I mew, you mew we all mew for IMU! The MPU-6050 is what we call "an oldie but goodie" - this popular triple axis accelerometer plus gyro combo has been a staple of electronic projects for years, and Adafruit have finally gotten around to making a breakout for it!
Inside are two sensors, one is a classic 3-axis accelerometer, which can tell you which direction is down towards the Earth (by measuring gravity). The other is a gyroscope that can sense how fast the board is being twisted around. By combining this data you can tell how your project is moving through space
Adafruit based this breakout on the popular sensor, the MPU-6050. This compact sensor uses I2C to communicate and its very easy to use. Simply download the library and connect the SCL pin to your I2C clock pin, and SDA pin to your I2C data pin and upload the test program to read out accelerometer and gyroscoping data.
To make life easier so you can focus on your important work, they've taken the MPU-6050 and put it onto a breakout PCB along with support circuitry to let you use this little wonder with 3.3V (Feather/Raspberry Pi) or 5V (Arduino/ Metro328) logic levels. Additionally since it speaks I2C you can easily connect it up with two wires (plus power and ground!). They've even included SparkFun qwiic compatible STEMMA QT connectors for the I2C bus so you don't even need to solder! Just wire up to your favorite micro and you can use the CircuitPython/Python or Arduino drivers to easily interface with the MPU-6050 and get motion measurements ASAP.
It's fully assembled and tested. Comes with a bit of 0.1" standard header in case you want to use it with a breadboard or perfboard. Four 2.5mm (0.1") mounting holes for easy attachment.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
- Product Dimensions: 26.0mm x 17.8mm x 4.6mm / 1.0" x 0.7" x 0.2"
- Product Weight: 1.8g / 0.1oz
LEARN
- Primary Guide: MPU6050 6-DoF Accelerometer and Gyro - Tilting? Spinning? We've got this, IMU know it!