Automated waterproof pedometer for swimmers uses Bosch Sensortec triaxial accelerometer

ACAL Technology came to the rescue with the BMA020 triaxial accelerometer to Pool-Mate manufacturer, Swimovate, when their original prototype was found to be too large and unable to provide sufficient run-time from a standard watch battery.

Specifically designed for low-power applications, the BMA020 triaxial acceleration sensor combines an ultra-compact 3mm x 3mm x 0.9mm LGA package with a supply voltage of 1.62V to 3.6V, an operating current of 200μA and a standby current of 1μA.

The BMA02.0 measures acceleration in three perpendicular axes and features a switchable
g-range and bandwidth. A programmable interrupt feature provides additional battery-savings via wake-up on motion detection and sleep on no motion, as well as free-fall detection. The BMA020 supports 3- or 4-wire SPI and an I2C interface to simplify integration into consumer electronics.

ACAL Technology’s Richard Pollard, comments, “The BMA020 provides a low-cost method of differentiating products of all types by adding advanced power-management features such as shock and drop detection for warranty protection, menu scrolling and tip-tap functions, as well as automatic switching of displays from portrait to landscape. An evaluation board enables engineers to undertake feasibility studies quickly and with minimum investment or risk.”

Other applications for the BMA020 could include asset-tracking for fragile or other goods,
crash-monitoring for hire fleets, and security tagging of criminals as well as tilt measurement for satellite dish control.