| Sensor Composition | 3-axis gyroscope + 3-axis accelerometer | 3-axis gyroscope + 3-axis accelerometer + 3-axis magnetometer | 3-axis gyroscope + 3-axis accelerometer + 3-axis magnetometer + barometric pressure sensor |
| Core Measurement Capability | Measures angular velocity and linear acceleration → enables calculation of pitch and roll angles | Adds Earth’s magnetic field detection → enables full 3D orientation: pitch, roll, and yaw | Adds atmospheric pressure sensing → enables estimation of relative altitude changes (not absolute elevation) |
| Supports Heading/Compass Function? | ❌ No (lacks magnetometer; cannot determine absolute heading) | ✅ Yes (magnetometer provides absolute yaw reference) | ✅ Yes (includes magnetometer) |
| Supports Altitude/Barometric Sensing? | ❌ No | ❌ No | ✅ Yes (uses barometric pressure to estimate height changes—e.g., floor detection or drone altitude hold) |
Typical Applications (as listed on product page) | Tilt measurement, robot line-following, basic balancing control | Direction/orientation sensing, indoor heading, smart device orientation, educational programming | Indoor 3D positioning, autonomous vehicle navigation, high-accuracy attitude fusion, full-state perception for ROS robots |
| Calibration Requirements | Basic accelerometer offset calibration | Requires magnetometer calibration (e.g., “figure-8” motion) to compensate for hard/soft iron interference | Requires magnetometer calibration + barometer zero-point calibration (recommended at known reference height) |
| Environmental Considerations | Avoid high-vibration environments | Must be kept away from motors, power cables, and ferromagnetic materials (magnetometer is highly sensitive to interference) | Same as 9-axis; additionally, avoid sealed or rapidly changing airflow environments when relying on barometric data |
| Output Data Dimensions | 6D (3 angular velocities + 3 linear accelerations) | 9D (6D + 3 magnetic field components) | 10D (9D + 1 pressure value) |
| Includes Onboard AHRS Algorithm? | The product title mentions “10-axis AHRS,” but SKUs are clearly differentiated. Typically, only 9-axis and 10-axis versions run a full AHRS; 6-axis usually outputs raw data or uses basic complementary filtering without absolute heading. | ✅ Generally supports real-time attitude estimation with AHRS (Attitude and Heading Reference System) | ✅ Supports full AHRS with optional barometric altitude fusion |