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3D Gesture Tracking Shield for Raspberry Pi MGC3130

This shield is based on Microchip MGC3130 chip, which enables the Raspberry Pi with 3D gesture recognition and motion tracking function. It can capture x y z position information, can also do proximity sensing and touch sensing, support tap and double click.

As shown in the figure below, the recognition area is divided into two parts: the strip area distributed around and a central panel.

Figure 1.sense area

The strip areas can sense the orientation change, including the North, South, West, and East. The central area can sense touch, tap, double click, and gestures in the air above. That's why we call it 3D Gesture & Tracking Shield, you don't even need to touch the central area directly, just wave your hand above the central area, and this shield can sense your movements.

Thanks to the Microchip’s patented GestIC® technology, this shield utilizes electrical near-field sensing to detect movements. The shield generates a magnetic field above the central panel when the hand approaches, it will interfere with the magnetic field, and the magnetic field receiver below the shield can detect the change.

Figure 2.Magnetic field without hand

Figure 3.Magnetic field with a hand

This hat communicates with Raspberry Pi via the I2C interface, also we have reserved a Grove I2C connector in case you need to work with other modules.

What an amazing module, with the help it, you can use gestures to control lights, TV, speakers... Just unleash your imagination and create more magical projects.

Feature​

  • Recognition of 3D Hand Gestures and x, y, z Positional Data
  • Proximity and Touch Sensing
  • Built-in Colibri Gesture Suite (running on chip)
  • Advanced 3D Signal Processing Unit
  • Detection Range: 0 to 10 cm
  • On-chip Auto Calibration
  • Compatible with various models of Raspberry Pi 2, 3, 4, and zero

Specification​

ItemValue
Operating Voltage3.3V
Main ChipMGC3130
Detection range0 to 10 cm
Temperature Range-20°C to +85°C
Receiver Sensitivity<1 fF
Position Rate200 positions/sec
Spatial Resolutionup to 150 dpi
Carrier Frequency44 kHz to 115 kHz
Output InterfaceI2C(Default I2C address: 0X42)
Gross Weight55g
Net Weight17.6g
Package Size115mm75mm25mm
Size65mm*56mm

Applications​

  • Notebooks/Keyboards/PC Peripherals
  • Home Automation
  • Game Controllers
  • Audio Control

Hardware Overview​

Pin Out​

Play with Raspberry Pi​

Enable I2C​

  • Step 1. Run sudo raspi-config.
  • Step 2. Use the down arrow to select 5 Interfacing Options.
  • Step 3. Arrow down to P5 I2C.
  • Step 4. Select yes when it asks you to enable I2C.
  • Step 5. Also select yes if it asks about automatically loading the kernel module.
  • Step 6. Use the right arrow to select the button.
  • Step 7. Select yes when it asks to reboot.
tip

For more info about raspi-config, please refer to .

Install ncurses​

Step 1：Download from here

cd ~
wget https://invisible-mirror.net/archives/ncurses/ncurses-6.1.tar.gz

Step 2: Install ncurses

tar -xvf ncurses-6.1.tar.gz
cd ncurses-6.1/
./configure
make
sudo make install

Step 3: Check if ncurse is installed successfully

ncurses6-config --version

Run Demo​

Step 1: Install mgc3103 and run mgc3103.

cd ~
git clone https://github.com/Seeed-Studio/Seeed_mgc3x30.git
cd Seeed_mgc3x30
make clean && make
./mgc3130

Step 2: Here is the output.

 *
 *                                                          *
 * Position X : 65534                                       *
 * Position Y : 0                                           *
 * Position Z : 38465                                       *
 *                                                          *
 * Gesture :                                                *
 *                                                          *
 * Airwheel angle : -1530                                   *
 *                                                          *
 * Touch electrode :
 * Tap electrode :
 * Double Tap electrode :
 *                                                          *
 *                                                          *
 *                                                          *
 *                                                          *
 *                                                          *
 *                                                          *
 *
  • Position X/Y/Z: Lower left corner is X=0, Y=0. Z is the height. Max is 65535.
  • Gesture: Wave your hands over the module, you can see the wave direction as West to East, East to West, South to North and North to South.
  • Airwheel：The number will increase with clockwise direction and reduce with counterclockwise direction. It will have some delay on the display.
  • Touch electrode: Put your finger on the specific area, you will get Center, East, West, South and North.
  • Tap electrode: Tap your finger on the specific area, you will get Center, East, West, South and North.
  • Double Tap electrode: Double Tap your finger on the specific area, you will get Center, East, West, South and North.

Schematic Online Viewer​

Resources​

Tech Support​

Please do not hesitate to submit the issue into our forum


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