Cannot communicate with MPU-6050 module

Other Hardware General Electronics
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I have a custom PCBA (nano shield) with the MPU-6050 accelerometer. The schematic is shown below.

I am able to see the device on i2c, but am not able to communicate with the device whatever library I use.

I'm aware that VCC should be at 3.3V, which I have corrected manually (on a fresh unused MPU6050).

I've also tried pulling AD0 high (3.3V) to no avail.

I'm not sure why it isn't working. Perhaps AUX_DA or AUX_CL need to be connected? I haven't been able to discern what to do with these pins since I'm not utilising them for peripheral i2C devices.

I'm using a standard Arduino Nano, and not the Every.

Link to MPU-6050 datasheet

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What does that mean?

The Nano is a 5V processor. Logic level shifters are required to interface 5V and 3.3V devices.

The MPU-6050 was discontinued by the manufacturer several years ago, so what you have is very likely some sort of clone, imitation or fake.

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Apologies. I have changed the VCC connection to +3.3V by soldering it, after cutting the 5V connection.

Ah. I mistakenly thought that the Nano would be able to work with 3.3V i2C levels as well as 5V.

That is concerning about the MPU6050 being discontinued. Do you have any recommendations on an IMU that works at 5V logic which is in-use?

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Almost all sensors these days are 3.3V, but hobby suppliers like Sparkfun, Adafruit and Pololu add logic level converters to their breakout modules, so that they function with either 5V or 3.3V logic.

An excellent replacement for the MPU-6050 is the ISM330DHCX, with vastly improved performance.

5V logic will soon be a thing of the past, and modern 3.3V Arduino MCU boards are faster, more powerful and have lots more memory, so there are many good reasons to migrate to 3.3V only systems.

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Thank you for all the information, there is always much to learn!

I also found a solution. Leaving the MPU6050 running at 5V VCC and then pulling up the AD0 worked. Since I left AD0 floating the address was ambigous and caused issues.

I'll look into 3.3V alternatives for future projects.

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