STMicroelectronics IIS2MDC magnetometer and ISM303DAC eCompass

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With industrial-grade longevity that is said to assure availability for 10 years, the STMicroelectronics IIS2MDC magnetometer and ISM303DAC eCompass enable low-power tamper detection for smart meters and precision motion and distance sensing in applications from industrial automation and robotics to smart buildings, smart security and medical devices.

Both sensors contain an AMR (anisotropic magnetoresistive) magnetometer with high dynamic range of ±50 Gauss, which meets benchmarks for resolution and low power consumption. Each also features an integrated temperature sensor and provides a 16-bit digital output via a built-in I²C/SPI serial interface.

The ISM303DAC’s additional integrated low-noise 3-axis accelerometer with user-selectable full-scale range up to ±16g enables dual-mode magnetic/physical tamper detection. It also serves applications such as antenna pointing, positioning and navigation, robot guidance, and general industrial motion tracking or distance sensing. The magnetic and accelerometer blocks can be powered down independently to maximise energy savings.

Both devices can be configured to generate an interrupt signal for magnetic-field detection and automatically compensate for hard-iron offsets provided from the higher application layer. Additionally, the ISM303DAC can also generate interrupts on recognition of freefall events, tap and double-tap, activity or inactivity, 6D-orientation thresholds and wake-up events. A built-in FIFO stores accelerometer data to minimise main-processor intervention and, as a result, reduce system power consumption.

Development support includes drivers for both sensors and software examples including tilt-compensated electronic compass, dynamic magnetometer calibration and 6- or 9-axis sensor fusion.

For more information: www.st.com/industrialMEMS.