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SparkFun Peers Into the Magnetic Realm with New Qwiic Linear 3D Hall-Effect Sensor Boards

New sensor boards boast a low power draw and full 3D sensing of magnetic fields' presence, strength, and direction.

Gareth Halfacree
1 year ago β€’ Sensors / HW101

SparkFun has launched a pair of new Qwiic-based breakout boards for Texas Instruments' TMAG5273 linear Hall-effect sensor β€” offering a low power draw and high accuracy for magnetic field sensing across three dimensions.

"The SparkFun TMAG5273 Qwiic Linear 3D Hall-Effect Sensor is a low-power, high-precision magnetic field sensor that can detect a magnetic field's presence, strength, and direction in three dimensions," explains SparkFun's Chris McCarty of the new sensor board. "This board is perfect for applications involving magnetic proximity detection, door and window sensing, mobile rotor and control, and more, all on a Standard 1x1in. Qwiic breakout!"

The Texas Instruments TMAG5273 sensor at the heart of the board offers a claimed Β±40mT range at an 820LSB/mT sensitivity, or a wider Β±80mT range at 410LSB/mT sensitivity, with a rotational accuracy good to Β±0.5 degrees per 360-degree rotation and a five per cent magnetic drift.

Mounted on a breakout with two solderless Qwiic connectors β€” though with the important pins brought out to a breadboard-friendly 0.1" pin header too β€” the sensor communicates with a host microcontroller over I2C, drawing just 2.3mA of current while actively sensing dropping to 1Β΅A in sleep mode. Should the sensor need to be disabled, there's a button right on the board β€” and a pin on the 0.1" header for the same purpose.

If the full-size breakout is too bulky, meanwhile, SparkFun has also announced a miniaturized version β€” with all the same features of the full-size variant, but on a half-size 0.5Γ—1in. board. The biggest difference, bar the size: the two Qwiic connectors are hidden around the back of the board at a 90 degree angle, to reduce the wired footprint still further.

Both boards are available on the SparkFun store now priced at $6.50 for the SparkFun Mini Linear 3D Hall-Effect Sensor and $5.95 for the full-size SparkFun Linear 3D Hall-Effect Sensor, both before volume discounts. Orders placed before December 24th can use the promo code "holidays2023" to receive a free Qwiic MultiStar Constellation Ornament.

Gareth Halfacree
Freelance journalist, technical author, hacker, tinkerer, erstwhile sysadmin. For hire: freelance@halfacree.co.uk.
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