MPU6050 is the first and only 6-axis tracking device designed for the high performance, low cost and low power requirements of wearable sensors, tablets and smartphones. It is an MPU6050 integrated 6 axis motion tracking device whose main feature is its easy combination with gyro and the accelerometer.
It has a 16-bit analogue to digital converter hardware. It is this feature that enables it to capture three-dimension motions simultaneously. It is your best option if you are looking for a sensor to control the movement of your RC cars, self-balancing robot or drone.
MPU6050 datasheet
According to its datasheet, some of the main specs of the sensor are:
- Inbuilt temperature sensor
- Configurable IIC address
- Communication protocol: 12C
- Built-in 16-bit ADC provides high accuracy
- MEMS 3-aids accelerometer and 3-axis gyroscope values combined
- Power supply 3-5V
- Built-in DMP provides high computational power
- It can be used to interface with other IIC devices like a magnetometer
The following are the key application areas for the sensor:
- Robots
- IMU measuremenT tilt sensor
- Rotation detector
- Humanoid robots
- Robotic arm controls
- Self-balancing
- Quadcopters
MPU6050 pinout
MPU6050 has eight pins. Pin 1 is the Vcc pin that provides power to the device. Pin 2 is the ground pin, and it is connected to the ground system. The other pins are the serial clock, serial data, auxiliary serial data, auxiliary serial clock, ADO and the interrupt pin, which is used to show that data is available to be read by the MCU.
Check the MPU6050 pinout diagram above.
MPU6050 Equivalents and Replacement Details
The equivalents of MPU6050 are ADXL335, MPU9250 and ADXL345. The ADXL335 and the ADXL346 are three-axis accelerometers while the MPU9250 is a nine-axis IMU. You can interface any of these with Arudino because their library is compatible.
