After being disappointed with the amount of code required to read DS18B20 1-wire temperature sensors, Peter Scargill decided to have a go at deconstructing the usual demonstration sketches and has found an interesting number of efficiencies that can be used to reduce the amount of code required, and also the time taken to get a reading. However these efficiencies are realised by taking several assumptions into account, such as only having one sensor which is located close to the main Arduino circuit, and also only required temperature data that's rounded to the nearest degree.
Nevertheless if your situation has similar requirements, Peter's notes will be of great interest. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.
To get started with your own 1-wire investigations, or if you want to measure the temperature, consider using our TEMP: DS18B20-based temperature sensor module:
which uses the Dallas DS18B20 1-wire digital temperature sensor, with a wide measurement range of -55 to +125°C at an accuracy of +/- 0.5°C. For more information, tutorials and to order - visit the TEMP: page.