An easy solution to use external sensors in Android: Experimental characterization

Nowadays smartphones and tablets are pervasive in our lives, and are used to fulfil several of our daily tasks. One approach is their usage as sensory systems; by exploiting their embedded sensors, it is possible to get data about users. Typically, such sensors are high end, and it is relatively easy to use them by means of Applications. Data access is handled by Android, which decreases sensor performance, as sampling rate, but greatly eases fruition of such information. On the other hand, many useful sensors are available, today, only externally from the smartphone; typically, they can be connected by Bluetooth Low Energy, a widespread standard for Internet of Things. However, this task is cumbersome for a lot of reasons, e.g. the fact that external sensors can be manufactured by different producers with their own proprietary software approach and solutions. The SAndroidE framework allows an easy connection to external sensors/development kits, managing them and their data as if they were embedded in the smartdevice. This work proposes an experimental characterization of measurements by external sensors, highlighting possibilities and limits of the proposed solution, even in complex scenarios.