RPi and Java Embedded GPIO: Sensor Reading using Java Code

Posted by hinkmond on Oracle Blogs See other posts from Oracle Blogs or by hinkmond
Published on Thu, 6 Dec 2012 20:58:12 +0000 Indexed on 2012/12/06 23:13 UTC
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And, now to program the Java code for reading the fancy-schmancy static electricity sensor connected to your Raspberry Pi, here is the source code we'll use:




First, we need to initialize ourselves...

/*
 * Java Embedded Raspberry Pi GPIO Input app
 */
package jerpigpioinput;

import java.io.FileWriter;
import java.io.RandomAccessFile;
import java.text.DateFormat;
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.util.Calendar;

/**
 *
 * @author hinkmond
 */
public class JerpiGPIOInput {
    
    static final String GPIO_IN = "in";
    
    // Add which GPIO ports to read here
    static String[] GpioChannels = 
    { "7" };
       
    /**
     * @param args the command line arguments
     */
    public static void main(String[] args) {

        
        try {
            
            /*** Init GPIO port(s) for input ***/
            
            // Open file handles to GPIO port unexport and export controls
            FileWriter unexportFile = 
                    new FileWriter("/sys/class/gpio/unexport");
            FileWriter exportFile = 
                    new FileWriter("/sys/class/gpio/export");

            for (String gpioChannel : GpioChannels) {
                System.out.println(gpioChannel);
    
                // Reset the port
                unexportFile.write(gpioChannel);
                unexportFile.flush();
            
                // Set the port for use
                exportFile.write(gpioChannel);   
                exportFile.flush();

                // Open file handle to input/output direction control of port
                FileWriter directionFile =
                    new FileWriter("/sys/class/gpio/gpio" + gpioChannel + 
                        "/direction");
            
                // Set port for input
                directionFile.write(GPIO_IN);
                directionFile.flush();
            }   

And, next we will open up a RandomAccessFile pointer to the GPIO port.

            /*** Read data from each GPIO port ***/
            RandomAccessFile[] raf = new RandomAccessFile[GpioChannels.length];
            
            int sleepPeriod = 10;
            final int MAXBUF = 256;
            
            byte[] inBytes = new byte[MAXBUF]; 
            String inLine;
            
            int zeroCounter = 0;
            
            // Get current timestamp with Calendar()
            Calendar cal;
            DateFormat dateFormat = 
                    new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy/MM/dd HH:mm:ss.SSS");
            String dateStr;
            
            // Open RandomAccessFile handle to each GPIO port
            for (int channum=0; channum < raf.length; channum++) {
                raf[channum] = new RandomAccessFile("/sys/class/gpio/gpio"
                        + GpioChannels[channum] + "/value", "r");
            }

Then, loop forever to read in the values to the console.

            // Loop forever
            while (true) {
                
                // Get current timestamp for latest event
                cal = Calendar.getInstance();
                dateStr = dateFormat.format(cal.getTime());
        
                // Use RandomAccessFile handle to read in GPIO port value
                for (int channum=0; channum < raf.length; channum++) {
                    
                    // Reset file seek pointer to read latest value of GPIO port
                    raf[channum].seek(0);
                    raf[channum].read(inBytes);
                    inLine = new String(inBytes);
                    
                    // Check if any value was read
                    if (inLine != null) {
                        
                        // Compress 0 values so we don't see too many 
                        //   unimportant lines
                        if (inLine.startsWith("0")) {
                            if (zeroCounter < 1000) {
                                zeroCounter++;
                            } else {
                                System.out.print(dateStr + ": " + inLine);
                                zeroCounter = 0;
                            }
                        } else {
                            // Else, specially mark value non-zero value
                            System.out.print("***" + dateStr + ": " + inLine);
                            zeroCounter = 0;
                        }
                    }

                    // Wait for a while
                    java.lang.Thread.sleep(sleepPeriod);
        
                }
            }

        } catch (Exception exception) {
            exception.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

Rinse, lather, and repeat...

Compile this Java code on your host PC or Mac with javac from the JDK. Copy over the JAR or class file to your Raspberry Pi, "sudo -i" to become root, then start up this Java app in a shell on your RPi.

That's it! You should see a "1" value get logged each time you bring a statically charged item (like a balloon you rub on the cat) near the antenna of the sensor. There you go. You've just seen how Java Embedded technology on the Raspberry Pi is an easy way to access sensors.

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