High-bandwidth 3-axis accelerometer opens new I2oT possibilities

Designed to detect ultra-high frequency motion and vibration in industrial motors and equipment, the FXLN83xxQ high-bandwidth 3-axis analog accelerometer features the highest bandwidth in its class (2.7 kHz) and is one of the first 3-axis devices to feature an industrial operating temperature range of –40°C to 105°C. The inexpensive sensor opens doors for new applications in the industrial Internet of things, or I² oT.

Priced like a consumer-electronics component — it costs $1.70 or less in 1,000-piece quantities — the sensor captures acceleration information often missed by the lower bandwidth sensors commonly deployed in such things as smartphones and exercise-activity monitors. Coupled with a ±2 g to 16 g selectable range, the device’s higher bandwidth capability enables intelligent algorithms to better perform fault prognostication for predictive maintenance and condition-monitoring applications.

The 3-axis accelerometer has an analog output, a move that makes particular sense for industrial apps. The output format makes the device compatible across a wide range of A/D-converter-enabled MCUs and so the sensor can easily be put to use with existing monitoring systems, employing their analysis software and tailored to a particular bus (CAN or Ethernet, for instance). Then too, with the addition of a radio component, the sensor can easily be deployed in a wireless network, being used to build easy-to-deploy wireless nodes. 

With a regard to this latter possibility, the accelerometer consumes only 200 µA in operation, making it a natural for battery-based or energy-harvesting designs. And the device comes in a 3 x 3 x 1.05 mm, 0.65 mm pitch QFN package, which is about as small as practical today for supporting visible leads that can undergo solder inspection. 

To ease design in, an evaluation kit — the DEMOFXLN83xxQ —and four breakout boards for retrofitting — BRKOUT-FXLN8361Q, BRKOUT-FXLN8362Q, BRKOUT-FXLN8371Q, BRKOUT-FXLN8372Q — are available, as is the Xtrinsic Intelligent Sensing Framework for software development. A wealth of support information is available on the Web and through social media.