ST Microelectronics has introduced a new micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) for industrial automation and structural health monitoring.
The IIS2ICLX low-power two-axis digital inclinometer sensors feature a programmable machine-learning core and 16 independent programmable finite state machines to help edge devices save power and reduce data transfers to the cloud.
ST said the MEMS lowers system-level power consumption by extending the operation of battery-powered nodes. The inclinometer uses MEMS accelerometer technology and has a selectable full scale of ±0.5/±1/±2/±3g and provides outputs over an I2C or SPI digital interface. The low noise density of 15 μg/√Hz enables high-resolution tilt sensing as well as sensing of low-level, low-frequency vibration, as required in structural-health monitoring.
The MEMS can be used in 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. Additionally, the sensor could be used in Industry 4.0 applications such as robot and autonomous guide vehicles (AGVs).
In structural health monitoring, the sensor could be used to help assess the integrity of structures such as towers and infrastructure such as bridges or tunnels.
The IIS2ICLX accelerometer can sense the tilt with respect to a horizontal plane along two axes or by combining the two axes, and it can measure the tilt with high and repeatable accuracy and resolution with respect to a single direction of the horizontal plane over a range of ±180°.
