IMU

IMUs or inertial measurement units are parts that sense the inertial forces on a robot. They vary depending on sensor, but may commonly include linear and rotational accelleration. They may sometimes include magnetometer to give global compasss facing dir. Frequently temperature is available from these as it affects their sensitivity.

MPU6050/MPU9250

This is a cheap, small, and moderately precise imu. Commonly available at Amazon.

MPU9250 offers additional integrated magnetometer.

  • Typically uses the I2C interface and can be chained off the default PWM PCA9685 board. This configuration will also provide power.
  • MPU6050: Outputs acceleration X, Y, Z, Gyroscope X, Y, Z, and temperature.
  • MPU6250: Outputs acceleration X, Y, Z, Gyroscope X, Y, Z, Magnetometer X, Y, Z and temperature.
  • Chip built-in 16bit AD converter, 16bit data output
  • Gyroscopes range: +/- 250 500 1000 2000 degree/sec
  • Acceleration range: ±2 ±4 ±8 ±16g

Software Setup

Install smbus

  • either from package:
 sudo apt install python3-smbus
  • or from source:
sudo apt-get install i2c-tools libi2c-dev python-dev python3-dev
git clone https://github.com/pimoroni/py-smbus.git
cd py-smbus/library
python setup.py build
sudo python setup.py install

For MPU6050:

Install pip lib for mpu6050:

pip install mpu6050-raspberrypi

For MPU9250:

Install pip lib for mpu9250-jmdev:

pip install mpu9250-jmdev

Configuration

Enable the following configurations to your myconfig.py:

#IMU
HAVE_IMU = True
IMU_SENSOR = 'mpu9250'          # (mpu6050|mpu9250)
IMU_DLP_CONFIG = 3

IMU_SENSOR can be either mpu6050 or mpu9250 based on the sensor you are using.

IMU_DLP_CONFIG allows to change the digital lowpass filter settings for your IMU. Lower frequency settings (see below) can filter high frequency noise at the expense of increased latency in IMU sensor data. Valid settings are from 0 to 6:

  • 0 250Hz
  • 1 184Hz
  • 2 92Hz
  • 3 41Hz
  • 4 20Hz
  • 5 10Hz
  • 6 5Hz

Notes on MPU9250

At startup the MPU9250 driver performs calibration to zero accel and gyro bias. Usually the process takes less than 10 seconds, and in that time avoid moving or touching the car. Please place the car on the ground before starting Donkey.