MPU6050 troubleshooting

hello everyone,
I'm just starting using arduino for an university project where I need to collect data with an accelerometer. I bought the MPU6050 sensor and as I wired it up and run my first code it returns always zero as output for every value it should be detecting. What could it be?
Thank you to anyone who will answer me!

More details please including your test sketch and details of how you have connected the sensor to the Arduino and which Arduino are you using

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ok, first of all thanks,
I'm using an arduino nano and I'm connecting it to the MPU6050 respectively with

vcc to 5v
gnd to gnd
scl to A5
sda to A4

this is one of the sketches I tried

#include <Wire.h>

long accelX, accelY, accelZ;
float gForceX, gForceY, gForceZ;

long gyroX, gyroY, gyroZ;
float rotX, rotY, rotZ;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Wire.begin();
  setupMPU();
}


void loop() {
  recordAccelRegisters();
  recordGyroRegisters();
  printData();
  delay(100);
}

void setupMPU(){
  Wire.beginTransmission(0b1101000); // indirizzo dell'accelerometro inizializza la trosmissione
  Wire.write(0x6B); // accede al registro 6B nella ram
  Wire.write(0b00000000); // riscrive il byte memorizzato nel registro e disattiva la modalità riposo gestita da questo registro
  Wire.endTransmission();  
  Wire.beginTransmission(0b1101000); //I2C address of the MPU
  Wire.write(0x1B); //Accessing the register 1B - Gyroscope Configuration (Sec. 4.4) 
  Wire.write(0x00000000); //Setting the gyro to full scale +/- 250deg./s 
  Wire.endTransmission(); 
  Wire.beginTransmission(0b1101000); //I2C address of the MPU
  Wire.write(0x1C); //Accessing the register 1C - Acccelerometer Configuration (Sec. 4.5) 
  Wire.write(0b00001000); //Setting the accel to +/- 4g
  Wire.endTransmission(); 
}

void recordAccelRegisters() {
  Wire.beginTransmission(0b1101000); //I2C address of the MPU
  Wire.write(0x3B); //Starting register for Accel Readings
  Wire.endTransmission();
  Wire.requestFrom(0b1101000,6); //Request Accel Registers (3B - 40)
  while(Wire.available() < 6);
  accelX = Wire.read()<<8|Wire.read(); //Store first two bytes into accelX
  accelY = Wire.read()<<8|Wire.read(); //Store middle two bytes into accelY
  accelZ = Wire.read()<<8|Wire.read(); //Store last two bytes into accelZ
  processAccelData();
}

void processAccelData(){
  gForceX = accelX / 8192.0;
  gForceY = accelY / 8192.0; 
  gForceZ = accelZ / 8192.0;
}

void recordGyroRegisters() {
  Wire.beginTransmission(0b1101000); //I2C address of the MPU
  Wire.write(0x43); //Starting register for Gyro Readings
  Wire.endTransmission();
  Wire.requestFrom(0b1101000,6); //Request Gyro Registers (43 - 48)
  while(Wire.available() < 6);
  gyroX = Wire.read()<<8|Wire.read(); //Store first two bytes into accelX
  gyroY = Wire.read()<<8|Wire.read(); //Store middle two bytes into accelY
  gyroZ = Wire.read()<<8|Wire.read(); //Store last two bytes into accelZ
  processGyroData();
}

void processGyroData() {
  rotX = gyroX / 131.0;
  rotY = gyroY / 131.0; 
  rotZ = gyroZ / 131.0;
}

void printData() {
  Serial.print("Gyro (deg)");
  Serial.print(" X=");
  Serial.print(rotX);
  Serial.print(" Y=");
  Serial.print(rotY);
  Serial.print(" Z=");
  Serial.print(rotZ);
  Serial.print(" Accel (g)");
  Serial.print(" X=");
  Serial.print(gForceX);
  Serial.print(" Y=");
  Serial.print(gForceY);
  Serial.print(" Z=");
  Serial.println(gForceZ);

There is another

// MPU-6050 Short Example Sketch
// By Arduino User JohnChi
// August 17, 2014
// Public Domain
#include<Wire.h>
const int MPU_addr=0x68;  // I2C address of the MPU-6050
int16_t AcX,AcY,AcZ,Tmp,GyX,GyY,GyZ;
void setup(){
  Wire.begin();
  Wire.beginTransmission(MPU_addr);
  Wire.write(0x6B);  // PWR_MGMT_1 register
  Wire.write(0);     // set to zero (wakes up the MPU-6050)
  Wire.endTransmission(true);
  Serial.begin(9600);
}
void loop(){
  Wire.beginTransmission(MPU_addr);
  Wire.write(0x3B);  // starting with register 0x3B (ACCEL_XOUT_H)
  Wire.endTransmission(false);
  Wire.requestFrom(MPU_addr,14,true);  // request a total of 14 registers
  AcX=Wire.read()<<8|Wire.read();  // 0x3B (ACCEL_XOUT_H) & 0x3C (ACCEL_XOUT_L)    
  AcY=Wire.read()<<8|Wire.read();  // 0x3D (ACCEL_YOUT_H) & 0x3E (ACCEL_YOUT_L)
  AcZ=Wire.read()<<8|Wire.read();  // 0x3F (ACCEL_ZOUT_H) & 0x40 (ACCEL_ZOUT_L)
  Tmp=Wire.read()<<8|Wire.read();  // 0x41 (TEMP_OUT_H) & 0x42 (TEMP_OUT_L)
  GyX=Wire.read()<<8|Wire.read();  // 0x43 (GYRO_XOUT_H) & 0x44 (GYRO_XOUT_L)
  GyY=Wire.read()<<8|Wire.read();  // 0x45 (GYRO_YOUT_H) & 0x46 (GYRO_YOUT_L)
  GyZ=Wire.read()<<8|Wire.read();  // 0x47 (GYRO_ZOUT_H) & 0x48 (GYRO_ZOUT_L)
  Serial.print("AcX = "); Serial.print(AcX);
  Serial.print(" | AcY = "); Serial.print(AcY);
  Serial.print(" | AcZ = "); Serial.print(AcZ);
  Serial.print(" | Tmp = "); Serial.print(Tmp/340.00+36.53);  //equation for temperature in degrees C from datasheet
  Serial.print(" | GyX = "); Serial.print(GyX);
  Serial.print(" | GyY = "); Serial.print(GyY);
  Serial.print(" | GyZ = "); Serial.println(GyZ);
  delay(333);
}

This is a scanner code I ran just to make sure that my sensor was not dead, it detects the MPU6050 succsesfully.

// --------------------------------------
// i2c_scanner
//
// Version 1
//    This program (or code that looks like it)
//    can be found in many places.
//    For example on the Arduino.cc forum.
//    The original author is not know.
// Version 2, Juni 2012, Using Arduino 1.0.1
//     Adapted to be as simple as possible by Arduino.cc user Krodal
// Version 3, Feb 26  2013
//    V3 by louarnold
// Version 4, March 3, 2013, Using Arduino 1.0.3
//    by Arduino.cc user Krodal.
//    Changes by louarnold removed.
//    Scanning addresses changed from 0...127 to 1...119,
//    according to the i2c scanner by Nick Gammon
//    https://www.gammon.com.au/forum/?id=10896
// Version 5, March 28, 2013
//    As version 4, but address scans now to 127.
//    A sensor seems to use address 120.
// Version 6, November 27, 2015.
//    Added waiting for the Leonardo serial communication.
//
//
// This sketch tests the standard 7-bit addresses
// Devices with higher bit address might not be seen properly.
//
 
#include <Wire.h>
 
 
void setup()
{
  Wire.begin();
 
  Serial.begin(9600);
  while (!Serial);             // Leonardo: wait for serial monitor
  Serial.println("\nI2C Scanner");
}
 
 
void loop()
{
  byte error, address;
  int nDevices;
 
  Serial.println("Scanning...");
 
  nDevices = 0;
  for(address = 1; address < 127; address++ )
  {
    // The i2c_scanner uses the return value of
    // the Write.endTransmisstion to see if
    // a device did acknowledge to the address.
    Wire.beginTransmission(address);
    error = Wire.endTransmission();
 
    if (error == 0)
    {
      Serial.print("I2C device found at address 0x");
      if (address<16)
        Serial.print("0");
      Serial.print(address,HEX);
      Serial.println("  !");
 
      nDevices++;
    }
    else if (error==4)
    {
      Serial.print("Unknown error at address 0x");
      if (address<16)
        Serial.print("0");
      Serial.println(address,HEX);
    }    
  }
  if (nDevices == 0)
    Serial.println("No I2C devices found\n");
  else
    Serial.println("done\n");
 
  delay(5000);           // wait 5 seconds for next scan
}

In both the first two sketches it starts printing the results but they all result as zero in value

The MPU-6050 has not been manufactured in several years, and unless you buy a guaranteed original from a reputable manufacturer, almost all the ones available today are counterfeit, recycled or reject parts.

If you want something that is guaranteed to work, buy one of the more modern 6DOF or 9DOF modules from a reputable supplier like Sparkfun, Adafruit, Pololu, etc. The newer ones work much better.

@ phill07
I've had a lot of fun writing this library: Simple_MPU6050

It has an example that may work well for your needs.
let me know if it solves your problems
Z

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