MPU-6050 sensor module: A friendly introduction

The InvenSense MPU-6050 is a low-cost, highly accurate inertial measurement unit (IMU) with six degrees of freedom (DOF). IMUs can measure acceleration, inertia and a number of other parameters to allow you to determine their spatial position and velocity. It contains a MEMS 3-axis accelerometer and a MEMS 3-axis gyro in a single chip. It also has an onboard Digital Motion Processor (DMP) which processes complex 6-axis MotionFusion algorithms. This sensor module is also capable of accessing external magnetometers or other sensors through an auxiliary master IIC bus to provide complete 9-axis MotionFusion output. The MPU-6050 sensor module also consists of a temperature sensor but it's less accurate.

Examples where MPU-6050 may be used

• Automotive industry - To deploy airbags, Vehicle roll handling
• Game controllers - Wii remote/ Wiimote
• Gimbal/ Camera stabilisation system
• Hard drives
• Personal Digital Assistants - Smartphones, tablets
• Robotics
• Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) - Drone, helicopters
• Vehicle Navigation

Accelerometer

This device is used to measure acceleration, the rate of change of velocity of a particular object. An object travelling at constant speed will have zero acceleration.

The accelerometer in MPU-6050 is a triple-axis accelerometer which means it senses acceleration on the X, Y and Z axis.

Gyroscope

This is the other key component in the MPU-6050 and can measure the angular momentum or rotation around the X, Y and Z axis.

The MEMS gyroscope consists of three sensors, one per axis, that produce a voltage when they are rotated. This voltage is internally sampled using a 16-bit analog to digital converter.

Pinout

• VCC - 3.3V DC power supply
• GND - Ground
• SCL - Serial Clock
• SDA - Serial Data
• XDA - Auxiliary Serial Data (Used when another sensor is connected to this module)
• XCL - Auxiliary Serial Clock (Used when another sensor is connected to this module)
• AD0 - I2C Address bit. Allows you to change the internal I2C address of the MPU-6050 module. It can be used if the module is conflicting with another I2C device, of if you wish to use two MPU-6050s on the same I2C bus.
• INT - Interrupt output

Interfacing MPU-6050 with Arduino microcontroller

To interface your MPU-6050 with Arduino, you will be needing Jeff Rowberg's I2C Development library and the MPU-6050 library. To learn more about the libraries, please visit Jeff's website.

Please refer to the Schematics section to learn how to connect your sensor module with the development board.

These libraries will be downloaded in.ZIP format and you can directly add these folders to your Arduino IDE.

• Open your Arduino IDE.
• Go to Sketch menu from the top menu bar.
• Select Include library.
• Select Add.ZIP library... option.
• Navigate to the downloads folder or any other folder where you saved the.ZIP library and select it.
• You will see a message displayed on the bottom of your Arduino IDE saying that the library was added to your list.
• Repeat the steps to add your second library.

Now that you have added both essential libraries, try opening an example sketch and upload it to your Arduino microcontroller board. Experiment with your MPU-6050 sensor module by rotating them and observe the changes produced in the readings displayed in the Serial monitor.