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Hitachi® H48C 3-Axis Accelerometer Module

(#28026)
General Description
The Hitachi H48C 3-Axis Accelerometer is an integrated module that can sense gravitational (g) force of
±3g on three axes (X, Y, and Z). The module contains an onboard regulator to provide 3.3-volt power to
the H48C, analog signal conditioning, and an MCP3204 (four channel, 12-bit) analog-to-digital converter
to read the H48C voltage outputs. All components are mounted on a breadboard-friendly, 0.7 by 0.8 inch
module. Acquiring measurements from the module is simplified through a synchronous serial interface.
With the BASIC Stamp® 2 series, for example, this is easily handled with the SHIFTOUT and SHIFTIN
commands.

Features
• Measure ±3 g on any axis
• Uses MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical System) technology, with compensation for calibration-free
operation
• Onboard regulator and high-resolution ADC for simple connection to microcontroller host
- compatible with BASIC Stamp 2 series SHIFTOUT and SHIFTIN commands
• Free-fall output indicates simultaneous 0g an all axes
• Small, breadboard-friendly package: 0.7" x 0.8" (17.8 mm x 20.3 mm)
• Wide operational range: -25° to 75° C

Application Ideas
• Tilt measurement in robotics applications
• Multi-axis vibration measurement in transit and shipping systems
• Multi-axis movement/lack-of-movement for alarm systems

Packing List
Verify that your H48C Accelerometer kit is complete in accordance with the list below:

• Hitachi H48C 3-Axis Accelerometer module

• Documentation
Note: Demonstration software files may be downloaded from www.parallax.com.
(See http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=28026)

Copyright© Parallax Inc. • Hitachi H48C 3-Axis Accelerometer Module (#28026) • 7/27/2007 Rev 1.2 Page 1 of 6
Essential Connections
Connecting the H48C module to the BASIC Stamp 2 controller is a straightforward operation, requiring
just three I/O pins (the CLK and DIO pins may be shared in systems requiring the use of more than one
H48C module). See Figure 1 for connection details.

Figure 1. H48C Connections

How It Works
Through MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical System) technology and built-in compensation, the H48C
accelerometer provides simultaneous outputs through analog conditioning circuitry to an MCP3204 ADC.
To "read" g-force of a given axis we actually read the voltage output from that axis and calculate g-force
using this formula:

G = ((axis – vRef) / 4095) x (3.3 / 0.3663)

In the formula, axis and vRef are expressed in counts from the ADC, 4095 is the maximum output count
from a 12-bit ADC channel, 3.3 is the H48C supply voltage, and 0.3663 is the H48C output voltage for 1g
(when operating at 3.3v). In practice this can be simplified to:

G = (axis – vRef) x 0.0022

Using the BASIC Stamp 2 module as a host controller, we should multiply the 0.0022 by 100 (to 0.22) to
express the result in units of 0.01g. Using the ** operator, we are able to multiply by 0.22 and convert
the raw readings to g-force with this bit of code:

IF (axCount >= rvCount) THEN

gForce = (axCount - rvCount) ** GfCnv ' positive g-force
ELSE
gForce = -((rvCount - axCount) ** GfCnv) ' negative g-force
ENDIF

Note the IF-THEN structure which prevents a negative number from being divided – this is illegal in
PBASIC 2.x and will not return the correct result. By restructuring the conversion equation for negative
g-forces we can indeed arrive at the correct value. The output value, gForce, is a signed integer.

In application the analog signal conditioning circuitry affects the rate at which readings can be taken
H48C module. The filter/buffer circuit is designed to minimize noise while maintaining the highest
possible signal resolution into the ADC. By design, the filter circuit limits MC48C axis output rail-to-rail
rise/fall time to about five milliseconds. Since MCP3204 has a significantly higher sample rate, the

Copyright© Parallax Inc. • Hitachi H48C 3-Axis Accelerometer Module (#28026) • 7/27/2007 Rev 1.2 Page 2 of 6
sampling rate of the module is dictated by the filter circuitry and works out to about 200 samples per
second.

Pin Definitions and Ratings

(1) CLK Synchronous clock input

(2) DIO Bi-directional data to/from host
(3) Vss Power supply ground (0v)
(4) Zero-G "Free-fall" output; active-high
(5) CS\ Chip select input; active-low
(6) Vdd +5vdc

Symbol Quantity Minimum Typical Maximum Units

VDD Operating voltage 4.5 5.0 5.5 V
VSS Ground reference connection 0 V
IDD Supply current 7 10 mA
†
VIH High Level Voltage Input 0.7 VDD V
†
VIL Low Level Voltage Input 0.3 VDD V
†
VOH High Level Voltage Output 4.1 V
†
VOL Low Level Voltage Output 0.4 V
Sample Rate 200 sps
†
ADC (MCP3204) Resolution 12 bits
§
Measurement Range -3 3 g
§
Sensitivity 366.3 mV/g
§
Accuracy 10 %
§
Non-linearity -2 2 %
§
Operating Temperature Range -25 75 °C
§
High Level Zero-G Voltage Output 3.2 3.3 V
§
Zero-G Output Delay 1 ms
† From Microchip MCP3204 Datasheet
§ From Hitachi H48C Datasheet

Copyright© Parallax Inc. • Hitachi H48C 3-Axis Accelerometer Module (#28026) • 7/27/2007 Rev 1.2 Page 3 of 6
Demonstration Program
This demonstration uses the BASIC Stamp 2 series microcontroller to read the reference voltage and
output channels from the H48C using the onboard MCP3204 analog-to-digital converter. For each
channel the raw count, channel voltage, and g-force for the X, Y, and Z axes are displayed as shown
below:

BASIC Stamp 2 Source Code

' =========================================================================
'
' File....... H48C_3-Axis.BS2
' Purpose.... Hitachi H48C 3-Axis Accelerometer Demonstration
' Author..... Copyright (c) 2005-2006 Parallax, Inc.
' E-mail..... [email protected]
' Started....
' Updated.... 02 FEB 2006
'
' {$STAMP BS2}
' {$PBASIC 2.5}
'
' =========================================================================

' -----[ I/O Definitions ]-------------------------------------------------

Dio PIN 15 ' data to/from module

Clk PIN 14 ' clock output
CS PIN 13 ' active-low chip select

' -----[ Constants ]-------------------------------------------------------

XAxis CON 0 ' adc channels

YAxis CON 1
ZAxis CON 2

Copyright© Parallax Inc. • Hitachi H48C 3-Axis Accelerometer Module (#28026) • 7/27/2007 Rev 1.2 Page 4 of 6
VRef CON 3

Cnt2Mv CON $CE4C ' counts to millivolts

' 0.80586 with **
GfCnv CON $3852 ' g-force conversion
' 0.22 with **

' -----[ Variables ]-------------------------------------------------------

axis VAR Nib ' axis selection

rvCount VAR Word ' ref voltage adc counts
axCount VAR Word ' axis voltage adc counts
mVolts VAR Word ' millivolts
gForce VAR Word ' axis g-force

dValue VAR Word ' display value

dPad VAR Nib ' display pad

' -----[ Initialization ]--------------------------------------------------

Reset:
HIGH CS ' deselect module
DEBUG CLS, ' paint display
"=========================", CR,
"H48C 3-Axis Accelerometer", CR,
"=========================", CR,
CR,
" Count Volts G ", CR,
" ----- ----- -----", CR,
"VRef ", CR,
" X ", CR,
" Y ", CR,
" Z "

' -----[ Program Code ]----------------------------------------------------

Main:
FOR axis = XAxis TO ZAxis ' loop through each axis
GOSUB Get_H48C ' read vRef & axis counts

dValue = rvCount ' display vRef count

DEBUG CRSRXY, 6, 6
GOSUB RJ_Print

dValue = axCount ' display axis count

DEBUG CRSRXY, 6, (7 + axis)
GOSUB RJ_Print

mVolts = rvCount ** Cnt2Mv ' convert vref to mv

DEBUG CRSRXY, 13, 6, ' display
DEC (mVolts / 1000), ".",
DEC3 mVolts

mVolts = axCount ** Cnt2Mv ' convert axis to mv

DEBUG CRSRXY, 13, (7 + axis),

Copyright© Parallax Inc. • Hitachi H48C 3-Axis Accelerometer Module (#28026) • 7/27/2007 Rev 1.2 Page 5 of 6
 DEC (mVolts / 1000), ".",
DEC3 mVolts

' calculate g-force

' -- "gForce" is signed word

IF (axCount >= rvCount) THEN

gForce = (axCount - rvCount) ** GfCnv ' positive g-force
ELSE
gForce = -((rvCount - axCount) ** GfCnv) ' negative g-force
ENDIF
DEBUG CRSRXY, 20, (7 + axis), ' display g-force
" " + (gForce.BIT15 * 13),
DEC1 (ABS(gForce) / 100), ".",
DEC2 ABS(gForce)
NEXT
PAUSE 200
GOTO Main

' -----[ Subroutines ]-----------------------------------------------------

' Reads VRef and selected H48C axis through an MCP3204 ADC
' -- pass axis (0 - 2) in "axis"
' -- returns reference voltage counts in "rvCount"
' -- returns axis voltage counts in "axCounts"

Get_H48C:
LOW CS
SHIFTOUT Dio, Clk, MSBFIRST, [%11\2, VRef\3] ' select vref register
SHIFTIN Dio, Clk, MSBPOST, [rvCount\13] ' read ref voltage counts
HIGH CS
PAUSE 1
LOW CS
SHIFTOUT Dio, Clk, MSBFIRST, [%11\2, axis\3] ' select axis
SHIFTIN Dio, Clk, MSBPOST, [axCount\13] ' read axis voltage counts
HIGH CS
RETURN

' -------------------------------------------------------------------------

' Right-justify value in 5-digit field

' -- move cursor first, then call with value in "dValue"

RJ_Print:
LOOKDOWN dValue, >=[10000, 1000, 100, 10, 0], dPad
DEBUG REP " "\dPad, DEC dValue
RETURN

Copyright© Parallax Inc. • Hitachi H48C 3-Axis Accelerometer Module (#28026) • 7/27/2007 Rev 1.2 Page 6 of 6