SmartUltrasonic – Predictive Non-Blocking Ultrasonic Sensor Library with EEPROM Logging

Other Hardware Sensors
1

Hello Arduino Community,
I would like to share a library I developed called "SmartUltrasonic" – a non-blocking and intelligent ultrasonic sensor library designed to improve the reliability and responsiveness of the HC-SR04 sensor.
This library helps overcome common challenges in ultrasonic sensing, such as blocking delays and invalid readings, by incorporating a smart prediction system and EEPROM-based memory storage.
Key Features:

  • Non-blocking distance measurements (no use of delay)
  • Predicts distance when sensor readings are invalid or lost
  • Saves and restores the last valid distance value using EEPROM
  • Easy to use and integrate with Arduino-based projects
    GitHub Repository: The REPO
    Example Usage:
#include <SmartUltrasonic.h>

const int trigPin = 9;
const int echoPin = 10;
const int eepromAddress = 0;

SmartUltrasonic sensor(trigPin, echoPin, eepromAddress);

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  sensor.begin();
}

void loop() {
  sensor.update();  // Refresh sensor data
  Serial.println(sensor.getDistance());
  delay(100);
}

Hardware Used:

  • Arduino Uno
  • HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Sensor
  • Built-in EEPROM
    Use Cases:
  • Obstacle detection systems
  • Autonomous robots
  • Power failure-resilient distance logging
    Documentation:
    A PDF guide is available explaining the algorithm, features, and implementation details. You can access it here: PDF Link
    Feedback:
    I welcome your feedback, suggestions, and contributions to improve this library. Feel free to raise issues or submit pull requests via GitHub.
    Best regards,
    Abdalrahman Hossam Othman
    Linkedin
2

This could lead to early EEPROM failure, due to the limited number of write operations.

3

Dear J. Remington,
Thank you for your insightful feedback on the memory management aspect of the algorithm. You have raised a critical point regarding the long-term endurance of EEPROM under frequent write cycles.
The current baseline implementation of the algorithm addresses this by employing a fixed-size buffer that operates on a First-In, First-Out (FIFO) principle. Once the buffer's capacity is reached, new data systematically overwrites the oldest entries. While this design ensures a constant-size historical dataset is always available, we concur that for applications with very high data-logging frequency, this approach could accelerate memory wear.
To address this limitation and to enhance scalability for more data-intensive applications, our immediate roadmap includes the development of a modular external storage extension. We are currently implementing a feature to offload historical data logging to high-capacity, non-volatile media such as an SD card. This enhancement will serve a dual purpose: first, it will preserve the onboard EEPROM for critical, low-frequency configuration data, and second, it will allow for a virtually limitless archival of sensor readings, which is essential for long-term trend analysis and system diagnostics.
Your comment has been valuable in affirming the priority of this development path. We appreciate your contribution to strengthening the research.