SparkFun Launches Feature-Packed STMicro ISM330DHCX 6DoF IMU Qwiic Breakout Board
Offering impressive performance and an on-board machine learning core with a range of interrupt triggers, this IMU packs the features.
SparkFun has announced the launch of a Qwiic-compatible breakout board for STMicroelectronics' ISM330DHCX, an inertial measurement unit (IMU) offering high accuracy, a wide angular rate range, and a selection of embedded peripherals including integrated orientation, free-fall, motion, and tap detection capabilities.
"The SparkFun Qwiic ISM330DHCX Six Degrees of Freedom IMU is a standard-sized, 1in. by 1in. breakout featuring STMicroelectronics' ISM330DHCX," SparkFun explains of its latest launch, "a high-performance 3D digital accelerometer and 3D digital gyroscope tailored for Industry 4.0."
The core specifications of the IMU are impressive enough, offering an acceleration range of ±2/±4/±8/±16g and a wide angular rate range of ±125/±250/±500/±1000/±2000/±4000 degrees per second — making it ideal, the company claims, for everything from robotics to high-sensitivity applications like lens stabilization in optical imaging systems.
The STMicro chip at the board's core has a few other tricks up its sleeve, though — starting with an embedded machine learning core, which runs pre-loaded functions for tilt detection, free-fall sensing, 6D and 4D orientation detection, and tap detection that can distinguish between single- and double-tap operations, all without bothering the host microcontroller.
Other features of the chip includes embedded pedometer functionality, an on-board temperature sensor, and a self-test system designed to ensure both the gyroscope and accelerometer portions of the IMU are working correctly. To this, SparkFun has added a breakout board which offers two Qwiic connectors for solder-free I2C connectivity.
The board also includes unpopulated headers for interrupts, I2C, and SPI buses — the latter an option for projects where I2C is undesirable. The chip has four operation modes: "Peripheral Only," with I2C or SPI connectivity; a secondary I2C mode which allows up to four external sensors to be connected to the IMU; and gyroscope-only or full-IMU auxiliary SPI mode.
The board is now available to purchase on the SparkFun store at $24.95 before volume discounts, with more information available in the hookup guide.