A gyroscope is a type of sensor that can sense twisting and turning motions. Often paired with an accelerometer, you can use these to do 3D motion capture and inertial measurement (that is - you can tell how an object is moving!) As these sensors become more popular and easier to manufacture, the prices for them have dropped to the point where you can easily afford a triple-axis gyro! Only a decade ago, this space-tech sensor would have been hundreds of dollars.This breakout board is based around the latest gyro technology, the L3GD20H from STMicro. It's the upgrade to the L3G4200 (see this app note on what to look for if upgrading an existing design to the L3GD20) with three full axes of sensing. The chip can be set to ±250, ±500, or ±2000 degree-per-second scale for a large range of sensitivity. There's also built in high and low pass sensing to make data processing easier. The chip supports both I2C and SPI so you can interface with any microcontroller easily.Since this chip is a 3.3V max device, but many of our customers want to use it with an Arduino, we soldered it to a breakout board with level shifting circuitry so you can use the I2C or SPI interface safely using a 5V interface device. We also place a 3.3V regulator on there so you can power it from 5V.Since we expect people will want to attach it firmly to their project, the PCB comes with four 2.1mm mounting holes. Use #2-56 imperial or M2 screws screws.Getting started is easy - simply connect SDA to your Arduino I2C data pin (On the UNO this is A4), SCL to I2C clock (Uno: A5), GND to ground, and Vin to 3 or 5VDC. Then install and run our easy to use Arduino library, which will print out the XYZ sensor data to the serial terminal. Our library also supports SPI on any 4 digital I/O pins, see the example for wiring.

Filling out our accelerometer offerings, we now have the really lovely digital ADXL345 from Analog Devices, a triple-axis accelerometer with digital I2C and SPI interface breakout. We added an on-board 3.3V regulator and logic-level shifting circuitry, making it a perfect choice for interfacing with any 3V or 5V microcontroller such as the Arduino.The sensor has three axes of measurements, X Y Z, and pins that can be used either as I2C or SPI digital interfacing. You can set the sensitivity level to either +-2g, +-4g, +-8g or +-16g. The lower range gives more resolution for slow movements, the higher range is good for high speed tracking. The ADXL345 is the latest and greatest from Analog Devices, known for their exceptional quality MEMS devices. The VCC takes up to 5V in and regulates it to 3.3V with an output pin.Fully assembled and tested. Comes with 9 pin 0.1" standard header in case you want to use it with a breadboard or perfboard. Two 2.5mm (0.1") mounting holes for easy attachment.Get started in a jiffy with our detailed tutorial!

ADXL345 - Triple-Axis Accelerometer (+-2g/4g/8g/16g) w/ I2C/SPI (16:05)

The LIS3DH is a very popular low power triple-axis accelerometer. It's low-cost, but has just about every 'extra' you'd want in an accelerometer:

Three axis sensing, 10-bit precision

±2g/±4g/±8g/±16g selectable scaling

Both I2C (2 possible addresses) and SPI interface options

Interrupt output

Multiple data rate options 1 Hz to 5Khz

As low as 2uA current draw (just the chip itself, not including any supporting circuitry)

Tap, Double-tap, orientation & freefall detection

3 additional ADC inputs you can read over I2C

To all that, we've also added:

3.3V regulator + level shifting, so you can safely use with any Arduino or microcontroller without the need for an external level shifter!

We kept seeing this accelerometer in teardowns of commercial products and figured that if it's the most-commonly used accelerometer, its worth having a breakout board!

This sensor communicates over I2C or SPI (our library code supports both) so you can share it with a bunch of other sensors on the same I2C bus. There's an address selection pin so you can have two accelerometers share an I2C bus.

To get you going fast, we spun up a breakout board for this little guy. Since it's a 3V sensor, we add a low-dropout 3.3V regulator and level shifting circuitry on board. That means its perfectly safe for use with 3V or 5V power and logic. It's fully assembled and tested.  Comes with a bit of 0.1" standard header in case you want to use it with a breadboard or perfboard.  Two 2.5mm (0.1") mounting holes for easy attachment.

Check out our tutorial for all sorts of details, including pinouts, assembly, wiring, and more!

PIR sensors are used to detect motion from pets/humanoids from about 20 feet away (possibly works on zombies, not guaranteed). This one has an adjustable delay before firing (approx 2-4 seconds), adjustable sensitivity and we include a 1 foot (30 cm) cable with a socket so you can easily reposition the sensor or mount it using the two holes on either side.

Runs on 5V-12V power (if you need to run it off of 3V you can do that by bypassing the regulator, but that means doing a bit of soldering). Digital signal output is 3.3V high/low. Sensing range is about 7 meters (120 degree cone).For a full tutorial with wiring diagrams, CircuitPython and Arduino code examples and project ideas, PIR sensor tutorial page!

This is a simple to use motion sensor. Power it up and wait 1-2 seconds for the sensor to get a snapshot of the still room. If anything moves after that period, the ‘alarm’ pin will go low.

This unit works great from 5 to 12V (datasheet shows 12V). You can also install a jumper wire past the 5V regulator on board to make this unit work at 3.3V. Sensor uses 1.6mA@3.3V.

The alarm pin is an open collector meaning you will need a pull up resistor on the alarm pin. The open drain setup allows multiple motion sensors to be connected on a single input pin. If any of the motion sensors go off, the input pin will be pulled low.

We’ve finally updated the connector! Gone is the old “odd” connector, now you will find a common 3-pin JST! This makes the PIR Sensor much more accessible for whatever your project may need. Red = Power, White = Ground, and Black = Alarm.