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Lesson 05: Gyroscope & Accelerometer Module (MPU6050)

In this lesson, you will learn how to connect the MPU6050 accelerometer and gyroscope sensor to an ESP32 Development Board. We will go through setting up the Adafruit_MPU6050 library, initializing the sensor, and configuring its accelerometer and gyro ranges. You’ll also learn how to read acceleration, rotation, and temperature data from the sensor and display these values on the serial monitor. This project is ideal for those interested in exploring motion tracking and orientation sensing in their projects, providing a practical experience in working with advanced sensors on the Arduino-compatible ESP32 platform.

Required Components

In this project, we need the following components.

It’s definitely convenient to buy a whole kit, here’s the link:

Name	ITEMS IN THIS KIT	LINK
Universal Maker Sensor Kit	94	Universal Maker Sensor Kit

You can also buy them separately from the links below.

Component Introduction	Purchase Link
ESP32 & Development Board (ESP32 Board)	BUY
Gyroscope & Accelerometer Module (MPU6050)	BUY
Breadboard	BUY

Wiring

Code

Note

To install the library, use the Arduino Library Manager and search for “Adafruit MPU6050” and install it.

Code Analysis

1. The code starts by including the necessary libraries and creating an object for the MPU6050 sensor. This code uses the Adafruit_MPU6050 library, Adafruit_Sensor library, and Wire library. The Adafruit_MPU6050 library is used to interact with the MPU6050 sensor and retrieve acceleration, rotation, and temperature data. The Adafruit_Sensor library provides a common interface for various types of sensors. The Wire library is used for I2C communication, which is necessary to communicate with the MPU6050 sensor.

   Note

   To install the library, use the Arduino Library Manager and search for “Adafruit MPU6050” and install it.

   #include <Adafruit_MPU6050.h>
   #include <Adafruit_Sensor.h>
   #include <Wire.h>
   Adafruit_MPU6050 mpu;
   

2. The setup() function initializes the serial communication and checks if the sensor is detected. If the sensor is not found, the Arduino enters an infinite loop with a “Failed to find MPU6050 chip” message. If found, the accelerometer range, gyro range, and filter bandwidth are set, and a delay is added for stability.

   void setup(void) {
     // Initialize the serial communication
     Serial.begin(9600);
   
     // Check if the MPU6050 sensor is detected
     if (!mpu.begin()) {
       Serial.println("Failed to find MPU6050 chip");
       while (1) {
         delay(10);
       }
     }
     Serial.println("MPU6050 Found!");
   
     // set accelerometer range to +-8G
     mpu.setAccelerometerRange(MPU6050_RANGE_8_G);
   
     // set gyro range to +- 500 deg/s
     mpu.setGyroRange(MPU6050_RANGE_500_DEG);
   
     // set filter bandwidth to 21 Hz
     mpu.setFilterBandwidth(MPU6050_BAND_21_HZ);
   
     // Add a delay for stability
     delay(100);
   }
   

3. In the loop() function, the program creates events to store the sensor readings and then retrieves the readings. The acceleration, rotation, and temperature values are then printed to the serial monitor.

   void loop() {
     // Get new sensor events with the readings
     sensors_event_t a, g, temp;
     mpu.getEvent(&a, &g, &temp);
   
     // Print out the acceleration, rotation, and temperature readings
     // ...
   
     // Add a delay to avoid flooding the serial monitor
     delay(1000);
   }