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STMicro IMU Development Platform

Posted by Lew Payne on May 2, 2010 at 10:00am
I'm partial to the STM32 (ARM CORTEX-M3 based uController) line of uControllers, not only for their hardware mul/div instructions, but also for their ability to have the ADC converter continually scanning and pushing to memory its conversion results from a series of analog devices.

Now, it looks like STMicro has a gamer development board, complete with five ST sensors – a 2-axis roll-and-pitch gyroscope (LPR430AL), a single-axis yaw[3] gyroscope (LY330ALH), a 6-axis geomagnetic module (LSM303DLH),a pressure sensor (LPS001DL) and a temperature sensor (STLM75). All the sensors and the AHRS algorithm are managed by an on-board STM32 microcontroller. The module, which comprises a 4x4cm evaluation board and all the necessary firmware and software, will be available for volume orders in Q2 2010.

It also runs a sophisticated sensor fusion algorithm(Attitude Heading Reference System) to provide static and dynamic orientation and inertial measurements.

Here's the iNEMO board page. Yum!

image_steval-mki062v2.jpg


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Comments

  • Lew Payne May 4, 2010 at 8:54am
    Andrew - I was originally looking at the LPC2148, but it's simply not as powerful (or fast) as the STM32. As you probably know, the manufacturers license the CORTEX-M3 core and build their own support infrastructure into the final uController(s). The STM32 implementation was superior, according to some benchmarks.

    As far as offerings from TI, there's one I'm actually going to be working with in parallel, and that's the TMS320F28335 (Delfino floating point series). Again, it's a completely different core and instruction set than the 8962, and features a robust floating-point implementation... ideally suited for DSP applications.
  • Andrew Lynch May 3, 2010 at 10:25pm
    Phillips LPC and Texas Instruments offers an even cheaper Cortex M3. I've used the 8962 frrom Texas Instruments with the orcboard.org , I believe MIT & uMich also use these OrcBoards (cortex M3) for their Robot Lab courses.
  • Xander May 2, 2010 at 7:38pm
    Looks like the previous version sells for $250. Which...isnt bad. Seems like you could get a smartphone with most of these same features for the same price though. I know, this is better suited for UAV tasks than a phone, just wish we'd see the pricing come down more as these sensors end up in all sorts of consumer products.
  • David Ankers May 2, 2010 at 3:08pm
    I must admit, you have a great point, it has been a great deal of fun starting from nothing and creating something so I totally understand where you are coming from, although we did badly underestimate the work (as normal).

    The thing I love is the shared experience of it all, people from around the globe coming together to create something cool. Yet, the downside of having much smarter people than me around certainly meant I did not learn as much as I thought I would.
  • Lew Payne May 2, 2010 at 2:57pm
    I'd love to open up my home lab (heated 4-bay garage with tile floor that also doubles as a dance hall) to other hobbyists with similar interests. It would be a lot of fun just working on autonomous control (and navigation) projects together as well as brainstorming. Too bad there are no AUV types here in my little town.
  • Carlito Oliveira May 2, 2010 at 2:48pm
    huaauhau you really talking about DIY.
    I have to admit that working with Bill Permelani's code made my project development faster and I've learned a lot with it. But I also love DIY the hard way, that's the way you really learn.
  • Lew Payne May 2, 2010 at 2:44pm
    I already love the OpenPilot AHRS, strictly from a spectator's point of view (I don't own one). However, I cannot resist going through the entire production cycle on my own (parts specs, circuit design, PCB layout, design & production, reflow oven, hot air rework (if needed), and custom firmware design. It keeps me young, despite being a dinosaur from the vacuum tube to transistor transition era.

    It also gives me an excuse to acquire new toys (reflow oven, rework station, triple output bench supply, 200 MHz scope, development boards, etc...) and do something intellectual rather than watch TIVO all evening.
  • David Ankers May 2, 2010 at 2:36pm
    If you like that, you are going to love the OpenPilot AHRS ;-)

    Coming very very soon now.
  • Carlito Oliveira May 2, 2010 at 1:57pm
    Very cool board, love the ARM CORTEX M3 veeery powerfull.... do u have an ideia of price?
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