Introduction to Drivers
What is a Driver?
In programming, a driver is software that allows an operating system (OS) or another program to interact with hardware devices. It acts as a translator, enabling the OS to communicate with specific hardware without needing to know the exact details of how that hardware functions. Essentially, a driver provides the software interface needed to control and manage hardware components.
Why is this Important?
Drivers are crucial to OpenSensorHub because they act as the bridge between various sensors, actuators, and other "things" and the platform's core functionality. Drivers translate raw data from these devices into a common, interoperable format (referred to as SWE Common). This allows OpenSensorHub to understand, process, and utilize the data from a wide range of technologies, making it a flexible and adaptable platform.
What to Expect?
In this training course, you’ll learn how to build a driver for a simple sensor from the ground up. You’ll start by selecting a basic sensor and configuring it to work with a Raspberry Pi. From there, you’ll dive into the fundamentals of driver programming. These foundational skills will prepare you to develop a sensor driver within an OpenSensorHub (OSH) Node.