Accelerometers and gyroscopes are fueling the robotic revolution, especially the drones’ market segment. However these MEMS devices are not the only ones on the market place anymore, with environmental sensors penetrating this industry too.
InvenSense, on Dec 13, TDK, combined it: the US-based company, IMU leader and formerly Apple’s supplier during many years, released last month the world’s 1st 7-axis motion tracking device combining accelerometer, gyroscope and pressure sensor. InvenSense announces the ICM-20789 7-axis combo sensor dedicated to mainly drones and flying toys as well as smart watches, wearables, activity monitoring, floor and stair counting etc…
The reverse costing company, System Plus Consulting has investigated the 7-axis component and technologies selected by InvenSense. Aim of this analysis was to identify the technologies selected by the leading company as well as to understand the impacts on the manufacturing costs.
What are the technical choices made by InvenSense? What are the benefits for the device in term of performances? What is the impact on the manufacturing process flow?
System Plus Consulting’s team proposes today a comprehensive technology and cost analysis, including as well a detailed comparison with the previous generation of combo sensors from InvenSense.
The drone’s market segment dedicated to consumer applications confirms its attractiveness with 23% CAGR between 2016 and 2021. According to Yole Développement, sister company of System Plus Consulting, the market should reach almost US$ 3.4 billion in 2023 (Source : Sensors for drones and robots: market opportunities and technology revolution report, Yole Développement, 2016). Under this dynamic context, System Plus Consulting’s experts are following the technical advances and the evolution of the manufacturing costs of the combo devices. InvenSense’s device is a good example of this technology breakthrough: indeed, for the 1st time, a company presents a 7-axis component combining accelerometer, gyroscope and barometric pressure sensor, integrated on the same package. Innovation clearly is not in the selection of the components, comments the reverse engineering & costing company, but more in the smart combination of the three devices in the same package.
Stéphane Elisabeth, RF and Advanced Packaging Cost Engineer from System Plus Consulting explains:
“Using single package integration, the US company merged a 6-axis inertial sensor already identified in iPhone 6 with a barometric pressure sensor based on a design coming from the barometric division of Sensirion. Therefore, InvenSense took benefits of Sensirion’s partial acquisition, taking place in 2016, by developing a specific approach eliminating a package and minimizing board area requirements.”
To read the complete story, please click: The world’s 1st “7-axis” motion tracking device
