Hello, First off, I have to say I am relatively new to magnetometers.

I have been working in a project for the detection of magnets (they can be different sizes) in a three dimensional space around the sensor.

The magnets and sensor positions are not strictly defined and they can be in any orientation in space. I am now using the LIS3MDL board to try and accomplish this.

I am able to use SensorLab library with MotionCal to obtain relatively good values for calibration. I then use the calibrated magnetometer output values to calculate the magnitude of the magnetic field. By continuously reading the sensor, I check for the increase or decrease in the magnitude value which occur when a magnet approaches from any direction.

The problem I have is that over time the sensor will experience drift in the measurements. This will cause the magnitude value, which before was relatively stable, to change a lot as I rotate the sensor.

Is there any way to combat this?

I have by now done some research and have not reached any answer. Any tips or knowledge would be appreciated.

Thank you in advance for any help, really!

 

The usual way is sensor fusion where the magnetometer is mixed with gyro and acceleration sensors to form a stable composite signal.

https://developer.oculus.com/blog/magnetometer/?locale=en_US