This driver is written for usage with the ESP8266 and FreeRTOS ([esp-open-rtos](https://github.com/SuperHouse/esp-open-rtos) and [esp-open-rtos-driver-i2c](https://github.com/kanflo/esp-open-rtos-driver-i2c)).
SHT3x is a digital temperature and humidity sensor that uses I2C interface with up to 1 MHz communication speed. It can operate with three levels of *repeatability* (low, medium and high) in two different modes, the *single shot data acquisition mode* and the *periodic data aquisition mode*.
Repeatability setting influences the measurement duration as well as the current consumption of the sensor. The measurement takes 3 ms at low repeatability, 5 ms at low repeatability, and 13.5 ms at high repeatability, respectively. That is, the measurement produces a noticeable delay in execution.
Average current consumption of while sensor is measuring at lowest repeatability is 800 uA. That is, the higher the repeatability level is, the longer the measurement takes and the higher the power consumption is. The sensor consumes only 0.2 uA in standby mode.
consists of temperature and humidity as 16 bit decimal values. Once the measurement command is sent to the sensor, it executes measurements periodically by itself at a rate of 0.5, 1, 2, 4 or 10 measurements per second (mps). The data pairs can be read by a fetch command at the same rate.
As in *single shot data acquisition mode*, the repeatability setting influences the measurement duration as well as the current consumption of the sensor, see above.
To avoid blocking of user tasks during measurements due to their duration, separate tasks running in background are used to realize the measurements. These task are created implicitly when a user task calls function *sht3x_create_sensor* for each connected SHT3x sensor. The background tasks realize the measurement procedures which are executed periodically at a rate that can be defined by the user for each sensor separately using function *sht3x_set_measurement_period* (default period is 1000 ms).
Since predefined rates of *periodic data acquisition mode* of the sensor itself are normally not compatible with user requirements, the measurement procedures are realized in *single shot data acquisition mode* at the highest level of repeatability. Because of the sensor power characteristics, *single shot data acquisition mode* is more power efficient than using *periodic data acquisition mode* in most use cases.
However, using the *single shot data acquisition mode* produces a delay of 20 ms for each measurement. This is the time needed from issuing the measurement command until measured sensor data are available and can be read. Since the delay is realized using *vTaskDelay* function in the background tasks, neither the system nor any user task is blocked during the measurements.
Please note: Since each measurement produces a delay of 20 ms, the minimum period that can be defined with function *sht3x_set_measurement_period* is 20 ms. Therefore, a maximum measurement rate of 50 mps could be reached.
At each measurement, *actual sensor values* for temperature as well as humidity are determined as floating point values from measured data pairs. Temperature is given in °C as well in °F. Humidity is given in percent. Based on these *actual sensor values* the background task also computes successively with each measurement the *average sensor values* using the exponential moving average
where coefficient W represents the degree of weighting decrease, a constant smoothing factor between 0 and 1. A higher W discounts older observations faster. The coefficient W (smoothing factor) can be defined by the user using function *sht3x_set_average_weight*. The default value of W is 0.2.
Once a measurement has been finished, *actual sensor values* and *average sensor values* can be read by user tasks. There are two possibilities to do that, defining a callback function or the calling function *sht3x_get_values* explicitly.
For each connected SHT3 sensor, the user can register a callback function using function *sht3x_set_callback_function*. If a callback function is registered, it is called by the background task after each measurement to pass *actual sensor values* and *average sensor values* to user tasks. Thus, the user gets the results of measurements automatically with same rate as the periodic measurements are executed.
If there is no callback function registered, the user has to use function *sht3x_get_values* explicitly to get *actual sensor values* and *average sensor values*. To ensure that these values are up-to-date, the rate of periodic measurement in background task should be at least the same or higher as the rate of using function *sht3x_get_values*. That is, the period of measurements in background task set with function *sht3x_set_measurement_period* has to be less or equal than the rate of using function *sht3x_get_values*.
Please remember: The minimum measurement period can be 20 ms.
If SHT3x driver initialization was successful, function *sht3x_create_sensor* has to be called for each sensor to initialize the sensor connected to a certain bus with given slave address, to check its availability and to start the background task for measurements.
On success this function returns the *ID* of a sensor descriptor between 0 and *SHT3x_MAX_SENSORS* or -1 otherwise. This *ID* is used to identify the sensor in all other functions used later.
Optionally, you could set the measurement period using function *sht3x_set_measurement_period* or the weight (smoothing factor) for exponential moving average computation using function *sht3x_set_average_weight*.