Apple’s iPhone introduced gyroscopic sensors to a wider range – before that, accelerometers were not commonly found in consumer hardware. STM sells excellent parts which, however, get little media attention – time to take a look at the LIS2DH12.

Integrating the part into your circuit as an MPU6500 alternative or MPU9500 alternative is not difficult. Figure one shows that the chipsets internal architecture is quite simple. Full scale ranges can be set to ±2g / ±4g / ±8g / ±16g at will; an integrated temperature sensor lets you keep an eye on the ambient thermal situation.

ST implements both I2C and SPI interfaces

ST Microelectronics provides two interrupts which let the accelerometer keep an eye on reliability: if your piece of hardware contains a hard disk, a freefall detection interrupt might give your system enough time to save itself.

The main issue with the LIS2DH12 is that it is not able to be soldered by hand. The LGA-12 housing is but 2x2mm in size – it poses challenges to stencils and placement accuracy. Another issue involves 5V – the part is limited to 3V6.