MPU6050 Accelerometer and Gyroscope Sensor example with Pico and micropython

In this article we connect the ever popular MPU6050 Accelerometer and Gyroscope Sensor to a raspberry Pi Pico and we will then display the temperature and humidity to the repl window in Thonny using micropython

Lets look at the sensor first

Features

The MPU-60X0 is the world’s first integrated 6-axis MotionTracking device that combines a 3-axis gyroscope, 3-axis accelerometer, and a Digital Motion Processor™ (DMP) all in a small package.

With its dedicated I2C sensor bus, it directly accepts inputs from an external 3-axis compass to provide a complete 9-axis MotionFusion™ output. The MPU-60X0 MotionTracking device, with its 6-axis integration, on-board MotionFusion™, and run-time calibration firmware, enables manufacturers to eliminate the costly and complex selection, qualification, and system level integration of discrete devices, guaranteeing optimal motion performance for consumers.

The MPU-60X0 is also designed to interface with multiple noninertial digital sensors, such as pressure sensors, on its auxiliary I2C port. The MPU-60X0 is footprint compatible with the MPU-30X0 family.

The MPU-60X0 features three 16-bit analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) for digitizing the gyroscope outputs and three 16-bit ADCs for digitizing the accelerometer outputs. For precision tracking of both fast and slow motions, the parts feature a user-programmable gyroscope full-scale range of ±250, ±500, ±1000, and ±2000°/sec (dps) and a user-programmable accelerometer full-scale range of ±2g, ±4g, ±8g, and ±16g

You can read more about the sensor in the datasheet linked at the bottom of this article if you feel that way inclined.

Parts Required

Schematic/Connection

To connect the display to your Raspberry PI Pico requires just 3 wires, you just need to wire the Vcc and GND PINs from display to VBuS and a GND PINs of RPI Pico, then the SCL and SDA pins from the module to suitable pins from your Raspberry PI Pico, in this case we use pins 6 and 7

Here is a layout in fritzing to show this

Code Example

I use thonny for all development

You will need to copy the MPU6050 library to your Pico or similar Rp2040 board

Here it is, download and unzip the python file – mpu6050 library

Now for the code example

import math
import utime
from machine import Pin, I2C
from mpu6050 import MPU6050

mpu = MPU6050(bus=1, scl=Pin(7), sda=Pin(6))


def main():
    last_Gx, last_Gy = 64, 64

    while True:
        g = mpu.readData()
        Gx, Gy = (int)(64 + g.Gx * 30), (int)(64 + g.Gy * -30)

        print("X:{:.2f}  Y:{:.2f}  Z:{:.2f}".format(g.Gx, g.Gy, g.Gz))
        utime.sleep_ms(500)
    pass


if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

In the repl window I saw this is

>>> %Run -c $EDITOR_CONTENT
X:0.00 Y:0.00 Z:0.00
X:-2.00 Y:0.37 Z:0.32
X:-2.00 Y:0.37 Z:0.31
X:-2.00 Y:0.27 Z:0.43
X:-2.00 Y:-0.03 Z:-0.57
X:-1.02 Y:-0.85 Z:-0.44
X:-2.00 Y:-0.24 Z:-0.92
X:-2.00 Y:-0.40 Z:-0.62
X:-2.00 Y:0.02 Z:0.32

Links

Datasheet

mpu6050 library