Adafruit LSM6DSOX, ISM330DHC, LSM6DSO32 User guide

LSM6DSOX, ISM330DHC, and LSM6DSO32 6 DoF IMUs

Created by Bryan Siepert

Last updated on 2020-09-22 01:12:00 PM EDT

Overview

Behold, the ST LSM6DSOX: The latest in a long line of quality Accelerometer+Gyroscope 6-DOF IMUs from ST. Along

with the LSM6DSOX, this guide will cover the

industrial

version, the ISM330DHCX and their wider range sibling the

LSM6DSO32. All are pin-compatible and are nearly code-compatible - we'll be using the same library code and wiring

diagrams to connect to both

In the ISM330DHCX the sensing elements of the accelerometer and of the gyroscope are implemented on the same

silicon die, thus guaranteeing superior stability and robustness. It also has an extended temperature range of -40 to

+105 °C compared to the LSM6DSOX's -40 to +85 °C. Finally, the ISM330's gyroscope can measure up to ±4000 dps,

the LSM6DSOX tops out at ±2000 dps. If those extras aren't essential for your needs, the LSM6DSOX will do quite

nicely.

Should you wish for a wider range of acceleration measurement, the LSM6DSO32 will have you covered. Compared to

the +/-2 to +/- 16g , the LSM6DSO32 can measure higher acceleration amounts and is configurable from +/- 4-32g! This

will allow for capturing more extreme motion events.

All three sensors are great IMU sensors with 6 degrees of freedom - 3 degrees each of linear acceleration and angular

velocity at varying rates within a respectable range.

For the LSM6DSOX and ISM330DHCX, the accelerometers have a respectable range of: ±2/±4/±8/±16 g at 1.6 Hz to

6.7KHz update rate. The LSM6DSO32's accelerometers can measure ±4/±8/±16±32 at the cost of a bit of additional

noise in the signal.

For the gyroscopes: ±125/±250/±500/±1000/±2000 dps (plus ±4000 dps for the ISM330) at 12.5 Hz to 6.7 KHz. There's

also some nice extras, such as built in tap detection, activity detection, pedometer/step counter and in the LSM6DSOX

and ISM330DHCX a programmable finite state machine / machine learning core that can perform some basic gesture

recognition.

For interfacing, you can use either SPI or I2C - there's two configurable interrupt pins. For advanced usage, you can

attach additional devices to an external I2C/SPI port - used for optical image stabilization.

To make getting started fast and easy, we placed the sensors on compact breakout boards with voltage regulation and

level-shifted inputs. That way you can use them with 3V or 5V power/logic devices without worry.

We also wrote libraries to help you get these sensors integrated with your Arduino/C++ or CircuitPython/Python boards

such as Raspberry Pi or other single board computers.

Additionally since it speaks I2C you can easily connect it up with two wires (plus power and ground!). We've even included SparkFun qwiic (https://adafru.it/Fpw) compatible STEMMA QT (https://adafru.it/Ft4) connectors for the I2C bus so you don't even need to solder! Just wire up to your favorite micro with a plug-and-play cable to get 6 DoF data

ASAP.

Pinouts

The top of each breakout is very similar! They include

The names of all the pins which you can reference in

the lists below

Power Pins

Vin - this is the power pin. Since the sensor chip uses 3 VDC, we have included a voltage regulator on board that

will take 3-5VDC and safely convert it down. To power the board, give it the same power as the logic level of

your microcontroller - e.g. for a 5V microcontroller like Arduino, use 5V

3Vo - this is the 3.3V output from the voltage regulator, you can grab up to 100mA from this if you like GND - common ground for power and logic

I2C Logic Pins

SCL - I2C clock pin, connect to your microcontroller's I2C clock line. This pin is level shifted so you can use 3-5V logic, and there's a 10K pullup on this pin. SDA -I2C data pin, connect to your microcontroller's I2C data line. This pin is level shifted so you can use 3-5V logic, and there's a 10K pullup on this pin.

STEMMA QT (https://adafru.it/Ft4) - These connectors allow you to connectors to dev boards with STEMMA QT

connectors or to other things with various associated accessories (https://adafru.it/Ft6)

SPI Logic pins:

All pins going into the breakout have level shifting circuitry to make them 3-5V logic level safe. Use whatever logic level is on Vin!

SCK - This is

also

the SPI Clock pin, it's an input to the chip

DO (Bottom) - this is the serial Data Out / Microcontroller In Sensor Out pin, for data sent from the LSM6DSOX,

ISM330DHCX, or LSM6DSO32 to your processor. SDA - this is

also

the Serial Data In / Microcontroller Out Sensor In pin, for data sent from your processor to the

LSM6DSOX, ISM330DHCX, or LSM6DSO32 CS (Bottom) - this is the Chip Select pin, drop it low to start an SPI transaction. Its an input to the chip

If you want to connect multiple LSM6DSOX, ISM330DHCX, or LSM6DSO32's to one microcontroller, have them share the SDI, DO and SCK pins. Then assign each one a unique CS pin.

Other Pins

INT1 -This is the primary interrupt pin. You can setup the LSM6DSOX, ISM330DHCX, or LSM6DSO32 to pull this

low when certain conditions are met such as new measurement data being available. Consult the

datasheet (https://adafru.it/HFU) for usage

INT2 -This is the primary interrupt pin. You can setup the LSM6DSOX, ISM330DHCX, or LSM6DSO32 to pull this

low when certain conditions are met such as new measurement data being available. Consult the

datasheet (https://adafru.it/HFU) for usage

D0 (Bottom) - I2C Address pin. Pulling this pin high or bridging the solder jumper on the back will change the I2C address from 0x6A to 0x6B SCX, SDX, Aux CS, DO (Top) - Pins for advanced users to connect the LSM6DSOX, ISM330DHCX, or

LSM6DSO32 to another sensor. Consult the datasheet (https://adafru.it/HFU) for usage

The backs of the breakouts show additional information

about the specifications of the sensor, as well as the I2C

address and additional pin information

Arduino

I2C Wiring

Use this wiring if you want to connect via I2C interface

By default, theI2C address is 0x6A. If you add a jumper from DO to 3.3V the address will change to 0x6B

Connect board VIN (red wire) to Arduino 5V if

you are running a 5V board Arduino (Uno, etc.). If

your board is 3V, connect to that instead.

Connect board GND (black wire) to Arduino GND

Connect board SCL (yellow wire) to Arduino SCL

Connect board SDA (blue wire) to Arduino SDA

The final results should resemble the illustration above, showing an Adafruit Metro development board.

SPI Wiring

Since this is a SPI-capable sensor, we can use hardware or 'software' SPI. To make wiring identical on all

microcontrollers, we'll begin with 'software' SPI. The following pins should be used:

Because they share the same pinout and I2C address, the examples below can be used for the LSM6DSOX,

ISM330DHX, and LSM6DSO32



Connect Vin to the power supply, 3V or 5V is fine.

Use the same voltage that the microcontroller

logic is based off of

Connect GND to common power/data ground

Connect the SCL pin to Digital #13 but any pin can

be used later

Connect the DO pin to Digital #12 but any pin can

be used later

Connect the SDA pin to Digital #11 but any pin can

be used later

Connect the CS pin Digital #10 but any pin can be

used later

Later on, once we get it working, we can adjust the library to use hardware SPI if you desire, or change the pins to

others.

Library Installation

You can install the Adafruit LSM6DS Library for Arduino using the Library Manager in the Arduino IDE. This will work for the LSM6DSOX, ISM330DHCX, LSM6DSO32, and even the LSM6DS33:

Click the Manage Libraries ... menu item, search for Adafruit LSM6DS, and select the Adafruit LSM6DS library:

Then follow the same process for the Adafruit BusIO library.

Finally follow the same process for the Adafruit Unified Sensor library:

Load Example - LSM6DSOX, ISM330DHCX, or LSM6DSO32

The library includes different examples for each of the sensors it supports, so you will need to select the correct one.

If you are using an LSM6DSOX, open up File -> Examples -> Adafruit LSM6DS -> adafruit_lsm6dsox_test and upload

to your Arduino wired up to the sensor.

If you are using an ISM330DHCX, open up File -> Examples -> Adafruit LSM6DS -> adafruit_ism330dhcx_test and

upload to your Arduino wired up to the sensor.

If you are using an LSM6DSO32, open up File -> Examples -> Adafruit LSM6DS -> adafruit_lsm6dso32_test and

upload to your Arduino wired up to the sensor.

Depending on whether you are using I2C or SPI, change the pin names and comment or uncomment the following

lines.

if (!lsm6dsox.begin_I2C()) { //if (!lsm6dsox.begin_SPI(LPS_CS)) { //if (!lsm6dsox.begin_SPI(LPS_CS, LPS_SCK, LPS_MISO, LPS_MOSI)) {

Once you upload the code, you will see the accelerometer, gyro, and temperature measurements being printed when you open the Serial Monitor (Tools->Serial Monitor) at 115200 baud, similar to this:

Give the sensor a wiggle or a spin and watch how the measurements change!

Example Code - LSM6DSOX

Note that the code snippet and screenshot below are from the LSM6DSOX example. The ISM330DHCX and

LSM6DSO32 examples will be similar but not identical



Temporarily unable to load content:

Example Code - ISM330DHCX

Temporarily unable to load content:

Example Code - LSM6DSO32

Temporarily unable to load content:

Arduino Docs

Arduino Docs (https://adafru.it/IAQ)

Python & CircuitPython

It's easy to use the LSM6DSOX or ISM330DHCX sensors with Python and CircuitPython, and the Adafruit CircuitPython

LSM6DS (https://adafru.it/Iec) module. This module allows you to easily write Python code that reads measurements

from the accelerometer and gyro, and will work with either sensor.

You can use this sensor with any CircuitPython microcontroller board or with a computer that has GPIO and Python

thanks to Adafruit_Blinka, our CircuitPython-for-Python compatibility library (https://adafru.it/BSN).

CircuitPython Microcontroller Wiring

First wire up a LSM6DSOX or ISM330DHCX to your board for an I2C connection, exactly as shown below. Here's an

example of wiring a Feather M4 to the sensor with I2C:

Board 3V to sensor VIN (red wire)

Board GND to sensor GND (black

wire)

Board SCL to sensor SCL (yellow wire)

Board SDA to sensor SDA (blue wire)

Python Computer Wiring

Since there's

dozens

of Linux computers/boards you can use we will show wiring for Raspberry Pi. For other platforms,

please visit the guide for CircuitPython on Linux to see whether your platform is supported (https://adafru.it/BSN).

Here's the Raspberry Pi wired with I2C:

Pi 3V to sensor VCC (red wire)

Pi GND to sensor GND (black

wire)

Pi SCL to sensor SCL (yellow wire)

Pi SDA to sensor SDA (blue wire)

CircuitPython Installation of LSM6DS Library

You'll need to install the Adafruit CircuitPython LSM6DS (https://adafru.it/Iec) library on your CircuitPython board. This library works with the LSM6DSOX, LSM6DS33, or ISM330DHCX

First make sure you are running the latest version of Adafruit CircuitPython (https://adafru.it/Amd) for your board.

Next you'll need to install the necessary libraries to use the hardware--carefully follow the steps to find and install these

libraries from Adafruit's CircuitPython library bundle (https://adafru.it/ENC). Our CircuitPython starter guide has a great

page on how to install the library bundle (https://adafru.it/ABU).

For non-express boards like the Trinket M0 or Gemma M0, you'll need to manually install the necessary libraries from

the bundle:

adafruit_lsm6ds.mpy adafruit_bus_device adafruit_register

Before continuing make sure your board's lib folder or root filesystem has the adafruit_lsm6ds.mpy, adafruit_bus_device, and adafruit_register files and folders copied over.

Next connect to the board's serial REPL (https://adafru.it/Awz)so you are at the CircuitPython >>> prompt.

Python Installation of LSM6DS Library

You'll need to install the Adafruit_Blinka library that provides the CircuitPython support in Python. This may also

require enabling I2C on your platform and verifying you are running Python 3. Since each platform is a little different,

and Linux changes often, please visit the CircuitPython on Linux guide to get your computer

ready (https://adafru.it/BSN)!

Once that's done, from your command line run the following command:

sudo pip3 install adafruit-circuitpython-lsm6ds

If your default Python is version 3 you may need to run 'pip' instead. Just make sure you aren't trying to use

CircuitPython on Python 2.x, it isn't supported!

CircuitPython & Python Usage

To demonstrate the usage of the sensor we'll initialize it and read the acceleration and rotation measurements from

the board's Python REPL.

Run the following code to import the necessary modules and initialize the I2C connection with the sensor:

import time import board import busio import adafruit_lsm6ds

i2c = busio.I2C(board.SCL, board.SDA) sox = adafruit_lsm6ds.LSM6DSOX(i2c)

Now you're ready to read values from the sensor using these properties:

acceleration - The acceleration forces in the X, Y, and Z axes in m/s gyro - The rotation measurement on the X, Y, and Z axes in degrees/sec

For example, to print out the acceleration and gyro measurements use this code:

print("Acceleration: X:%.2f, Y: %.2f, Z: %.2f m/s^2" % (sensor.acceleration)) print("Gyro X:%.2f, Y: %.2f, Z: %.2f degrees/s" % (sensor.gyro))

That's all there is to it! Go forth and imbue your robot friends with the gift of being able to maybe not fall down all the

time. Maybe.

Example Code

2

i2c = busio.I2C(board.SCL, board.SDA)

sensor = LSM6DSOX(i2c)

while True: print("Acceleration: X:%.2f, Y: %.2f, Z: %.2f m/s^2" % (sensor.acceleration)) print("Gyro X:%.2f, Y: %.2f, Z: %.2f radians/s" % (sensor.gyro)) print("") time.sleep(0.5)

Python Docs

Python Docs (https://adafru.it/Igb)

Downloads

Files

LSM6DSOX Datasheet (https://adafru.it/HFw)

ISM330DHCX Datasheet (https://adafru.it/HFx)

LSM6DSO32 Datasheet (https://adafru.it/NwD)

EagleCAD files on GitHub (https://adafru.it/HFy)

Fritzing object in Adafruit Fritzing Library (https://adafru.it/HFz)

Schematic

The schematic is identical for the LSM6DSOX, ISM330DHCX, and LSM6DSO32

Fab Print

The fabrication print is identical for the LSM6DSOX and ISM330DHCX