A software tool for designing intelligent sensors

The purpose of this paper is to present a new model of intelligent sensor, and a set of software tools based on this model. At the origin of this model, studies were made in order to simplify the work of intelligent sensor designers, and to ensure a reliable conception of these sensors. After a description of the context, the paper shows the operating mode approach used to create the intelligent sensor model. Our laboratory has developed a tool for automatic generation of intelligent sensor software and a Windows based testing software tool. This tool uses a textual representation of the sensor model. The testing software can be connected to the sensor via a serial link, a fieldbus or a TCP link. An application to the design of intelligent functionalities for an ultrasonic sensor is presented