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Contributing to OpenINS 🚀

First off, thank you for considering contributing to OpenINS! We're thrilled you're interested in making this project better. Every contribution, from a small typo fix to a new feature, is valuable.

This document provides guidelines for contributing to the project.

Note: Please note that this project is released with a Contributor Code of Conduct. By participating in this project you agree to abide by its terms.

How Can I Contribute?

There are many ways to contribute to the project, and all are welcome:

  • 🐛 Reporting Bugs: If you find a bug in the firmware or an error in the hardware design, please open an issue and describe it with as much detail as possible.
  • 💡 Suggesting Enhancements: Have an idea for a new feature or an improvement to the existing design? Open an issue to start a discussion.
  • 📚 Improving Documentation: Our goal is to be a great reference guide. If you find parts of the README, comments, or the MkDocs site that are unclear, please submit a pull request with your improvements. This is one of the easiest ways to get started!
  • 💻 Submitting Code or Hardware Changes: If you want to fix a bug or implement a new feature, you can do so through a pull request.

Your First Contribution (Pull Request Guide)

Ready to submit a change? Here’s a step-by-step guide to making your first contribution.

  1. Fork the repository to your own GitHub account.
  2. Clone your fork to your local machine: git clone https://github.com/Bubi2001/OpenINS.git

  3. Create a new branch for your changes. Please use a descriptive name.

    bash git checkout -b feature/my-new-feature

  4. Make your changes! Whether you're editing KiCad files, C code for the firmware, or documentation, this is your time to shine.

  5. Follow the Style Guides (see below). If you've made code changes, please format your code before committing.

  6. Commit your changes with a clear and descriptive commit message. We follow the Conventional Commits specification.

    git commit -m "feat: Add support for a new barometer sensor"

  7. Push your changes to your fork on GitHub.

    git push origin feature/my-new-feature

  8. Open a Pull Request from your branch to the main branch of the original OpenINS repository. Provide a clear title and a detailed description of the changes you've made.

Pull Request Process

Once you've submitted a pull request, a few things will happen:

  1. CI Checks: Our GitHub Actions workflow will automatically run. It will check code formatting, build the firmware, and run hardware checks. Your pull request must pass all these checks.
  2. Code Review: A maintainer will review your changes. We may ask for modifications or provide feedback.
  3. Merge: Once your pull request is approved and all checks have passed, a maintainer will merge it into the main codebase. Congratulations! 🎉

Style Guides

C Code

  • All C code must be formatted using clang-format. Please run the formatter before committing your changes. The style is defined in the .clang-format file in the repository root.

Commit Messages

  • We use the Conventional Commits standard. This helps us automate release notes and makes the project history easy to read.
  • Your commit message should start with a type, like feat:, fix:, docs:, style:, refactor:, test:, or chore:.
  • Example (new feature): feat: Implement calibration routine for gyroscope
  • Example (bug fix): fix: Correct SPI communication timing issue
  • Example (documentation): docs: Add detailed instructions for flashing firmware