MEMS Products Available in the Market

Freescale ZSTAR3: the multiple wireless sensing triple-axis reference design

The ZSTAR3 development tool contains one accelerometer transmitter boards and one USB receiver node. A ZSTAR3 system can accommodate upto 16 accelerometer transmitter boards, connected through an RF ZigBee 2.4GHz communication to a single USB node connected to a PC. The accelerometer boards measured acceleration in 3-axes using either a digital or analog sensor. The sensor sensitivity is defined by the selected accelerometer. The USB node is part of the ZSTAR and ZSTAR2 design, reprogrammed with dedicated SW supporting multiple nodes.

STMicroelectronics Unveils MEMS Digital Compass Module

STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), the leading supplier of MEMS for consumer and portable applications(1), has integrated a 3-axis digital accelerometer with a 3-axis digital magnetic sensor in a single module. The digital compass module combines high accuracy with small form factor and low power consumption at a competitive cost, meeting the growing market demand for advanced navigation capabilities and emerging smart location-based services. ST's high-performance system-in-package digital compass uses magneto-resistive technology from Honeywell and aims to accelerate the adoption of enhanced electronic compassing in portable consumer applications, including direction finding, map/display orientation, location-based services and pedestrian dead reckoning.

The LSM303DLH geomagnetic module combines magnetic-field and linear-acceleration sensing with an I²C digital interface in a single package, featuring six degrees of freedom (DoF).

The module offers:
- 3-axis acceleration sensor with user-selectable ±2 to ±8g full scale acceleration,
- a 3-axis magnetic sensor with user-selectable full scale (±1.3 to ±8.1 gauss).
The LSM303DLH includes, for each sensing element, an embedded self-test that can be performed before assembly, and smart power functionalities to minimize current consumption.
The module features two separate user-configurable interrupts for inertial wake-up and free-fall.

Epson Toyocom Develops the World's Smallest Single Package 6-Axis Sensor

Epson Toyocom Corporation, the leader in crystal devices, today announced the development of the AH-6100LR, the world's smallest* 6-axis sensor. This low-noise, low-power product comprises a 3-axis QMEMS*1 quartz gyro-sensor and an extremely stable 3-axis accelerometer within a single package.
Samples of the new AH-6100LR will become available in February 2010. Commercial development is scheduled for May 2010.

Colibrys New MEMS Accelerometer for Attitude Heading and Reference Systems (AHRS)

Colibrys (Switzerland) Ltd. has announced today the release of its new MS9005, a ±5g range MEMS accelerometer, to complement its existing family of +/-2g and +/-10g products targeted primarily at AHRS applications.

Current and future developers of AHRS using Colibrys accelerometers will benefit from this new product as an alternative to existing selection of products, which are the traditional Colibrys-MS9002 and MS9010 sensors dedicated to standard AHRS and the latest world's best open-loop RS9010 accelerometer dedicated to mid range requirements.

According to Jean-Michel Stauffer, VP Sales & Marketing at Colibrys, "the MS9005 offers optimal accelerometer performance for applications that operate in medium level vibration and shock environment but where absolute bias and scale factor stability and reduced VRE (Vibration Rectification Error) are valued. Typical examples of AHRS integrating Colibrys accelerometers are airplanes, helicopters and UAV as well as backup systems on large aircrafts and small jets. This new product strengthens Colibrys' position as the world leading supplier of MEMS accelerometers for AHRS applications"

his product benefits from the specialised knowledge and applications experience of Colibrys accelerometers in term of reliability for harsh environments and safety critical applications.