Inclinometer with ML core delivers high accuracy, low power

STMicroelectronics has introduced the IIS2ICLX  2-axis digital inclinometer for use in applications such as industrial automation and structural health monitoring of buildings and infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and tunnels. Key features include a programmable machine-learning (ML) core and 16 independent programmable finite state machines that help edge devices save power and reduce data transfers to the cloud.

The IIS2ICLX also lowers system-level power consumption to extend the operation of battery-powered nodes thanks to its advanced embedded functions. The inclinometer, using MEMS accelerometer technology, offers a selectable full scale of ±0.5/±1/±2/±3 g and provides outputs over an I2C or SPI digital interface. The operating temperature range is -40°C to 105°C

In addition, the inclinometer’s embedded compensation helps maintain stability over temperature to within 0.075mg/°C, which ensures high accuracy and repeatability even when ambient temperatures undergo extreme fluctuations, said STMicro. The high stability and repeatability make the device suited to industrial applications such as antenna pointing and monitoring, platform leveling, forklift and construction machines, leveling instruments, equipment installation and monitoring, and installation and sun tracking for solar panels, as well as Industry 4.0 applications such as robots and autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs).

For structural health monitoring, the IIS2ICLX offers ultra-low-noise density of 15 μg/√Hz for high-resolution tilt sensing as well as sensing of low-level, low-frequency vibration. “Accurately measuring inclination and vibration with the IIS2ICLX can help assess the integrity of structures such as tall towers and infrastructure like bridges or tunnels,” said STMicro.

In addition, battery-powered MEMS tilt sensors containing the IIS2ICLX enable many more structures to be monitored for safety than has been economically viable using earlier, more expensive technologies, STMicro said.

Although many inclinometers are single-axis devices, the IIS2ICLX is a two-axis accelerometer that can sense the tilt along two axes (pitch and roll) or, by combining the two axes, can measure the tilt with high and repeatable accuracy and resolution for a single direction of the horizontal plane over a range of ±180°.

STMicro offers software libraries to support sensor calibration and real-time computation of tilt angle, which are part of the X-CUBE-MEMS expansion software package for STM32Cube. The IIS2ICLX, housed in a ceramic-cavity LGA package measuring 5 x 5 x 1.7 mm, is available in volume production, with a web price of $15.