This is the latest in a long line of excellent barometric pressure sensors from Bosch. Why we remember the BMP series back when it was a wee BMP085 – it seems like just about every year there’s been an improvement: the BMP180, BMP280 – still a very popular chip! And the BMP388.
With each generation comes an improvement in the pressure accuracy and precision. Earth’s ambient barometric pressure changes with altitude – because air gets thinner the higher you go. There’s a simple calculation that can be used to determine relative altitude changes and, if you know the sea level pressure (which usually doesn’t vary much) you can use that to determine the absolute altitude. The better and more accurate your pressure readings, the better your altitude calculation output.
Historically, these sensors could give you about 1 or 2 meter accuracy in altitude detection. This new version has a relative accuracy of 3 Pascals, which translates to about 25 cm. All in a tiny 2mm x 2mm package with both I2C and SPI interfaces. This makes them great for use with drones: paired with a GPS and IMU, you’ll get great absolute-positioning and improve altitude stability.
Since barometric pressure is also used to perform weather predictions, this sensor is also excellent for any sort of ambient weather detection – just like the ‘analog’ barometers we had when I was growing up. Low pressure means air is moving in, bringing clouds, storms and wind; high pressure means air is moving out, so there will be fair weather without clouds. In addition to pressure, you also get temperature sensing, which is used to calibrate the pressure reading, but can also aid in environmental sensing.
Thankfully, this chip is pin compatible with the BMP388, so we were easily able to put together a demo to test this out. We updated our GitHub repo for the BMP3XX series to add support for the BMP390 as well, so you can use any Arduino-compatible to talk to this fancy new chip. Bosch also has a C API that we found easy to integrate into any existing framework – you just provide the underlying I2C/SPI calls.
Digi-Key has some in stock right now at https://www.digikey.com/short/zn2pfn – place and order today and you can start integrating these new chips to upgrade your sensor platform tomorrow!
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
