Monday, July 20, 2009

Gyroscopes VS Accelerometers.

Accelerometer is now very famous because it exits in most of the smartphones like iPhone, Android and Palm Pre. Recently, I got a RC mini-helicopter with built-in gyroscope to detect the rotational movement, it makes me interested in the differences between the two sensors. After some Googling, I found a good video tutorial that compare the two sensors. The InvenSense, whom made the Wii MotionPlus, using Gyroscopes and Accelerometers to capture precise human hand movement. The comparison video goes here:


My cheap RC mini-helicopter:

The single-axis gyroscope inside the helicopter:


It is used to detect if the helicopter rotates left or right unintentionally while the main blade is rotating. The MCU inside the helicopter would try to control another motor to rotate another blade to counter the rotation if necessary based on the gyroscope reading.

Here is my video showing the balancing control of the helicopter:


Furthermore, there are some articles worth to read:

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks...a lot

Anonymous said...

This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for sharing:)

Unknown said...

good one :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks! The video explains it very clearly.

vita p said...

i', looking for the difference of gyroscope and accelerometer before, but i can't find good explanation like yours. the video is very clearly. thanks.
What kind of software that you use to display the tilt and movement like the first video? i have a plan to make my final test using accelerometer and gyroscope with program that can display the position and tilt (monitoring)and also for controling. How can i get the software? is that free? thanks.

Bitartist said...

I think if u just want to test both, the easier way is to buy an Android Phone equipped with gyro and accelerometers.