drivers/iio/imu/bno055 · keep-annotate

Bosch BNO055 9-axis absolute orientation IMU

A Bosch system-in-package that combines an accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer with an on-chip microcontroller that fuses the readings into ready-to-use orientation data. It became popular in the 2010s for hobbyist robotics, drones, and wearable prototypes thanks to widely available Adafruit and SparkFun breakout boards, and connects over either I2C or a UART serial link.

keep-annotate conf=0.79 last_sold=2024 deploy=low replacement=none subsystem=iio category=sensor-iio

79%

recommendation

Worth keeping but flagging as legacy hardware. Bosch has marked the BNO055 as "not recommended for new designs" and major distributors are out of stock, so few fresh products will ship with it, but the chip is still in the field, the kernel driver is actively receiving fixes into 2026, and no other in-tree driver covers its built-in sensor-fusion feature. Documenting its NRND status helps set expectations without disrupting users who still rely on existing hardware.

repository signals

8 files

2,441 source lines

21 commits, 5y

+2,528 / −49 lines added / removed, 5y

14 authors, 5y

monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 21 total · active in 14/61 months

sources

bosch-sensortec.com
Vendor product page labels BNO055 'Not recommended for new designs' and shows major distributors out of stock, indicating declining new-design use.
docs.kernel.org
Upstream kernel documentation exists for the driver and describes active support for Bosch BNO055 on serial and I2C buses.
cateee.net
LKDDb shows CONFIG_BOSCH_BNO055 present in current kernel series, indicating the driver remains upstream rather than deprecated.
cateee.net
LKDDb lists the I2C frontend and device match data for BNO055 in current kernels.
cateee.net
LKDDb lists the UART/serdev frontend and device match data for BNO055 in current kernels.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Real driver directory: core plus I2C and serdev front-ends. Local `exec_command` inspection confirmed Bosch BNO055 IMU support and driver entry-point macros. Local `exec_command` git history check (`git -c safe.directory=... log -- drivers/iio/imu/bno055`) showed ongoing upstream fixes through 2026-03-01 and no sign of removal churn; separate lore web searches for BNO055 removal discussion returned no hits. Web `search_query` + `open`/`find` on Bosch's product page showed the part is NRND and out of stock at major distributors, so new deployments are likely low, but active bug-fix traffic argues against deprecation. No clear in-tree replacement driver covers the same fused-sensor BNO055 use case, so keep the driver but annotate it as legacy/NRND hardware.