221e Motion Processing Engine Now Available for Inertial Sensor Fusion on Microchip PIC32 MCUs, Simplifying AI at the Smart Edge

Padua, Italy, June 5, 2024

 221e srl, a pioneer in AI-powered sensing technology, today announced the MPE™ Motion Processing Engine for inertial sensor fusion is now available on Microchip Technology’s PIC32 family of microcontrollers (MCUs). This plug-and-play sensor fusion software simplifies the integration of edge AI solutions, enhancing sensing capabilities for IoT products, wearable devices, and automotive applications.

221e’s MPE delivers exceptionally accurate 3D orientation estimation, meeting the requirements of the industry’s most demanding applications. It was designed for consistent precision of inertial sensor fusion based on a decade of field testing and scientific research. MPE’s API is easy to use, making it straightforward to integrate edge AI software on top, such as 221e’s NeuraSense™.

MPE enhances smart devices with deep insights, context awareness, activity tracking, and gesture recognition through precision IMU sensor fusion. A good fit for Microchip’s respected line of optimized, low-power edge devices, 221e’s software consumes ultra-low power and has a small memory footprint, allowing it to maintain precision where computational resources are scarce.

MPE uses a proprietary Kalman filter to ensure negligible drift when processing 6/9-axis IMU readings in static and dynamic conditions. It enhances products with the latest signal processing technology and the lowest estimation error, making it on par with the optical ground truth. Thanks to these outstanding features, customers have used MPE to implement advanced applications in a variety of domains, such as:

• Driver and vehicle monitoring in automotive/E-mobility 
• Predictive maintenance through vibration monitoring 
• Smart Personal Protective Equipment (Smart PPE)
• Intelligent coaching in fitness trackers
• Sensor-enabled medical devices
• Robot dead reckoning 
• Drone stabilization

We are proud to collaborate with 221e as part of its ecosystem that helps designers develop complex applications by offering support throughout their process, from concept to production. This partnership aligns with Microchip’s commitment to growing AI/ML adoption by making it more accessible, efficient, and cost-effective.
– Yann LeFaou, Director, Machine Learning at the Edge for Microchip.

“MPE allows customers a head start in accurate sensor fusion and edge AI,” said Marco Signorelli, CEO at 221e. “It is also up to 46% more cost-effective while providing premium performance, making it ideal for mass production of innovative products. Combining our Motion Processing Engine with Microchip’s 32-bit MCUs allows us to offer customers sensor data analytics that lower the risk and investment of integrating AI at the smart edge.”

221e and Microchip share a vision to simplify ML implementation at the edge. 221e brings plug-and-play software with advanced signal processing, sensor fusion and proprietary Machine Learning (ML) algorithms, while Microchip delivers its renowned portfolio of embedded solutions.

MPE key features:

• Fusion of gyroscope, accelerometer and magnetometer data
• 3D orientation estimation in quaternion and raw forms
• Can provide Euler angles and rotation matrix forms
• Applicable for multiple IMU network sync
• Gyroscope bias online compensation
• A hardware-agnostic static C library
• Adaptive operating condition logic
• Magnetic distortion rejection
• Sensor calibration routines
• Low power & footprint

For more information, visit the MPE webpage here.