From Microsoft

Dec 7, 2009 11:44 GMT  ·  By

The Windows Sensor and Location platform is a new addition to the Microsoft operating system, introduced with the advent of Windows 7. In this regard, the Redmond company is trying to make it easier for developers to leverage the new capabilities built into the successor of Windows Visa, in order to have the computer and associated applications continuously adapt to their environment. Essentially, Microsoft is aiming to simplify the way Windows 7 can be used in order to monitor a Motion Sensor. Developers can access and download the Windows 7 Sensor-Driver Sample from MSDN, a resource set up to streamline the use of the Windows Sensor and Location platform.

“We've just wrapped up a whitepaper that describes the creation of a sample driver that supports four sensors: compass, 2-axis accelerometer, ultrasonic distance, and passive-infrared (or motion). In addition to the driver source files, you'll find source files for the sensor firmware as well as source files for a simple .Net application that you can use to test your driver and sensors,” revealed a member of the Windows Driver Kit (WDK) team.

Developers can connect Widows 7 machines, as well as applications running on top of the company’s latest platform to a variety of location sensors. Windows 7’s Windows Sensor and Location platform comes with support for GPS devices, WWAN radios, and triangulation technology. Therefore, developers can tailor specific apps to the user, in the context in which location is relevant for the application.

“The whitepaper describes how you can build a simple motion sensor, a Sensor device driver, and a Sensor application that you can use to observe real-time sensor data in Windows 7. The sample firmware can be used to program a Parallax BS2 microcontroller. The sample driver supports communication between a Windows 7 application and the sensor. (Note that in addition to a passive-infrared motion sensor, the driver also supports a compass, a 2-axis accelerometer, and an ultra-sonic distance sensor.) The sample application demonstrates the use of the Windows 7 Sensor API to acquire sensor data. With very little work, you can modify this application so that it receives data from any of the three other sensors which the driver supports,” Microsoft noted.