BME680 V1.0 MEMS Environmental Multi-Sensor

Sensing your environment is a fascinating power to give to your electronics project. Modules and Sensors typically offer some extra insight that our senses struggle to pinpoint, and while we can tell when it’s hot or cold, or when there is an odd odour in the air, we struggle to identify the precise temperature or chemical makeup of the environment we’re in, and this is what makes sensors so valuable in the world of Electronics tinkering and design. This BME680 V1.0 MEMS Environmental Multi-Sensor features 4-in-1 sensors for ultimate air quality control.

Designed for compact indoor projects, the BME680 V1.0 MEMS Environmental Multi-Sensor integrates Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), temperature, humidity, and air pressure sensors into one. With so much functionality on a tiny 18x15.6mm board, this sensor module is primarily used for wearable devices or other discrete applications. The BME680 MEMS Environmental Multi-Sensor conveniently operates on both 5.5V and 3.3V so as to work with a good range of Microcontrollers – including the very small ATTiny range of MCU’s.

When compared to other BME680 sensor model, this V1.0 version is a simplified breakout design with two included 2.54 single row 4-pin and 6-pin connectors. You can use the serial SPI connection pins that run along the edge of the board to connect to your Arduino project. This, coupled with the wide input voltage, makes this little module surprisingly diverse, and with such ease-of-use, it’s one of the most user-friendly Environmental Sensors available.

Typical Applications for BME680 V1.0 MEMS Environmental Multi-Sensor:

Because of the very tiny form factor and surprisingly diverse capabilities of the BME680 Environmental Multi-Sensor, it is most commonly incorporated into wearable technologies like smart watches or smart phones. However, it can also be used for any other environmental sensing projects you’re working on, and some cool project ideas that we plan on doing with this module include:

• Building our own wearables that keep track of external temperatures, body temperatures, humidity levels and pressures around the user, so as to interact with home automation and maintain perfect comfort at all times.
• Crafting a speed drone that travels to specific points, records and logs the data before coming back home and uploading the data onto a spreadsheet. This can be particularly beneficial on farms, in factories, as well as a range of other locations in which getting quick measurements is not always an easy task.
• Making a butler-bot for our workstations, that travels around the room and adjusts the air conditioners, fans and other devices to perfectly cater to our predefined “Optimal Comfort” settings.

 Of course, as with anything open-source, the possibilities for using this module are only really limited by your imagination. So, get out there and start experimenting with all of the possibilities, and be sure to share your projects on social media for us all to see, comment on and learn from

Additional Resources:

• If you’re eager to learn more about this sensor, this DFRobot BME680 V1.0 Environmental Sensor Wiki Page contains a great amount of info’ on how it works, with example code for getting it up and running, as well as a range of library functions to help you control and operate the sensor.
• In addition to the above, you can also find some really useful information regarding this sensor within this DFRobot BME680 Sensor GitHub Page.

As self-proclaimed “Robo-holics”, DFRobot is a company comprised of over 100 staff members, of which 30% are engineers who love to build robots. It was started in 2008 with the goal of embracing and promoting open-source hardware, with a core focus on Arduino, Raspberry Pi and their very own LattePanda development boards. Since then, DFRobot have manufactured over 1300 unique modules, sensors and components that all work together and complement each other, allowing users like us to enjoy a full spectrum of cutting edge robotics and electronics without having to pay premium prices.

With the primary goal of developing and manufacturing great quality products, while making them accessible to as many people as possible, DFRobot are rapidly becoming one of the most common-place brands in the world of open-source robotics and electronics. With more than 1300 products developed in-house, and an impressive range of different categories and specialisations, there are few brands in the world who can compete in terms of quality, accessibility and genuine innovation.