MEMS manufacturer Kionix Inc announced yesterday two ultra-thin full-functional tri-axis accelerometers: the KX112 (2 x 2 x 0.6 mm) and KXCJB (3 x 3 x 0.45 mm).
Nader Sadrzadeh, president and CEO of Kionix, says in a release: “We’re constantly pushing physical and technological barriers. Our proprietary technology has allowed us to break boundaries once again to introduce a new lineup of full-featured ‘ultra-thin’ low-power accelerometers. While these initial products (the KX112 and KXCJB) are suited primarily for mobile, PC/tablet, and wearable applications, we’ll continue to expand the portfolio to include automotive and heavy-duty industrial applications as we enter into 2015.”
The KX112 is part of Kionix’s flagship family of tri-axis accelerometers. It measures only 2 x 2 x 0.6 mm thick, making it particularly well suited for the compact designs required in the health, medical, and wearable markets. With 16 bits of resolution and excellent stability, it features built-in digital algorithms for detecting motion for power management, free fall for device protection or warranty monitoring, an orientation engine for portrait/landscape detection, and tap/double-tap for user interface functionality. It also incorporates Kionix’s FlexSet technology, allowing fine granularity for balancing power and performance. Most notably, the KX112 has the largest FIFO/FILO buffer available on a mass-produced accelerometer.
The KXCJB measures just 3 x 3 x 0.45 mm thick. It supports the drive for thinner smartphones, tablets, PCs, and hard disk drives as well as compact wearables such as activity monitors and smartwatches. The unique form-factor is half the thickness of most accelerometers on the market, the manufacturer says. This brings the ability to embed motion detection and motion sensing capabilities into a host of new devices such as badges, access cards, and payment/smart cards, while also opening up possibilities of maintaining low profiles when mounting on or in glass, plastic, and other thin structures.
