There are two methods available to communicate with SonaSoft™. The first uses messages that are serialized using Google's Protocol Buffers sent over ZeroMQ sockets. The second uses an HTTP API that sends and receives JSON.
The first option for integration is to use send and receive Protobuf messages over ZeroMQ. There are client libraries for both ZeroMQ and Protobuf in many different languages. And you can find specific information about our API in the Interface Design Definition available on the SDK page of the website
The necessary binaries for ZeroMQ on Windows are also included in the example. However if you would like to download either of these dependencies to run different versions based on your requirements - or to look at their official docs, you can find them here:
- ZeroMQ - https://zeromq.org/
- ProtocolBuffers - https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers
We use ProtocolBuffers to manage structured data in a language neutral way, and ZeroMQ to pass serialized "proto" messages between processes.
The example for this method is in the zmq_protobuf_api folder. It is a simple C++ program that connects to SonaSoft™ and receives messages from it, there is an example for Ubuntu and Windows, and a dockerfile for running the example in an Ubuntu container.
The second option for integration is to use the JSON over HTTP API. This is a simple API server that runs on the machine that SonaSoft™ is installed on. Sending JSON over HTTP is much simpler than using ZeroMQ and Protobuf, but it is not as fast or efficient. Live docs for the API are available on the machine that SonaSoft™ is installed on, you can find them by starting SonaSoft and going to http://localhost:3000/docs in your browser, or view them in the GH Pages for this repo.
The FarSounderSDK package (can be obtained by contacting us if you do not have it already) contains an "SDK Version" of SonaSoft that can be used to run through recorded sonar data files to simulate a few different real world scenarios and test any interface in development. In order to connect to the actual hardware, a standard "navigation" installation of SonaSoft is required.
If you have any questions, suggestions, or recommendations, please feel free to email: service@farsounder.com.