Super-tiny sensor platforms, facile headlights, and “trainspotting” microphones mark STMicroelectronics’ Technology Tour

One tiny PCB, four sensors

Time was when prototypes that involved multiple sensors incorporated something that looked a little like the multi-PCB sandwich at left. ST encountered enough situations like that to make practical the tiny board at right which holds a 6Dof inertial measurement unit, an e-compass with a 3D digital linear acceleration sensor, a pressure sensor/digital output barometer, a digital microphone, and a BLE transceiver. Dubbed a SensorTile, it is part of a development kit that includes an expansion board, software libraries, and various other helpful apps as well as an SDK for coding the 80 MHz STM32L476 MCU that runs the thing.

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