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Sensitive Accelerometer Chip
I've seen some projects that use accelerometer chips with arduinos to get readings (e.g. in MATLAB). I'm looking to do this but I'm going to be measuring very low amplitude, low frequency vibrations so, I imagine, the types of acceleromters I've seen used (e.g. the MMA7341L) won't be sensitive enough.
Does anyone have a suggestion for which accelerometer would be appropriate (I know that MEMS are a popular brand - there's a list here: http://www.analog.com/en/mems-sensors/mems-accelerometers/products/index.html)
Many thanks for your time!
Oli
Discussions
5 years ago
Thank you Caitlinsdad and Downunder35m - really helpful ideas there. I'll let you know how I get on!
5 years ago
Have a look at simple seismic sensors.
They are designed for exactly that sort of "vibration".
A very cheap and low tech home solution could use an old vinyl player, or to be precise the head of one.
The needle that goes on the vinyl is replaced with a weighted pin and a simple amplifier produces the signal from the vibrations.
5 years ago
https://www.sparkfun.com/pages/accel_gyro_guide
The guide should help you choose which one to use. Maybe look at vibration sensor switches or input from a piezo contact microphone to sense the movement, you need to do a lot of calculations to convert raw data from the accelerometer. Good luck.