© Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., 2009. All rights reserved.

AN3956

Rev 0, 11/2009

Freescale Semiconductor

Application Note

DEMOAPEXSENSOR Usage

Altitude Pressure EXperimental (APEX) Sensor Board

by: John B. Young

INTRODUCTION

The DEMOAPEXSENSOR is an experimental sensor board focused on pressure with a variety of applications built into the

demo. These include: Altimeter, Barometer, Barometer Alarm, Weather station, Waterlevel, Waterlevel Alarm, Tilt, Free Fall, and

Temperature Sensing. The board has been designed as a standalone board to be interfaced currently via an LCD display and

menu buttons. The multiple functions of the Altitude Pressure EXperimental (APEX) Sensor board are possible with the use of

Freescale’s sensors. This kit has the following: MPL115A2, MPXM2102A, MPXV5004G pressure sensors with an MMA7361L

accelerometer. The demo makes use of Freescale’s Flexis MC9S08JM60 8-bit microcontroller. Figure 1 is an image of the

DEMOAPEXSENSOR with important items highlighted. Freescale’s sensors are listed along with their associated application in

Table 1.

Figure 1. Basic Components of APEX Board

Table 1. On-Board Sensors

Device

Type of Sensor

Measurement Range of Sensor

Sensor Application

Interface Type

MPL115A

Pressure Absolute

50 - 115 kPa

Barometer/Altimeter

MPXM2102A

Pressure Absolute

0 - 100 kPa

Altimeter/Absolute Pressure

Analog

MPXV5004G

Pressure Gauge

0 - 4 kPa

Liquid Level Sensor

Analog

MMA7361L

Accelerometer

Selectable ±1.5g, ±6g

Acceleration, Tilt, Shock,

Free Fall

Analog

MPXM2102A

Absolute Pressure

MMA7361L

3 Axis low-g

Accelerometer

BDM

Push Buttons

“Up, Down, ESC

Enter”

LCD Display

for Results

Development

Header

USB

Connector

Backside:

MPXV5004G

Gauge Pressure

Temperature Sensor

MPL115A