Geneva, Switzerland. STMicroelectronics says its 13.5-mm x 13.5-mm SensorTile is currently the smallest turnkey sensor board of its type, containing a MEMS accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, pressure sensor, and MEMS microphone. With the onboard low-power STM32L4 microcontroller, it can be used as a sensing and connectivity hub for developing products such as wearables, gaming accessories, and smart-home or Internet-of-Things devices.
SensorTile has a complete Bluetooth Low-Energy transceiver including a miniature single-chip balun on-board, as well as a broad set of system interfaces that support use as a sensor-fusion hub or as a platform for firmware development. It can be simply plugged to a host board, and when powered it immediately starts streaming inertial, audio, and environmental data to ST’s BlueMS smartphone app that can be downloaded free from popular app stores.
Software development is fast and easy thanks to an ecosystem of APIs based on the STM32Cube hardware abstraction layer and middleware components, including the STM32 Open Development Environment. The system is fully compatible with the Open Software eXpansion Libraries (Open.MEMS, Open.RF, and Open.AUDIO), as well as many third-party embedded sensing and voice-processing projects. Many sample programs available in source code offer a starting point for evaluation and customization, including software for position sensing, activity recognition, and low-power voice communication.
The complete kit includes a cradle board, which carries the 13.5-mm x 13.5-mm SensorTile core system in standalone or hub mode and can be used as a reference design. This compact yet fully loaded board contains a humidity and temperature sensor, a micro-SD card socket, as well as a lithium-polymer battery (LiPo) charger. Its simple layout demonstrates how a complete wearable prototype customized with extra functionalities can be easily designed with the SensorTile core system.
The pack also contains a LiPo rechargeable battery and a plastic case that provides a convenient housing for the cradle, SensorTile, and battery combination.
Also part of the SensorTile kit is a cradle/expansion board with an analog audio output, a micro-USB connector, and an Arduino-like interface that can be plugged into any STM32 Nucleo board to expand developers’ options for system and software development. A programming cable is also included.
The SensorTile kit (STEVAL-STLKT01V1) is available now from distributors or can be purchased directly from st.com; priced is $89.
Here are the main features of SensorTile core system:
- LSM6DSM 3D accelerometer + 3D gyroscope,
- LSM303AGR 3D Magnetometer + 3D accelerometer,
- LPS22HB pressure sensor/barometer,
- MP34DT04 digital MEMS microphone,
- STM32L476 microcontroller, and
- BlueNRG-MS network processor with integrated 2.4-GHz radio.
