A complete hardware solution for advanced sensing applications with 10 degrees of freedom (DoF) has been developed by STMicroelectronics. The set of three thin, high-performance MEMS sensors provide accurate and comprehensive information on linear, angular and magnetic motion together with altitude readings, enabling enhanced navigation and smarter user interface in mobile phones and other portable consumer devices.
There is an emerging new class of mobile consumer applications, such as location-based services and pedestrian dead-reckoning for indoor and multi-floor navigation that require rather complex sensing capabilities.
By using just three sensors – a geo-magnetic module, a gyroscope, and a pressure sensor – a consumer device can have a complete indication of its linear acceleration, angular velocity, earth gravity, heading and altitude. With this information, mobile users will be able to identify their direction and precise location in all three dimensions everywhere they go, including in places with no or low GPS signal, such as inside buildings in urban canyons or in mountainous and forested terrain.
ST has also introduced an advanced filtering and predictive software engine that integrates the outputs from 3-axis accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetic sensors. Fusing data through algorithms, the engine delivers accurate sensor performance.
