Development of Protocol-Independent Modular Architecture for Three Axis Force Sensor Data Processing

Abstract

The protocol-independent architecture for three axis force sensor data processing is considered. The force sensor is based on a MLX90393 triaxial magnetic sensor, capable of transmitting data via SPI protocol or I2C protocol, depending on the force sensor modification. The data generated by the MLX90393 requires additional processing before usage. To address this issue a software library is developed. Such a library shall provide means for protocol selection based on the force sensor modification. Three alternative architectural library implementations are consid­ered: the two independent program modules for both SPI and I2C protocol data transmission and processing, the two dependent program modules for SPI and I2C data transmission and one template-based module for the data processing, the two dependent program modules for SPI and I2C data transmission based on a single abstract class and the data processing module working with a pointer to the abstract class implementation. Three experimental library implementations are developed, nine experiments are performed with varying library usage setups, supplemented with one experiment with no data processing for the reference. Various criteria are considered, both quantitative and qualitative, including, but not limited to the compiled program size and the ease of library integration. The experimental results are analysed with the help of stated criteria, conclusions and practical recommendations are made.