New accelerometer offers excellent performance and value in a single package

Kionix has released the KXTJ3, a new three-axis accelerometer offering unprecedented value while providing the performance of much a more expensive accelerometer in a tiny, 2mm x 2mm x 0.9mm form factor. CEO of Kionix Inc, Nader Sadrzadeh states, "The original idea was to take everything that made our KXTJ2 (Kionix's best selling accelerometer) so successful, and add even more value. With the new KXTJ3, we’re offering the market a high performance -- highly reliable accelerometer in a package that is both sized and priced to be embedded in anything and everything, from toys, wearables, remote controls to the SmartHome and IoT." The device is a drop-in replacement for the KXTJ2, and offers improvements in a number of aspects, from better noise performance to extended range, to improve interrupt functionality. A common use case of accelerometers is for power savings, allowing the system to sleep when there is no motion and then triggering the system to wakeup when motion occurs. The device has a high resolution embedded motion wake-up engine offering thresholds as low as 3.9mg. It can also operate as low as 1.5uA at its lowest ODR of 0.781Hz. Other use cases for accelerometers include detecting device orientation relative to gravity, enabling a more natural user-experience and interactivity, and fostering automation by providing awareness and context of a device or its use. Adds Sadrzadeh, "It is an incredible time we're in, with sensors in applications such as pet monitors, smart tags, beacons, key fobs – it’s almost difficult to find applications that don't benefit from the addition of sensors." The device offers g-ranges of 2g, 4g, 8g, or 16g and resolution modes up to 14g. It supports the I2C protocol up to 3.4MHz and has a built-in voltage regulator offering stable operation from 1.71 to 3.6V.