The variation of gravitational acceleration (g) on Earth is mostly influenced by the fact that Earth is not a perfect sphere — it is slightly flattened at the poles and bulged at the equator, so a point on the equator is farther from the center of gravity. Since the gravitational field weakens with distance, the gravitational force on objects located at the equator is smaller. Because of this alone, g is 0.18% smaller at the equator than at the poles.
This wasn’t the planned next step in this project, but I noticed that performance isn’t as good as I would like it to be. It seems that, in the end, everything will have to be rewritten in C. MicroPython is just a toy and the fastest solution for some hobby projects.
The next step is to understand what the sensor values represent in the real world. I always find it best to comprehend something when I can see it. Therefore, the next step is to visualize each of the data points (Ax, Ay, Az, Gx, Gy, Gz) received from the sensor in real-time. Python is not the ideal tool for real-time (RT) projects, but I hope it will be sufficient for something this simple.
I have had some of these electronic components for a long time, but I never got around to trying them. I want to create an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) without any particular need. There are probably already ready-made, simple, and better solutions, so this is just for fun. The sensor is the InvenSense MPU-6050 Six-Axis Gyro + Accelerometer. This sensor is not recommended for use in new projects as it has been replaced by a newer generation. The chip also includes a Digital Motion Processor™ (DMP™), which I do not wish to use, even though I am confident the result would be better.
I can’t understand how they came up with the idea of using an 8-bit DAC. The poor-quality DAC becomes even more unusable due to the presence of the pull-up resistor.
Remove the resistor, and you will have another DAC with the same functionality.
It’s time to forget about Arduino Pro Mini and move on to something 32-bit. Wemos S2 Mini ESP32 Development Board with a price of 1.00 EUR looks promising.
And let’s see if MicroPython is usable for prototyping.