This product has sold out! We offer a newer version called the Qwiic Magnetometer - MLX90393. It's the same function with added Qwiic connectors.
The MLX90393 is a tri-axial magnetic sensor capable of sensing very small fields (like the Earth's magnetic field) while behaving as one would want and expect during saturation in larger fields (like a near by magnet). It turns out the favorite HMC5883L and other such sensors that are intended for compass applications have a low dynamic range but also strange and undefined behavior in large fields. Ted Yapo did an incredibly extensive characterization of the sensor over on Hackaday. He published his controlled experiments testing a few sensors and found the MLX90393 to be superior.
The MLX90393 can be used as a compass sensor but also works well as a non-contact controller (joystick), flow meter (with magnetic impeller), or a linear actuator positional sensor.
We do not plan to regularly produce SparkX products so get them while they're hot!
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I understand and applaud this new set of offerings from Sparkfun. I look forward to seeing what comes next.
This is a general comment and perhaps a call for some help. I am looking for sensors which can be used in real world - battery powered - uses. The libraries and sketches provided seem to be focused on a minimally viable product approach but they almost never take advantage of one of the key features on these devices - the ability to set and trigger an interrupt. The hardware folks almost always provide access to the interrupt pin on the breakout but the software folks almost always ignore it. Why? Interrupts enable the development of power efficient solutions where the controller can "wake" when the reading changes by more than a certain amount.
I guess the help part is to understand what would be required to add interrupt capabilities to these libraries? Since so few of the provided libraries have interrupt support, there are very few examples.
Thanks, Chip
SparkFun got a nice little write-up for this board on the Hackaday site
The consensus seems to be that we like Nate's new direction. Keep up the good work!