MPU6050 Accelerometer and Gyroscope Sensor

🧠 What is MPU6050?

The MPU6050 is a 6-axis motion tracking device made by InvenSense. It combines:

• ✅ 3-axis accelerometer (measures acceleration)

• ✅ 3-axis gyroscope (measures rotation)

• ✅ Communicates via I2C protocol

• ✅ Built-in Digital Motion Processor (DMP)

🧾 What Can It Measure?

🧰 Components Required

🔌 Wiring MPU6050 with ESP32

MPU6050 works with 3.3V and 5V, but use 3.3V for safety with ESP32.

🧰 Step-by-Step Setup in Arduino IDE

✅ Step 1: Install Libraries

1. Open Arduino IDE

2. Go to Sketch > Include Library > Manage Libraries

3. Install:

   • MPU6050 by Electronic Cats or Jeff Rowberg (both work)

   • Wire (already built-in)

     🎯 Applications of MPU6050

     Application	Usage
     🚗 Vehicle tracking	Detect tilts, crashes, movement
     🎮 Game controllers	Detect hand motion
     🤖 Robotics	Balancing bots, orientation sensing
     🚀 Drones	Flight control and stabilization
     🧍‍♂️ Gesture control	Detect specific hand/head movements

      

     ---

     🛠️ Troubleshooting

     Issue	Solution
     All values zero	Check wiring, power, I2C pins
     MPU not found	Use I2C scanner, change address
     No output	Confirm Wire.begin(21, 22); is used
     Values jump too much	Use averaging or DMP

      

     HOW TO OPERATE

      

     // Basic demo for accelerometer readings from Adafruit MPU6050

     
     

     #include <Adafruit_MPU6050.h>

     #include <Adafruit_Sensor.h>

     #include <Wire.h>

     
     

     Adafruit_MPU6050 mpu;

     
     

     void setup(void) {

       Serial.begin(115200);

       while (!Serial)

         delay(10); // will pause Zero, Leonardo, etc until serial console opens

     
     

       Serial.println("Adafruit MPU6050 test!");

     
     

       // Try to initialize!

       if (!mpu.begin()) {

         Serial.println("Failed to find MPU6050 chip");

         while (1) {

           delay(10);

         }

       }

       Serial.println("MPU6050 Found!");

     
     

       mpu.setAccelerometerRange(MPU6050_RANGE_8_G);

       Serial.print("Accelerometer range set to: ");

       switch (mpu.getAccelerometerRange()) {

       case MPU6050_RANGE_2_G:

         Serial.println("+-2G");

         break;

       case MPU6050_RANGE_4_G:

         Serial.println("+-4G");

         break;

       case MPU6050_RANGE_8_G:

         Serial.println("+-8G");

         break;

       case MPU6050_RANGE_16_G:

         Serial.println("+-16G");

         break;

       }

       mpu.setGyroRange(MPU6050_RANGE_500_DEG);

       Serial.print("Gyro range set to: ");

       switch (mpu.getGyroRange()) {

       case MPU6050_RANGE_250_DEG:

         Serial.println("+- 250 deg/s");

         break;

       case MPU6050_RANGE_500_DEG:

         Serial.println("+- 500 deg/s");

         break;

       case MPU6050_RANGE_1000_DEG:

         Serial.println("+- 1000 deg/s");

         break;

       case MPU6050_RANGE_2000_DEG:

         Serial.println("+- 2000 deg/s");

         break;

       }

     
     

       mpu.setFilterBandwidth(MPU6050_BAND_21_HZ);

       Serial.print("Filter bandwidth set to: ");

       switch (mpu.getFilterBandwidth()) {

       case MPU6050_BAND_260_HZ:

         Serial.println("260 Hz");

         break;

       case MPU6050_BAND_184_HZ:

         Serial.println("184 Hz");

         break;

       case MPU6050_BAND_94_HZ:

         Serial.println("94 Hz");

         break;

       case MPU6050_BAND_44_HZ:

         Serial.println("44 Hz");

         break;

       case MPU6050_BAND_21_HZ:

         Serial.println("21 Hz");

         break;

       case MPU6050_BAND_10_HZ:

         Serial.println("10 Hz");

         break;

       case MPU6050_BAND_5_HZ:

         Serial.println("5 Hz");

         break;

       }

     
     

       Serial.println("");

       delay(100);

     }

     
     

     void loop() {

     
     

       /* Get new sensor events with the readings */

       sensors_event_t a, g, temp;

       mpu.getEvent(&a, &g, &temp);

     
     

       /* Print out the values */

       Serial.print("Acceleration X: ");

       Serial.print(a.acceleration.x);

       Serial.print(", Y: ");

       Serial.print(a.acceleration.y);

       Serial.print(", Z: ");

       Serial.print(a.acceleration.z);

       Serial.println(" m/s^2");

     
     

       Serial.print("Rotation X: ");

       Serial.print(g.gyro.x);

       Serial.print(", Y: ");

       Serial.print(g.gyro.y);

       Serial.print(", Z: ");

       Serial.print(g.gyro.z);

       Serial.println(" rad/s");

     
     

       Serial.print("Temperature: ");

       Serial.print(temp.temperature);

       Serial.println(" degC");

     
     

       Serial.println("");

       delay(500);

     }