This is the description of the Java API bindings for the Ambient Light Bricklet 3.0. General information and technical specifications for the Ambient Light Bricklet 3.0 are summarized in its hardware description.
An installation guide for the Java API bindings is part of their general description.
The example code below is Public Domain (CC0 1.0).
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 | import com.tinkerforge.IPConnection;
import com.tinkerforge.BrickletAmbientLightV3;
public class ExampleSimple {
private static final String HOST = "localhost";
private static final int PORT = 4223;
// Change XYZ to the UID of your Ambient Light Bricklet 3.0
private static final String UID = "XYZ";
// Note: To make the example code cleaner we do not handle exceptions. Exceptions
// you might normally want to catch are described in the documentation
public static void main(String args[]) throws Exception {
IPConnection ipcon = new IPConnection(); // Create IP connection
BrickletAmbientLightV3 al = new BrickletAmbientLightV3(UID, ipcon); // Create device object
ipcon.connect(HOST, PORT); // Connect to brickd
// Don't use device before ipcon is connected
// Get current Illuminance
long illuminance = al.getIlluminance(); // Can throw com.tinkerforge.TimeoutException
System.out.println("Illuminance: " + illuminance/100.0 + " lx");
System.out.println("Press key to exit"); System.in.read();
ipcon.disconnect();
}
}
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Download (ExampleCallback.java)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 | import com.tinkerforge.IPConnection;
import com.tinkerforge.BrickletAmbientLightV3;
public class ExampleCallback {
private static final String HOST = "localhost";
private static final int PORT = 4223;
// Change XYZ to the UID of your Ambient Light Bricklet 3.0
private static final String UID = "XYZ";
// Note: To make the example code cleaner we do not handle exceptions. Exceptions
// you might normally want to catch are described in the documentation
public static void main(String args[]) throws Exception {
IPConnection ipcon = new IPConnection(); // Create IP connection
BrickletAmbientLightV3 al = new BrickletAmbientLightV3(UID, ipcon); // Create device object
ipcon.connect(HOST, PORT); // Connect to brickd
// Don't use device before ipcon is connected
// Add illuminance listener
al.addIlluminanceListener(new BrickletAmbientLightV3.IlluminanceListener() {
public void illuminance(long illuminance) {
System.out.println("Illuminance: " + illuminance/100.0 + " lx");
}
});
// Set period for illuminance callback to 1s (1000ms) without a threshold
al.setIlluminanceCallbackConfiguration(1000, false, 'x', 0, 0);
System.out.println("Press key to exit"); System.in.read();
ipcon.disconnect();
}
}
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Download (ExampleThreshold.java)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 | import com.tinkerforge.IPConnection;
import com.tinkerforge.BrickletAmbientLightV3;
public class ExampleThreshold {
private static final String HOST = "localhost";
private static final int PORT = 4223;
// Change XYZ to the UID of your Ambient Light Bricklet 3.0
private static final String UID = "XYZ";
// Note: To make the example code cleaner we do not handle exceptions. Exceptions
// you might normally want to catch are described in the documentation
public static void main(String args[]) throws Exception {
IPConnection ipcon = new IPConnection(); // Create IP connection
BrickletAmbientLightV3 al = new BrickletAmbientLightV3(UID, ipcon); // Create device object
ipcon.connect(HOST, PORT); // Connect to brickd
// Don't use device before ipcon is connected
// Add illuminance listener
al.addIlluminanceListener(new BrickletAmbientLightV3.IlluminanceListener() {
public void illuminance(long illuminance) {
System.out.println("Illuminance: " + illuminance/100.0 + " lx");
System.out.println("Too bright, close the curtains!");
}
});
// Configure threshold for illuminance "greater than 500 lx"
// with a debounce period of 1s (1000ms)
al.setIlluminanceCallbackConfiguration(1000, false, '>', 500*100, 0);
System.out.println("Press key to exit"); System.in.read();
ipcon.disconnect();
}
}
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Generally, every method of the Java bindings that returns a value can throw a 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 unplugs the device). However, if a wireless connection is used, timeouts will occur if the distance to the device gets too big.
Beside the TimeoutException there is also a NotConnectedException that is thrown if a method needs to communicate with the device while the IP Connection is not connected.
Since Java does not support multiple return values and return by reference is not possible for primitive types, we use small classes that only consist of member variables. The member variables of the returned objects are described in the corresponding method descriptions.
The package for all Brick/Bricklet bindings and the IP Connection is com.tinkerforge.*
All methods listed below are thread-safe.
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Creates an object with the unique device ID uid:
BrickletAmbientLightV3 ambientLightV3 = new BrickletAmbientLightV3("YOUR_DEVICE_UID", ipcon);
This object can then be used after the IP Connection is connected (see examples above).
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Returns the illuminance of the ambient light sensor. The measurement range goes up to about 100000lux, but above 64000lux the precision starts to drop. The illuminance is given in lux/100, i.e. a value of 450000 means that an illuminance of 4500lux is measured.
An illuminance of 0lux indicates that the sensor is saturated and the configuration should be modified, see setConfiguration().
If you want to get the value periodically, it is recommended to use the IlluminanceListener listener. You can set the listener configuration with setIlluminanceCallbackConfiguration().
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Sets the configuration. It is possible to configure an illuminance range between 0-600lux and 0-64000lux and an integration time between 50ms and 400ms.
The unlimited illuminance range allows to measure up to about 100000lux, but above 64000lux the precision starts to drop.
A smaller illuminance range increases the resolution of the data. A longer integration time will result in less noise on the data.
If the actual measure illuminance is out-of-range then the current illuminance range maximum +0.01lux is reported by getIlluminance() and the IlluminanceListener listener. For example, 800001 for the 0-8000lux range.
With a long integration time the sensor might be saturated before the measured value reaches the maximum of the selected illuminance range. In this case 0lux is reported by getIlluminance() and the IlluminanceListener listener.
If the measurement is out-of-range or the sensor is saturated then you should configure the next higher illuminance range. If the highest range is already in use, then start to reduce the integration time.
The following constants are available for this function:
For illuminanceRange:
For integrationTime:
Return Object: |
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Returns the configuration as set by setConfiguration().
The following constants are available for this function:
For illuminanceRange:
For integrationTime:
Return Object: |
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Returns the error count for the communication between Brick and Bricklet.
The errors are divided into
The errors counts are for errors that occur on the Bricklet side. All Bricks have a similar function that returns the errors on the Brick side.
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Sets the bootloader mode and returns the status after the requested mode change was instigated.
You can change from bootloader mode to firmware mode and vice versa. A change from bootloader mode to firmware mode will only take place if the entry function, device identifier and CRC are present and correct.
This function is used by Brick Viewer during flashing. It should not be necessary to call it in a normal user program.
The following constants are available for this function:
For mode:
For status:
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Returns the current bootloader mode, see setBootloaderMode().
The following constants are available for this function:
For mode:
Parameters: |
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Sets the firmware pointer for writeFirmware(). The pointer has to be increased by chunks of size 64. The data is written to flash every 4 chunks (which equals to one page of size 256).
This function is used by Brick Viewer during flashing. It should not be necessary to call it in a normal user program.
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Writes 64 Bytes of firmware at the position as written by setWriteFirmwarePointer() before. The firmware is written to flash every 4 chunks.
You can only write firmware in bootloader mode.
This function is used by Brick Viewer during flashing. It should not be necessary to call it in a normal user program.
Parameters: |
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Sets the status LED configuration. By default the LED shows communication traffic between Brick and Bricklet, it flickers once for every 10 received data packets.
You can also turn the LED permanently on/off or show a heartbeat.
If the Bricklet is in bootloader mode, the LED is will show heartbeat by default.
The following constants are available for this function:
For config:
Returns: |
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Returns the configuration as set by setStatusLEDConfig()
The following constants are available for this function:
For config:
Returns: |
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Returns the temperature as measured inside the microcontroller. The value returned is not the ambient temperature!
The temperature is only proportional to the real temperature and it has bad accuracy. Practically it is only useful as an indicator for temperature changes.
Calling this function will reset the Bricklet. All configurations will be lost.
After a reset you have to create new device objects, calling functions on the existing ones will result in undefined behavior!
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Writes a new UID into flash. If you want to set a new UID you have to decode the Base58 encoded UID string into an integer first.
We recommend that you use Brick Viewer to change the UID.
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Returns the current UID as an integer. Encode as Base58 to get the usual string version.
Return Object: |
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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). The Raspberry Pi HAT (Zero) Brick is always at position 'i' and the Bricklet connected to an Isolator Bricklet is always as position 'z'.
The device identifier numbers can be found here. There is also a constant for the device identifier of this Bricklet.
Parameters: |
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The period is the period with which the IlluminanceListener listener is triggered periodically. A value of 0 turns the listener off.
If the value has to change-parameter is set to true, the listener is only triggered after the value has changed. If the value didn't change within the period, the listener is triggered immediately on change.
If it is set to false, the listener is continuously triggered with the period, independent of the value.
It is furthermore possible to constrain the listener with thresholds.
The option-parameter together with min/max sets a threshold for the IlluminanceListener listener.
The following options are possible:
Option | Description |
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'x' | Threshold is turned off |
'o' | Threshold is triggered when the value is outside the min and max values |
'i' | Threshold is triggered when the value is inside or equal to the min and max values |
'<' | Threshold is triggered when the value is smaller than the min value (max is ignored) |
'>' | Threshold is triggered when the value is greater than the min value (max is ignored) |
If the option is set to 'x' (threshold turned off) the listener is triggered with the fixed period.
The following constants are available for this function:
For option:
Return Object: |
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Returns the listener configuration as set by setIlluminanceCallbackConfiguration().
The following constants are available for this function:
For option:
Listeners can be registered to receive time critical or recurring data from the device. The registration is done with add*Listener() functions of the device object.
The parameter is a listener class object, for example:
device.addExampleListener(new BrickletAmbientLightV3.ExampleListener() {
public void property(int value) {
System.out.println("Value: " + value);
}
});
The available listener classes with inherent methods to be overwritten are described below. It is possible to add several listeners and to remove them with the corresponding remove*Listener() function.
Note
Using listeners 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.
This listener can be added with the addIlluminanceListener() function. An added listener can be removed with the removeIlluminanceListener() function.
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This listener is triggered periodically according to the configuration set by setIlluminanceCallbackConfiguration().
The parameter is the same as getIlluminance().
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.
Return Object: |
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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.
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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 listener 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 send and errors are silently ignored, because they cannot be detected.
The following constants are available for this function:
For functionId:
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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 listener 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 send and errors are silently ignored, because they cannot be detected.
The following constants are available for this function:
For functionId:
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Changes the response expected flag for all setter and listener configuration functions of this device at once.
This constant is used to identify a Ambient Light Bricklet 3.0.
The getIdentity() function and the IPConnection.EnumerateListener listener of the IP Connection have a deviceIdentifier parameter to specify the Brick's or Bricklet's type.
This constant represents the human readable name of a Ambient Light Bricklet 3.0.