August 01, 2019 by Sam Holland
STMicroelectronics’ X-NUCLEO-IKS01A3 micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) and environmental sensor evaluation board is a miniature micro-mechatronic device designed for a broad range of sensor applications, as well as for prototyping and product evaluation.
The device (pictured below) is compatible with the Arduino Uno R3 connector layout, it can interface with an STM32 microcontroller via the I²C pin, and it features a configurable I²C port.
The X-NUCLEO-IKS01A3 micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and environmental sensor evaluation board. Image courtesy of STMicroelectronics.
The X-NUCLEO-IKS01A3 features the following:
The IKS01A3 also comes with a DIL 24-pin socket to integrate with other MEMS and sensors, alongside a free development firmware library and use cases for sensors that utilise the STM32Cube firmware.
Each MEMS sensor on the board consumes 1.8V of power supplied by an embedded low dropout (LDO) regulator, except the STTS751 temperature sensor which utilises 2.5V from a separate LDO.
Embedded software tools include the Unicleo-GUI evaluation software tool for X-CUBE-MEMS1 software expansion package, which is compatible with STM32Cube, FP-ATR-SIGFOX1, and X-CUBE-MEMS1 microcontroller/microprocessor software tools—for sensor applications, IoT tracker node, Bluetooth connectivity, and motion algorithms for the said STM32Cube.
Product evaluation tools are the NUCLEO-F401RE, NUCLEO-L053R8, NUCLEO-L152RE, and NUCLEO-L476RG Nucleo-64 development boards for STM32, with support for Arduino and ST morpho connectivity.
The X-NUCLEO-IKS01A3 can be utilised for various microcontroller-based sensor applications, such as temperature, speed, humidity, pressure/vibration, magnetic field and position-sensing operations.
For additional functionality, other MEMS boards can be integrated directly onto the X-NUCLEO-IKS01A3 board for sensory, connectivity, power, actuation, and interactive applications.
The X-NUCLEO-IKS01A3 also comes with the open-source STM32Cube development software, which provides a hardware abstraction layer (HAL) for portability between multiple STM32 devices and middleware bricks. This is to implement functions such as RTOS, file system, USB, TCP/IP, or touch sensing/graphics with a huge collection of source code available.
To utilise the X-NUCLEO-IKS01A3, the minimum software requirements are a Windows 7, 8, or 10 computer, USB type A or B-mini cable (to connect the device to the PC), and the X-CUBE-MEMS1 software expansion package installed on the system.
As for the hardware requirements, the X-NUCLEO-IKS01A3 must be integrated on any STM32 Nucleo board (see example below) via matching pins and the Arduino Uno R3 connector included with the product.
The X-NUCLEO-EEPRMA1 expansion board. Image courtesy of STMicroelectronics.
The X-NUCLEO-IKS01A3 MEMS and environmental sensor board provide a low-profile, low-power solution with high-sensitivity and precision in measurements. The device is RoHS-compliant with an ECOPACK2 grade. ECOPACK2 is a new product environmental compliance grade for identifying products that do not contain chlorinated, brominated, and antimony-oxide flame retardants – substances restricted by RoHS.
Moreover, the X-NUCLEO-IKS01A3 is compliant with European Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations. WEEE compliance is an interpretation of the EU Directive 2012/19/EU which places an obligation for electronic component manufacturers to safely collect, recover, and recycle waste electrical and electronic equipment across Europe.
