Accelerometer in a smartphone : How it works?

Accelerometer is a sensor for measuring acceleration. It was invented in the late 19th century and was intended for installation in cars and locomotives to control the speed. The first accelerometers were heavy and cumbersome. They were based on the use of inertial force, moving with the acceleration of the mass, and represented a pendulum with a spiral spring. During acceleration or deceleration of the body, the weights tried to maintain their original position, that is, to lag behind or to get ahead of the hull. One of the springs was compressed, and the pendulum moved. The magnitude of this displacement was determined by the accelerometer to calculate the acceleration. How does a modern accelerometer, used in smartphones, - this is in today's release!

The accelerometer was first installed in a mobile phone Nokia 5500, so it could be used as a pedometer. Due to the design features of mobile devices, it is impossible to use a traditional accelerometer with a pendulum. Therefore, it is replaced by a miniature chip, inside which there is an inert mass.

The principle of operation of such a chip is similar to the classical accelerometer: an inertial mass changes its position during acceleration. Thanks to this, the smartphone receives data about its position in space. The chip itself is a fixed body, to which a special partition is fastened on special elastic attachments with the conductors removed to one side. These bends are placed between the contacts that take readings. As the taps move, the field strength around the contacts changes its values, which serves as an indicator for the measurement

In the chip, all elements are extremely small, so they are produced on automated conveyor lines without human intervention, and when they are manufactured, silicone reactions with other substances are used.

In smartphones, an accelerometer is most often used to automatically change the orientation of the screen when you rotate the device. It also found application in system gestures (such as shaking), games and navigation applications, as well as activity trackers.

But the biggest and most promising market for accelerometers, oddly enough, is the automotive industry. The fact is that in cars at work accelerometer based a large number of security systems: adaptive cruise control and suspension, airbags, stabilization system and many others. In this case, this is not about the chip used in smartphones, but about high-grade devices, most often piezoelectric. At the heart of such sensors is a weight, which exerts pressure on the piezoelectric crystal. Due to the pressure, it generates an electric current, which makes it possible to calculate the required acceleration. There is also a thermal accelerometer, whose architecture provides for the use of an air bubble. When accelerating, the bubble deviates from its initial position, which is fixed by the sensors, and then used to calculate the acceleration.

Hope you liked the article, Again, thanks for your support, you have been wonderful to me ...@mike11

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