Sensor interfaces typically break down into three types--I2C, SPI and serial. But the fact that many sensors have multiple interface options, sensor hardware interfaces are not standardized, and the sheer number of variants are enough to make any engineer’s head explode (not to mention the need to factor in voltage mismatches, pin count, and more) makes integration a nasty proposition. In the absence of formalized interface specifications in most cases, what’s an engineer to do?
- How can an engineer get a handle on all of the options and winnow them down to a manageable few?
- Are there particular things engineers should be looking for in the product documentation (or questions to ask) to simplify the work of designing and testing an interface?
- What are some of the best practices in interpreting vendor documentation in order to ease integration efforts?
