diff --git a/Makefile.pseudomodules b/Makefile.pseudomodules
index 7567b1a78300ceab6231aa6cef4356ed5bfbab7c..ee9c6d12d849edb92883b187c9fcb5670b219d29 100644
--- a/Makefile.pseudomodules
+++ b/Makefile.pseudomodules
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ PSEUDOMODULES += newlib
PSEUDOMODULES += pktqueue
PSEUDOMODULES += schedstatistics
PSEUDOMODULES += netif
+PSEUDOMODULES += saul_default
+PSEUDOMODULES += saul_gpio
# include variants of the AT86RF2xx drivers as pseudo modules
PSEUDOMODULES += at86rf23%
diff --git a/drivers/include/saul.h b/drivers/include/saul.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f6a9dcc47a7f75b156fe90356406ae6fa40371d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/drivers/include/saul.h
@@ -0,0 +1,157 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2015 Freie Universität Berlin
+ *
+ * This file is subject to the terms and conditions of the GNU Lesser
+ * General Public License v2.1. See the file LICENSE in the top level
+ * directory for more details.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * @defgroup drivers_saul [S]ensor [A]ctuator [U]ber [L]ayer
+ * @ingroup drivers
+ * @brief Generic sensor/actuator abstraction layer for RIOT
+ *
+ * SAUL is a generic actuator/sensor interface in RIOT. Its purpose is to
+ * enable unified interaction with a wide range of sensors and actuators through
+ * a set of defined access functions and a common data structure.
+ *
+ * Each device driver implementing this interface has to expose a set of
+ * predefined functions and it has to register itself to the central SAUL
+ * registry. From here devices can be found, listed, and accessed.
+ *
+ * Each device has further to expose a name and its type. This information can
+ * be used for automated searching and matching of devices (e.g. connect light
+ * sensor automatically with the color of an RGB LED...).
+ *
+ * The SAUL module enables further the automated initialization of preconfigured
+ * actuators/sensor via auto_init and the access to all available devices via
+ * one unified shell command.
+ *
+ * @todo So far, the interface only supports simple read and set
+ * operations. It probably needs to be extended to handling events,
+ * thresholds, and so on.
+ *
+ * @{
+ *
+ * @file
+ * @brief Definition of the generic [S]ensor [A]ctuator [U]ber [L]ayer
+ *
+ * @author Hauke Petersen <hauke.petersen@fu-berlin.de>
+ */
+
+#ifndef SAUL_H
+#define SAUL_H
+
+#include <stdint.h>
+
+#include "phydat.h"
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
+/**
+ * @brief Definition of device classes
+ *
+ * This list contains a collections of available device classes. Each device
+ * must be part of one, but can be part of multiple of these classes. When
+ * belonging to more than one class, a device must however expose one driver
+ * for each class it belongs to, and it has to register each driver with a
+ * separate entry at the SAUL registry.
+ *
+ * Classes are identified by 8-bit unsigned integers.
+ *
+ * For searching and filtering purposes, the device classes are further split
+ * into two top-level classes: sensors and actuators. For identification, all
+ * actuator classes start with 0b01xxxxxx, all sensor classes start with
+ * 0b10xxxxxx.
+ *
+ * This list is not exhaustive, extend to your needs!
+ */
+enum {
+ SAUL_CLASS_UNDEF = 0x00, /**< device class undefined */
+ SAUL_ACT_ANY = 0x40, /**< any actuator - wildcard */
+ SAUL_ACT_LED_RGB = 0x42, /**< actuator: RGB LED */
+ SAUL_ACT_SERVO = 0x43, /**< actuator: servo motor */
+ SAUL_ACT_MOTOR = 0x44, /**< actuator: motor */
+ SAUL_ACT_SWITCH = 0x45, /**< actuator: simple on/off switch */
+ SAUL_ACT_DIMMER = 0x46, /**< actuator: dimmable switch */
+ SAUL_SENSE_ANY = 0x80, /**< any sensor - wildcart */
+ SAUL_SENSE_BTN = 0x81, /**< sensor: simple button */
+ SAUL_SENSE_TEMP = 0x82, /**< sensor: temperature */
+ SAUL_SENSE_HUM = 0x83, /**< sensor: humidity */
+ SAUL_SENSE_LIGHT = 0x84, /**< sensor: light */
+ SAUL_SENSE_ACCEL = 0x85, /**< sensor: accelerometer */
+ SAUL_SENSE_MAG = 0x86, /**< sensor: magnetometer */
+ SAUL_SENSE_GYRO = 0x87, /**< sensor: gyroscope */
+ SAUL_SENSE_COLOR = 0x88, /**< sensor: (light) color */
+ SAUL_SENSE_PRESS = 0x89, /**< sensor: pressure */
+ SAUL_SENSE_ANALOG = 0x8a, /**< sensor: raw analog value */
+ SAUL_CLASS_ANY = 0xff /**< any device - wildcard */
+ /* extend this list as needed... */
+};
+
+/**
+ * @brief Read a value (a set of values) from a device
+ *
+ * Simple sensors, as e.g. a temperature sensor, will return exactly one value
+ * together with the values scale and unit. Some sensors might return a touple
+ * or triple of data (e.g. a 3-axis accelerometer).
+ *
+ * Actuators can chose to either just return -ENOTSUP or to return their current
+ * set value (e.g. useful for reading back the current state of a switch)
+ *
+ * @param[in] dev device descriptor of the target device
+ * @param[out] res data read from the device
+ *
+ * @return number of values written into to result data structure [1-3]
+ * @return -ENOTSUP if the device does not support this operation
+ * @return -ECANCELED on other errors
+ */
+typedef int(*saul_read_t)(void *dev, phydat_t *res);
+
+/**
+ * @brief Write a value (a set of values) to a device
+ *
+ * Most sensors will probably just return -ENOTSUP, as writing values to a
+ * sensor is often without purpose. The interface can however be used to
+ * configure sensors, e.g. to switch a sensor's unit type by writing the
+ * newly selected type to it.
+ *
+ * For actuators this function is used to influence the actuators state, e.g.
+ * switching a switch or setting the speed of a motor.
+ *
+ * @param[in] dev device descriptor of the target device
+ * @param[in] data data to write to the device
+ *
+ * @return number of values actually processed by the device [1-3]
+ * @return -ENOTSUP if the device does not support this operation
+ * @return -ECANCELED on other errors
+ */
+typedef int(*saul_write_t)(void *dev, phydat_t *data);
+
+/**
+ * @brief Definition of the RIOT actuator/sensor interface
+ */
+typedef struct {
+ saul_read_t read; /**< read function pointer */
+ saul_write_t write; /**< write function pointer */
+ uint8_t type; /**< device class the device belongs to */
+} saul_driver_t;
+
+/**
+ * @brief Helper function converts a class ID to a string
+ *
+ * @param[in] class_id device class ID
+ *
+ * @return string representation of the device class
+ * @return NULL if class ID is not known
+ */
+const char *saul_class_to_str(uint8_t class_id);
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif
+
+#endif /* SAUL_H */
+/** @} */
diff --git a/drivers/include/saul/periph.h b/drivers/include/saul/periph.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..963c3fdfa83ab1fd10e55824f8c4e50c2813c2cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/drivers/include/saul/periph.h
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2015 Freie Universität Berlin
+ *
+ * This file is subject to the terms and conditions of the GNU Lesser
+ * General Public License v2.1. See the file LICENSE in the top level
+ * directory for more details.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * @ingroup drivers_saul
+ * @{
+ *
+ * @file
+ * @brief Parameter definitions for mapping peripherals directly to SAUL
+ *
+ * @author Hauke Petersen <hauke.petersen@fu-berlin.de>
+ */
+
+#ifndef SAUL_PERIPH_H
+#define SAUL_PERIPH_H
+
+#include "periph/gpio.h"
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
+/**
+ * @brief Direct mapped GPIO configuration values
+ */
+typedef struct {
+ const char *name; /**< name of the device connected to this pin */
+ gpio_t pin; /**< GPIO pin to initialize and expose */
+ gpio_dir_t dir; /**< use GPIO as input or output */
+} saul_gpio_params_t;
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif
+
+#endif /* SAUL_PERIPH_H */
+/** @} */
diff --git a/drivers/saul/Makefile b/drivers/saul/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3247d1d8ac934e641bd50572232dc3cf4b789270
--- /dev/null
+++ b/drivers/saul/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+SRC = saul_str.c
+
+ifneq (,$(filter saul_gpio,$(USEMODULE)))
+ SRC += gpio_saul.c
+endif
+
+include $(RIOTBASE)/Makefile.base
diff --git a/drivers/saul/gpio_saul.c b/drivers/saul/gpio_saul.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..62217e7290eb7a0a54a7226bbf84cd6cc171be47
--- /dev/null
+++ b/drivers/saul/gpio_saul.c
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2015 Freie Universität Berlin
+ *
+ * This file is subject to the terms and conditions of the GNU Lesser
+ * General Public License v2.1. See the file LICENSE in the top level
+ * directory for more details.
+ */
+
+/*
+ * @ingroup drivers_saul
+ * @{
+ *
+ * @file
+ * @brief SAUL wrapper for direct access to GPIO pins
+ *
+ * @author Hauke Petersen <hauke.petersen@fu-berlin.de>
+ *
+ * @}
+ */
+
+#include <string.h>
+
+#include "saul.h"
+#include "phydat.h"
+#include "periph/gpio.h"
+
+
+static int read(void *dev, phydat_t *res)
+{
+ gpio_t pin = *((gpio_t *)dev);
+ res->val[0] = (gpio_read(pin)) ? 1 : 0;
+ memset(&(res->val[1]), 0, 2 * sizeof(int16_t));
+ res->unit = UNIT_BOOL;
+ res->scale = 0;
+ return 1;
+}
+
+static int write(void *dev, phydat_t *state)
+{
+ gpio_t pin = *((gpio_t *)dev);
+ gpio_write(pin, state->val[0]);
+ return 1;
+}
+
+const saul_driver_t gpio_saul_driver = {
+ .read = read,
+ .write = write,
+ .type = SAUL_ACT_SWITCH,
+};
diff --git a/drivers/saul/saul_str.c b/drivers/saul/saul_str.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..fb9b5d9ce7d5144773de33ef409a435ccc913613
--- /dev/null
+++ b/drivers/saul/saul_str.c
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2015 Freie Universität Berlin
+ *
+ * This file is subject to the terms and conditions of the GNU Lesser
+ * General Public License v2.1. See the file LICENSE in the top level
+ * directory for more details.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * @ingroup drivers_saul
+ * @{
+ *
+ * @file
+ * @brief SAUL string functions
+ *
+ * @author Hauke Petersen <hauke.petersen@fu-berlin.de>
+ *
+ * @}
+ */
+
+#include <stdint.h>
+
+#include "saul.h"
+
+/*
+ * This is surely not the most beautiful implementation of a stringification
+ * function, but works...
+ */
+const char *saul_class_to_str(uint8_t class_id)
+{
+ switch (class_id) {
+ case SAUL_CLASS_UNDEF: return "CLASS_UNDEF";
+ case SAUL_ACT_ANY: return "ACT_ANY";
+ case SAUL_ACT_LED_RGB: return "ACT_LED_RGB";
+ case SAUL_ACT_SERVO: return "ACT_SERVO";
+ case SAUL_ACT_MOTOR: return "ACT_MOTOR";
+ case SAUL_ACT_SWITCH: return "ACT_SWITCH";
+ case SAUL_ACT_DIMMER: return "ACT_DIMMER";
+ case SAUL_SENSE_ANY: return "SENSE_ANY";
+ case SAUL_SENSE_BTN: return "SENSE_BTN";
+ case SAUL_SENSE_TEMP: return "SENSE_TEMP";
+ case SAUL_SENSE_HUM: return "SENSE_HUM";
+ case SAUL_SENSE_LIGHT: return "SENSE_LIGHT";
+ case SAUL_SENSE_ACCEL: return "SENSE_ACCEL";
+ case SAUL_SENSE_MAG: return "SENSE_MAG";
+ case SAUL_SENSE_GYRO: return "SENSE_GYRO";
+ case SAUL_SENSE_COLOR: return "SENSE_COLOR";
+ case SAUL_SENSE_PRESS: return "SENSE_PRESS";
+ case SAUL_CLASS_ANY: return "CLASS_ANY";
+ default: return "CLASS_UNKNOWN";
+ }
+}