Individual assignment:

Measure something: add a sensor to a microcontroller board that you have designed and read it

This week, I decided to go with the MPU6050 sensor module because when I examined the requirements for the final project, I realized that the essential sensor I need is an angle sensor. After some consideration, I concluded that the MPU6050 would be the best option for this purpose.

MPU6050

MPU6050 sensor module is complete 6-axis Motion Tracking Device. It combines 3-axis Gyroscope, 3-axis Accelerometer and Digital Motion Processor all in small package. Also, it has additional feature of on-chip Temperature sensor. It has I2C bus interface to communicate with the microcontrollers.

It has Auxiliary I2C bus to communicate with other sensor devices like 3-axis Magnetometer, Pressure sensor etc.

If 3-axis Magnetometer is connected to auxiliary I2C bus, then MPU6050 can provide complete 9-axis Motion Fusion output.

3-Axis Gyroscope

The MPU6050 consist of 3-axis Gyroscope with Micro Electro Mechanical System(MEMS) technology. It is used to detect rotational velocity along the X, Y, Z axes as shown in below figure.

• The MPU6050 detects vibrations caused by the Coriolis Effect when gyros rotate along any of the sensor axes. These vibrations are sensed by an integrated MEM within the MPU6050 module.
• After sensing, the signal undergoes amplification, demodulation, and filtering processes to produce a voltage proportional to the angular rate. This voltage reflects the rate of rotation around the sensed axis.
• Following this, the voltage signal is digitized using a 16-bit Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC), ensuring precise sampling of each axis.
• The MPU6050 provides various full-scale range options for output, such as +/- 250, +/- 500, +/- 1000, and +/- 2000. These ranges offer flexibility in adjusting the sensor sensitivity as needed.
• In summary, the MPU6050 accurately measures angular velocity along each axis in degrees per second, facilitating reliable motion tracking and analysis across different applications.