Accelerometers

Description

Accelerometers are electro-mechanical devices used for measuring, and displaying accelerations and vibrations of a structure. Accelerometers work on different methods such as light method, piezoelectric effect, hot air bubble method, and piezoresistive effect. One of the commonly used methods is piezoelectric effect. The force obtained by vibration or change in acceleration (motion) causes the mass to press against the piezoelectric material. The electric signal thus produced is proportional to the force exerted applied on it; the, mass being constant, it implies that the charge is also proportional to the acceleration (motion)..But in certain cases, accelerometers can be used indirectly for measuring acceleration caused by gravity forces.

Types

Types of accelerometers are:

MEMs accelerometers
Capacitive accelerometers
Analog accelerometers
Digital accelerometers
Piezoelectric accelerometers
PCB accelerometers
Wireless accelerometers
Laser accelerometers
Low g accelerometers

Applications

Accelerometers are widely used in military and scientific applications, anti-lock braking systems, vibration monitoring, and smart detonation systems. Some of the specific applications include:

For monitoring rotating equipment like pumps, compressors, rollers, fans and cooling towers
Used in recreational boats to sense anchor movement; the information is then transformed to a remote transponder by a radio transmitter
In medical applications, for measuring the depth of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) chest compressions
Used in professional and amateur rocketry for detecting apogee
Used to calculate tilts in tilting trains
MEMs accelerometers are used in modern automobiles for airbag deployment systems to detect the vehicle’s rapid negative acceleration

Engineering applications

The engineering applications of accelerometers are:

Measures vibrations in cars, process control systems, and buildings. They can also used to measure dynamic distance and speed, machine vibration seismic activity, and inclination
In biological sciences to determine behavioral pattern of animals when they are out of sight
In gravimetry, accelerometers are specially configured to measure gravity and are generally termed as gravimeters