTION_SMALLER = '<'
  • BrickletAccelerometer.THRESHOLD_OPTION_GREATER = '>'
void BrickletAccelerometer.SetDebouncePeriod(long debounce)
Parameters:
  • debounce – Type: long, Unit: 1 ms, Range: [0 to 232 - 1], Default: 100

Sets the period with which the threshold callback

is triggered, if the threshold

keeps being reached.

long BrickletAccelerometer.GetDebouncePeriod()
Returns:
  • debounce – Type: long, Unit: 1 ms, Range: [0 to 232 - 1], Default: 100

Returns the debounce period as set by SetDebouncePeriod().

Callbacks

Callbacks can be registered to receive time critical or recurring data from the device. The registration is done by appending your callback handler to the corresponding event:

void MyCallback(BrickletAccelerometer sender, int value)
{
    System.Console.WriteLine("Value: " + value);
}

accelerometer.ExampleCallback += MyCallback;

The available events are described below.

Note

Using callbacks for recurring events is always preferred compared to using getters. It will use less USB bandwidth and the latency will be a lot better, since there is no round trip time.

event BrickletAccelerometer.AccelerationCallback(BrickletAccelerometer sender, short x, short y, short z)
Callback Parameters:
  • sender – Type: BrickletAccelerometer
  • x – Type: short, Unit: 1/1000 gₙ, Range: ?
  • y – Type: short, Unit: 1/1000 gₙ, Range: ?
  • z – Type: short, Unit: 1/1000 gₙ, Range: ?

This callback is triggered periodically with the period that is set by SetAccelerationCallbackPeriod(). The parameters are the X, Y and Z acceleration. The range is configured with SetConfiguration().

The AccelerationCallback callback is only triggered if the acceleration has changed since the last triggering.

event BrickletAccelerometer.AccelerationReachedCallback(BrickletAccelerometer sender, short x, short y, short z)
Callback Parameters:
  • sender – Type: BrickletAccelerometer
  • x – Type: short, Unit: 1/1000 gₙ, Range: ?
  • y – Type: short, Unit: 1/1000 gₙ, Range: ?
  • z – Type: short, Unit: 1/1000 gₙ, Range: ?

This callback is triggered when the threshold as set by SetAccelerationCallbackThreshold() is reached. The parameters are the X, Y and Z acceleration. The range is configured with SetConfiguration().

If the threshold keeps being reached, the callback is triggered periodically with the period as set by SetDebouncePeriod().

Virtual Functions

Virtual functions don't communicate with the device itself, but operate only on the API bindings device object. They can be called without the corresponding IP Connection object being connected.

byte[] BrickletAccelerometer.GetAPIVersion()
Output Parameters:
  • apiVersion – Type: byte[], Length: 3
    • 0: major – Type: byte, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 1: minor – Type: byte, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 2: revision – Type: byte, Range: [0 to 255]

Returns the version of the API definition implemented by this API bindings. This is neither the release version of this API bindings nor does it tell you anything about the represented Brick or Bricklet.

bool BrickletAccelerometer.GetResponseExpected(byte functionId)
Parameters:
  • functionId – Type: byte, Range: See constants
Returns:
  • responseExpected – Type: bool

Returns the response expected flag for the function specified by the function ID parameter. It is true if the function is expected to send a response, false otherwise.

For getter functions this is enabled by default and cannot be disabled, because those functions will always send a response. For callback configuration functions it is enabled by default too, but can be disabled by SetResponseExpected(). For setter functions it is disabled by default and can be enabled.

Enabling the response expected flag for a setter function allows to detect timeouts and other error conditions calls of this setter as well. The device will then send a response for this purpose. If this flag is disabled for a setter function then no response is sent and errors are silently ignored, because they cannot be detected.

The following constants are available for this function:

For functionId:

  • BrickletAccelerometer.FUNCTION_SET_ACCELERATION_CALLBACK_PERIOD = 2
  • BrickletAccelerometer.FUNCTION_SET_ACCELERATION_CALLBACK_THRESHOLD = 4
  • BrickletAccelerometer.FUNCTION_SET_DEBOUNCE_PERIOD = 6
  • BrickletAccelerometer.FUNCTION_SET_CONFIGURATION = 9
  • BrickletAccelerometer.FUNCTION_LED_ON = 11
  • BrickletAccelerometer.FUNCTION_LED_OFF = 12
void BrickletAccelerometer.SetResponseExpected(byte functionId, bool responseExpected)
Parameters:
  • functionId – Type: byte, Range: See constants
  • responseExpected – Type: bool

Changes the response expected flag of the function specified by the function ID parameter. This flag can only be changed for setter (default value: false) and callback configuration functions (default value: true). For getter functions it is always enabled.

Enabling the response expected flag for a setter function allows to detect timeouts and other error conditions calls of this setter as well. The device will then send a response for this purpose. If this flag is disabled for a setter function then no response is sent and errors are silently ignored, because they cannot be detected.

The following constants are available for this function:

For functionId:

  • BrickletAccelerometer.FUNCTION_SET_ACCELERATION_CALLBACK_PERIOD = 2
  • BrickletAccelerometer.FUNCTION_SET_ACCELERATION_CALLBACK_THRESHOLD = 4
  • BrickletAccelerometer.FUNCTION_SET_DEBOUNCE_PERIOD = 6
  • BrickletAccelerometer.FUNCTION_SET_CONFIGURATION = 9
  • BrickletAccelerometer.FUNCTION_LED_ON = 11
  • BrickletAccelerometer.FUNCTION_LED_OFF = 12
void BrickletAccelerometer.SetResponseExpectedAll(bool responseExpected)
Parameters:
  • responseExpected – Type: bool

Changes the response expected flag for all setter and callback configuration functions of this device at once.

Constants

int BrickletAccelerometer.DEVICE_IDENTIFIER

This constant is used to identify a Accelerometer Bricklet.

The GetIdentity() function and the IPConnection.EnumerateCallback callback of the IP Connection have a deviceIdentifier parameter to specify the Brick's or Bricklet's type.

string BrickletAccelerometer.DEVICE_DISPLAY_NAME

This constant represents the human readable name of a Accelerometer Bricklet.