Quectel has expanded its automotive-grade inertial measurement unit (IMU) portfolio with three six-axis modules.

IMUs are the sensors that let a device detect motion, tilt and orientation without external references, the same basic function as a smartphone’s screen-rotation sensor, but built to a different standard. The modules have automotive-grade reliability engineered to survive years inside a car engine bay, combined with a level of precision, thanks to factory calibration, that goes beyond consumer-grade sensors.

Leading the announcement is the LUA501RA (www.quectel.com/product/lua501ra-00-automotive-grade-6-axis-imu-module/), a compact IMU developed in accordance with safety standard ISO 26262. The company has also introduced the LUA300C and LUA301C, factory-calibrated IMU modules offering additional mechanical mounting options.

Though built to automotive-grade standards, the LUA501RA is for motion-sensing applications well beyond the car, targeting automotive ADAS and ADCU systems, machine control, and industrial automation, high-precision GNSS and INS navigation, autonomous mobile robots, unmanned vehicles, and industrial robotics.

Built around Bosch’s SMI270 chip, the module integrates a three-axis gyroscope and three-axis accelerometer in a 11.5 by 19.5 by 12.0mm footprint weighing approximately 8g.

In applications such as automated excavator-arm control, the module provides calibrated six-axis IMU data (three-axis accelerometer and three-axis gyroscope). The host system can use these data to estimate tilt and orientation, supporting machinery control with reduced manual input.

Every LUA501RA module is individually factory-calibrated, with unique compensation parameters for bias error over temperature, scale factor error and sensor misalignment. Customers receive a ready-to-use, calibrated IMU rather than a raw sensor that would require extensive system-level characterisation and compensation. This approach reduces integration complexity, lowers engineering costs and shortens product development cycles.

The module’s temperature-dependent bias is individually compensated across an operating range of -40 to +105˚C, delivering stable, accurate inertial measurements in under-bonnet, exterior automotive and outdoor industrial environments.

“In the ADAS domain, Quectel provides automotive-grade GNSS together with IMU technology, giving customers the positioning and motion-sensing capabilities needed for increasingly sophisticated vehicle applications,” said Windy Fang, GNSS product director at Quectel (www.quectel.com). “With our new IMU modules, we are expanding this portfolio with pre-qualified, production-ready solutions that combine factory calibration with a functional-safety development pedigree, helping engineers accelerate development and reduce risk on the path to production.”

Alongside the LUA501RA, Quectel introduced the LUA300C (www.quectel.com/product/6-axis-imu-lua300c-00-automotive-module/) and LUA301C, automotive-grade, compact, factory-calibrated six-axis IMU modules built around STM’s ASM330LHB chip. Every gyroscope and accelerometer parameter, bias error over temperature, scale factor error, and misalignment error, is precision-trimmed and factory calibrated during production, producing a ready-to-integrate, consistent IMU without the complexity of discrete sensor designs.

The LUA300C uses pin-mounting, while the LUA301C offers screw-mounting for different mechanical integration. Both modules offer the same electrical performance and calibration approach, while differing in size and weight.

The LUA300C measures 18.8 by 10.4 by 11.1mm and weighs approximately 2.4g, while the LUA301C measures 19.5 by 11.5 by 12.0mm and weighs approximately 8g.

Together, the three modules provide a broader set of automotive-grade IMU options, different sensor platforms, footprints, and now an Asil-B development pedigree option, to match programme, footprint and functional-safety requirements from a single, established tier-one-scale module supplier.