Willow Technologies Ltd introduces a range of electronic compass modules from Precision Navigation Inc. (PNI).  These modules are highly accurate yet relatively low cost, bridging the gap between low accuracy, low cost units such as hall effect sensor systems and high accuracy, high cost systems such as flux-gate or magnetoresistive systems.

Compass modules are traditionally dogged by problems associated with tilt compensation.  The earth's magnetic field is three dimensional, with X, Y and Z components.  The closer to either magnetic pole, the stronger the Z component of the earth's total magnetic field.  For X-Y compasses, tilt will cause the relatively large Z component of the field to be mapped onto the X-Y plane, resulting in a heading error. If tilt is to be accommodated, measurement of the Z component is necessary to compensate for this effect.

The TCM2 is high accuracy electronic compass module that can give an X-Y-Z reading with an accuracy of 1 degree. The use of 3 single-axis magnetometers and a 2-axis tilt sensor allow the TCM2 to be gimbaled electronically without the requirement for any mechanical moving parts. This advanced electronic gimbaling allows for tilt ranges of up to +/-50  and provides superior performance over the entire tilt range in real world conditions. The TCM2 also uses advanced electronics and correction algorithms to counter the effects of hard and soft iron, enabling it to  maintain a high degree of accuracy in even the most demanding environments.

The Vector-2X uses 2 single-axis strapped-down magnetometers and is designed for use as a compass in level environments or a magnetic sensor  in any environment. This stripped down version has no moving parts and provides a low cost solution for many direction or magnetic sensing requirements. The V2X is smaller in size, consumes less power and is  designed to be easily integrated into any system.

The units have a 0.1-1 degree resolution and a 5-30 Hz sample rate which provide suitable navigation information for a range of consumer and  industrial applications including automotive navigation, survey instrument, GPS back-up azimuth data and azimuth indicators.

A range of output options are available on the modules including the SPI and Micro wire 3-wire protocols, as well as BCD, raw binary data,  analogue 0-5V linear & quadrature, RS232 and NMEA0183. The modules can operate in either continuous mode or polled mode and are easily integrated into OEM equipment.