TDK enhances IMUs for extreme temps

TDK has responded to developing market needs with a new range of advanced inertial measurement units (IMU) for automotive applications.

The Japanese electronics giant briefed its engineering and product development teams to create better solutions for OEMs that need durable IMU performance in all climate conditions.

Electronics and heat

Learnings from Smartphones and wearables have proven that customers demand absolute performance from their electronics and sensors, in all conditions, with little tolerance for lag or latency issues in extreme heat or cold.

The demand case for the automotive industry is even more persistent in extreme conditions than for Smartphones or wearables. From freezing winters in the extreme northern latitudes, where vehicles are left overnight in sub-zero temperatures. To geographies like Southern Africa, the American Southwest, Australia and the Middle East, where searing summer temperatures can test the latency and performance of infotainment screens and haptic interfaces.

Feature rich and robust

TDK’s solution for extreme temperature operations is the new SmartAutomotive 6-axis IMU. Whether the end-user OEM needs enhanced navigational accuracy, telematics acuity, head-up display functionality, or crash safety sensor fusion, the SmartAutomotive 6-axis IMU is designed to deliver. Especially in demanding climate conditions.

How robust is TDK’s new SmartAutomotive 6-axis IMU? Engineers and product specialists have validated it for survivability in temperatures up to 125 °C, with guaranteed specification performance up to 105 °C.

TDK delivers

The SmartAutomotive 6-axis IMU features a 3-axis gyroscope and a 3-axis accelerometer, packaged in a compact 3 x 3 x 0.75 mm³ (16-pin LGA) form factor, for ease of integration. The hydroscope and accelerometer outputs can scale across the values required for contemporary core telematics and crash safety data spectrums.

TDK’s SmartAutomotive 6-axis IMU features a programmable range of ±125 dps, ±250 dps, ±500 dps, and ±1000 dps on the gyroscope’s X, Y, and Z axes. Complementing the gyroscopic range are accelerometer spectrums of ±2 g, ±4 g, ±8 g, and ±16 g across the same axis.

Promising a balance of low-acoustic functionality and excellent temperature gradient functionality, the TDK SmartAutomotive 6-axis IMU is ideal for in-cabin applications. It is engineered to deliver responsiveness without latency, regardless of the extreme nature of exterior conditions.