Detecting magnets, now in 3D.
A while ago we did a series of click boards with Hall-effect-based sensors: unipolar and bipolar switches, and a linear Hall effect sensor. Today’s click board expands that concept into the third dimension. The Melexis MLX90333 sensor on 3D Hall click can detect magnetic flux in three axes, enabling it to sense the position of any magnet in nearby space.
The sensor is based on Triaxis®, a proprietary technology from Melexis. The difference from a conventional Hall sensor is the inclusion of something called the Integrated Magnetic concentrator (IMC).
A conventional Hall sensor is sensitive only to magnetic flux that’s perpendicular to its surface. All an IMC does is divert flux applied parallel to the chip into perpendicular direction (keeping the intensity linearly proportional). Thus, the two pairs of conventional Hall sensors underneath the IMC can sense both perpendicular and parallel magnetic flux.
By having two pairs of Hall sensors arranged in a cross shape, the chip can derive the signal for all three axes (BX, BY, BZ).
The signal is then communicated to the target MCU through the mikroBUS™ SPI interface. Also notice that 3D Hall click uses a 5V power supply only.
See the product page for specs and info on applications; see Libstock for code examples.
Yours sincerely,
MikroElektronika