Measurement averaging code with fixed time windows for microcontrollers (C++)

This class performs averaging with a fixed time window (variable number of values).

From the platform, it only needs some method to get the current time. This code contains implementations for both ESP-IDF and Arduino

#pragma once
#include <optional>

// Find the correct driver
#ifdef ARDUINO
    #include <Arduino.h>
    #define TTAA_GETTIME_MILLIS millis()
#elif defined(IDF_VER) && !defined(ARDUINO)
    #include <esp_timer.h>
    #define TTAA_GETTIME_MILLIS esp_timer_get_time() / 1000
#else
    #error "Could not determine how to get the current time (Arduino or ESP-IDF)"
#endif

/**
 * @brief This class is designed to accumulate and average values over a specified time threshold.
 * 
 * The class is templated to allow accumulation of different numerical types, defaulting to float. It uses the Arduino `millis()`
 * function to track elapsed time, automatically calculating the average of accumulated values once the predefined time threshold is reached.
 * The `add()` method adds a new value to the accumulation, returning the average as a `std::optional<T>` when the threshold is reached,
 * and `std::nullopt` otherwise. The `lastAverage()` method allows retrieval of the last calculated average at any time.
 */
template<typename T = float>
class TimeThresholdAccumulatingAverager {
public:
    /**
     * Constructs a new TimeThresholdAccumulatingAverager object.
     * 
     * @param threshold The time threshold in milliseconds over which to accumulate and average values.
     */
    TimeThresholdAccumulatingAverager(unsigned long threshold) : _threshold(threshold), _startTime(TTAA_GETTIME_MILLIS), _sum(), _count() {}

    /**
     * Adds a value to the accumulator. If the time threshold has been reached, 
     * calculates and returns the average of the accumulated values since the last threshold reset.
     * Resets the accumulator for the next period if the threshold is reached.
     * 
     * The given value is not added to the current average if the threshold has been
     * exceeded. It is automatically added to the next period's average. 
     * 
     * @param value The value to add to the accumulator.
     * @return std::optional<T> The average of accumulated values if the threshold is reached, otherwise std::nullopt.
     */
    std::optional<T> add(T value) {
        unsigned long currentTime = TTAA_GETTIME_MILLIS;

        if (currentTime - _startTime >= _threshold) {
            // Time threshold exceeded. Calculcate average
            T average = _count > 0 ? _sum / static_cast<T>(_count) : 0;
            _lastCount = _count;
            // Reset sum & count to zero, but add the current value immediatey
            _sum = value;
            _count = 1;
            _startTime = currentTime;
            _lastAverage = average;
            return average;
        } else { // Time threshold not exceeded
            _sum += value;
            _count++;
            return std::nullopt;
        }

    }

    /**
     * Returns the average of the last completed accumulation period.
     * 
     * @return T The average value of the last completed period.
     */
    inline T lastAverage() const {
        return _lastAverage;
    }

    /**
     * Returns the count value of the last completed accumulation period.
     *
     * @return The last count value.
     */
    inline unsigned int lastCount() const {
        return _lastCount;
    }

private:
    unsigned long _threshold;
    unsigned long _startTime;
    T _sum;
    int _count = 0;
    T _lastAverage = 0;
    unsigned int _lastCount = 0;
};

Usage example:

#include <optional>
#include <iostream>

#include "TimeThresholdAccumulatingAverager.hpp"

int main() {
    TimeThresholdAccumulatingAverager<float> averager(1000); // 1 second threshold

    while (true) {
        float newValue = acquireValue(); // Pseudocode for acquiring a new value
        auto maybeAverage = averager.add(newValue);

        if (maybeAverage.has_value()) {
            std::cout << "Average over threshold period: " << average.value() << std::endl;
        }

        // Add a delay or wait for a real new value in a real application
        delay(10);
    }
}