3/18/2015

Accelerometers:WhatTheyAre&HowTheyWork

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Accelerometers:WhatTheyAre&HowTheyWork
RyanGoodrich,LiveScienceContributor|October01,201307:07pmET

Whenyouuseacompassapponyoursmartphone,itsomehowknowswhichdirectionthephoneis
pointing.Withstargazingapps,itsomehowknowswhereintheskyyourelookingtoproperly
displayconstellations.Smartphonesandothermobiletechnologyidentifytheirorientationthrough
theuseofanaccelerator,asmalldevicemadeupofaxisbasedmotionsensing.
Themotionsensorsinaccelerometerscanevenbeusedtodetectearthquakes,andmaybyusedin
medicaldevicessuchasbioniclimbsandotherartificialbodyparts.Severaldevices,partofthe
quantifiedselfmovement,useaccelerometers.

AniPhonecompassappusesthe
phone'saccelerometertotellwhich
directionyouarefacing.

PinIt

Credit:Apple.com Viewfullsizeimage

Anaccelerometerisanelectromechanicaldeviceusedtomeasureaccelerationforces.Suchforces
maybestatic,likethecontinuousforceofgravityor,asisthecasewithmanymobiledevices,
dynamictosensemovementorvibrations.
Accelerationisthemeasurementofthechangeinvelocity,orspeeddividedbytime.Forexample,a
caracceleratingfromastandstillto60mphinsixsecondsisdeterminedtohaveanaccelerationof
10mphpersecond(60dividedby6).

Thepurposeoftheaccelerometer
Theapplicationofaccelerometersextendstomultipledisciplines,bothacademicandconsumerdriven.Forexample,accelerometersinlaptops
protectharddrivesfromdamage.Ifthelaptopweretosuddenlydropwhileinuse,theaccelerometerwoulddetectthesuddenfreefalland
immediatelyturnofftheharddrivetoavoidhittingthereadingheadsintotheharddriveplatter.Withoutthis,thetwowouldstrikeandcause
scratchestotheplatterforextensivefileandreadingdamage.Accelerometersarelikewiseusedincarsastheindustrymethodwayofdetecting
carcrashesanddeployingairbagsalmostinstantaneously.
Inanotherexample,adynamicaccelerometermeasuresgravitationalpulltodeterminetheangleatwhichadeviceistiltedwithrespecttothe
Earth.Bysensingtheamountofacceleration,usersanalyzehowthedeviceismoving.
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Accelerometers:WhatTheyAre&HowTheyWork

Accelerometersallowtheusertounderstandthesurroundingsofanitembetter.Withthissmalldevice,youcandetermineifanobjectis
movinguphill,whetheritwillfalloverifittiltsanymore,orwhetheritsflyinghorizontallyoranglingdownward.Forexample,smartphones
rotatetheirdisplaybetweenportraitandlandscapemodedependingonhowyoutiltthephone.

Howtheywork
Anacceleratorlookslikeasimplecircuitforsomelargerelectronicdevice.Despiteitshumbleappearance,theaccelerometerconsistsofmany
differentpartsandworksinmanyways,twoofwhicharethepiezoelectriceffectandthecapacitancesensor.Thepiezoelectriceffectisthemost
commonformofaccelerometerandusesmicroscopiccrystalstructuresthatbecomestressedduetoaccelerativeforces.Thesecrystalscreatea
voltagefromthestress,andtheaccelerometerinterpretsthevoltagetodeterminevelocityandorientation.
Thecapacitanceaccelerometersenseschangesincapacitancebetweenmicrostructureslocatednexttothedevice.Ifanaccelerativeforcemoves
oneofthesestructures,thecapacitancewillchangeandtheaccelerometerwilltranslatethatcapacitancetovoltageforinterpretation.
Accelerometersaremadeupofmanydifferentcomponents,andcanbepurchasedasaseparatedevice.Analoganddigitaldisplaysare
available,thoughformosttechnologydevices,thesecomponentsareintegratedintothemaintechnologyandaccessedusingthegoverning
softwareoroperatingsystem.
Typicalaccelerometersaremadeupofmultipleaxes,twotodeterminemosttwodimensionalmovementwiththeoptionofathirdfor3D
positioning.Mostsmartphonestypicallymakeuseofthreeaxismodels,whereascarssimplyuseonlyatwoaxistodeterminethemomentof
impact.Thesensitivityofthesedevicesisquitehighastheyreintendedtomeasureevenveryminuteshiftsinacceleration.Themoresensitive
theaccelerometer,themoreeasilyitcanmeasureacceleration.
Accelerometers,whileactivelyusedinmanyelectronicsintodaysworld,arealsoavailableforuseincustomprojects.Whetheryourean
engineerortechgeek,theaccelerometerplaysaveryactiveroleinawiderangeoffunctionalities.Inmanycasesyoumaynotnoticethe
presenceofthissimplesensor,butoddsareyoumayalreadybeusingadevicewithit.
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Accelerometers:WhatTheyAre&HowTheyWork

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