How To Measure Positions with Gyros | Simplexity Product Development

Doug Harriman, CTO at Simplexity, talks about why gyroscopes are essential in measuring position. Read more on our blog at http://www.simplexitypd.com/blog/why-you-need-a-gyro-to-measure-position/. Please visit us at http://www.simplexitypd.com Find us online: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/simplexity-product-development-inc-?trk=top_nav_home Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SimplexityPD Twitter: https://twitter.com/SimplexityPD Cell phone technology's amazing. That industry has brought us incredible sensors that are both pretty cheap and take amazing measurements. There's a common desire in products to build products that can measure their position in free space. Simplexity's done this in two different products, both the HSI Loop CPR training device and the Nautilus SelectTech 560 dumbbell. Now there's a common misconception to do this sort of measurement, but all you need is an accelerometer. Today, I'm gonna show you why you need a gyroscope also. If we think about the operation of something like the SelectTech 560 dumbbell - here's the sensor module from that dumbbell - we can see how it might move through space. For a common exercise like the bicep curl, the sensor module's gonna move up and down and kind of in and out. So, all we should have to do is integrate the acceleration measurements both horizontally and vertically and get the position. Here's the dumbbell itself with the sensor module in place. As I do the exercise with the real product, going through the motion, you'll see that the product is both moving and rotating in space. The problem is, with just an accelerometer, you can never determine the orientation of the sensor. What's the solution? We need a gyroscope. Adding a rate gyroscope to the product allows us to estimate the orientation of the sensor at all times. That orientation tells us which direction the accelerometer is pointed. Then, we can use that to figure out the real direction of motion. For more information about products that are able to measure their position in free space, check out our case studies of both the SelectTech 560 dumbbell and the HSI Loop CPR training device at simplexitypd.com. Simplexity provides engineering design services across a range of industries. Our "simpler is better" engineering approach reduces costs while improving the lifecycle of your product, saving you money in development, manufacturing and product sustainability. We understand the most important challenges which is why we have mastered cost reduction while maintaining the most innovative industrial, consumer, and biotech engineering solutions.