It's easy to use the MPU6050 sensor with CircuitPython and the Adafruit CircuitPython MPU6050 library.  This library allows you to easily write Python code that reads the acceleration and adjust the measurement settings.

You can use this sensor with any CircuitPython microcontroller board or with a Linux single board computer that has GPIO and Python thanks to Adafruit_Blinka, our CircuitPython-for-Python compatibility library.

CircuitPython Microcontroller Wiring

First wire up a MPU6050 to your board exactly as follows. Here is an example of the MPU6050 wired to a Feather using I2C:

Python Computer Wiring

Since there's dozens of Linux computers/boards you can use we will show wiring for Raspberry Pi. For other platforms, please visit the guide for CircuitPython on Linux to see whether your platform is supported. 

Here's the Raspberry Pi wired with I2C:

CircuitPython Installation of MPU6050 Library

You'll need to install the Adafruit CircuitPython MPU6050 library on your CircuitPython board.

First make sure you are running the latest version of Adafruit CircuitPython for your board.

Next you'll need to install the necessary libraries to use the hardware--carefully follow the steps to find and install these libraries from Adafruit's CircuitPython library bundle.  Our CircuitPython starter guide has a great page on how to install the library bundle.

For non-express boards like the Trinket M0 or Gemma M0, you'll need to manually install the necessary libraries from the bundle:

• adafruit_mpu6050.mpy
• adafruit_bus_device
• adafruit_register

Before continuing make sure your board's lib folder or root filesystem has the adafruit_mpu6050.mpy, adafruit_bus_device, and adafruit_register files and folders copied over.

Next connect to the board's serial REPL so you are at the CircuitPython >>> prompt.

Python Installation of MPU6050 Library

You'll need to install the Adafruit_Blinka library that provides the CircuitPython support in Python. This may also require enabling I2C on your platform and verifying you are running Python 3. Since each platform is a little different, and Linux changes often, please visit the CircuitPython on Linux guide to get your computer ready!

Once that's done, from your command line run the following command:

• sudo pip3 install adafruit-circuitpython-mpu6050

If your default Python is version 3 you may need to run 'pip' instead. Just make sure you aren't trying to use CircuitPython on Python 2.x, it isn't supported!

CircuitPython & Python Usage

To demonstrate the usage of the sensor we'll initialize it and read the acceleration, rotation, and temperature measurements from the board's Python REPL.

Run the following code to import the necessary modules and initialize the I2C connection with the sensor:

import time
import board
import adafruit_mpu6050

i2c = board.I2C()
mpu = adafruit_mpu6050.MPU6050(i2c)

import time
import board
import adafruit_mpu6050

i2c = board.I2C()
mpu = adafruit_mpu6050.MPU6050(i2c)

Now you're ready to read values from the sensor using these properties:

• acceleration - The acceleration forces in the X, Y, and Z axes in m/s ²
• gyro - The rotation measurement on the X, Y, and Z axes in degrees/sec
• temperature - The temperature of the sensor in degrees C

For example, to print out the acceleration, gyro, and temperature values:

That's all there is to it! Go forth and imbue your robot friends with the gift of being able to maybe not fall down all the time. Maybe.

Example Code

# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2021 ladyada for Adafruit Industries
# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT

import time
import board
import adafruit_mpu6050

i2c = board.I2C()  # uses board.SCL and board.SDA
# i2c = board.STEMMA_I2C()  # For using the built-in STEMMA QT connector on a microcontroller
mpu = adafruit_mpu6050.MPU6050(i2c)

while True:
    print("Acceleration: X:%.2f, Y: %.2f, Z: %.2f m/s^2" % (mpu.acceleration))
    print("Gyro X:%.2f, Y: %.2f, Z: %.2f rad/s" % (mpu.gyro))
    print("Temperature: %.2f C" % mpu.temperature)
    print("")
    time.sleep(1)

# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2021 ladyada for Adafruit Industries
# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT

import time
import board
import adafruit_mpu6050

i2c = board.I2C()  # uses board.SCL and board.SDA
# i2c = board.STEMMA_I2C()  # For using the built-in STEMMA QT connector on a microcontroller
mpu = adafruit_mpu6050.MPU6050(i2c)

while True:
    print("Acceleration: X:%.2f, Y: %.2f, Z: %.2f m/s^2" % (mpu.acceleration))
    print("Gyro X:%.2f, Y: %.2f, Z: %.2f rad/s" % (mpu.gyro))
    print("Temperature: %.2f C" % mpu.temperature)
    print("")
    time.sleep(1)