ST’s New Miniature Multi-Sensor Module Jumpstarts IoT and Wearable Designs

STMicroelectronics’ announces that its 13.5mm x 13.5mm SensorTile is currently the smallest turnkey sensor board of its type, containing a MEMS accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, pressure sensor, and a MEMS microphone.

Armed with on-board low-power STM32L4 microcontroller, the new device can be used as a sensing and connectivity hub for developing products such as wearables, gaming accessories, and smart-home or Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices.

Key Nuggets Include

• 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 of charge from popular app stores.
• The software development is fast and easy because of a vast ecosystem of Application Program Interface (API) based on the STM32Cube Hardware Abstraction Layer and middleware components, including the STM32 Open Development Environment.
• The system is sought to be 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 example 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 13.5mm x 13.5mm 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 at $89.00.

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
• BlueNRG-MS network processor with integrated 2.4GHz radio