Accelerometers

Accelerometers

New Technology Automotive

Tiny new technology which helps iphone, digital cameras do wonders.

Have you ever wondered how iphone’s cool features works ? How new laptops can protect their hard disk when it falls down ? How we get crisp images from a cameras even if we shake the device ? The answer is accelerometer.

Accelerometer in essence is not a new technology. Its been on the desk of researchers and scientists well from 1990s, but only recently with the help of latest technologies small scale accelerometers were made so that it can be used in the devices above mentioned.

Accelerometers are a special kind of device called MEMS- Micro Electro Mechanical System. There are various types of accelerometers. A simple one is having a cantilever beam which is suspended and some complex sensing circuitry. It converts the acceleration (force) to displacement which is then measured. New technology accelerometers looks nothing but like an IC (Integrated Circuit). It consists of a bubble producing system. It heats the gas bubble and another system senses the location of the hot bubble as the accelerometer is accelerated or tilted.

The application and use of new technology accelerometers are endless. Lets begin with the much awaited gadget of 2007, iphone.

Apple Iphone uses accelerometer to sense the tilt of the phone, so that it can switch from portrait and landscape modes.

New phones from Nokia such as 5500 uses accelerometers for many things. A small tap on the phone can control the music in phone. Nokia N95 and 70 also uses accelerometers. N95’s accelerometer function can be accessed even by third party software, but in N70 they use it only for tilt sensing in camera mode.

Sony Ericsson use accelerometers in a wide range of phones. In their phones you just need to shake the phone to change tracks. There are J2ME games incorporating accelerometer functions.

Are you tired, there are lot more to come, read along if you are that brave.

The Wii was a headache for the big players like Sony (PS) and Microsoft (Xbox). The Wii remote incorporate accelerometer for measuring tilt and movement so that it can be complemented on the screen.

Famous shoe brands such as Nike uses it to determine speed, distance of the runner. They attach the accelerometer in their shoes which does the sensing part. The result is shown on some device such as watch, which are also produced by Nike.

Leading laptops have a security feature that claims it uses new technology to protect the data at all cost, even if the laptop falls down. Wonder how ? Here also they use the accelerometer, which is obvious. So when the laptop falls down, the accelerometer picks the motion and the write current is turned off, so that the disk remains scratch free.

Cam coders and digital cameras use accelerometers for image stabilization and anti-blur capturing. They “snap” the CCD sensors in the cameras if they detect a movement.

Accelerometers are in automotive for quite long. Its with the help of this device that air bags work. Any quick reduction in speed, ie a negative acceleration, will trigger the air bags.

The use of accelerometer doesn’t stop here. Even in the previous post about Life Saving Helmet, they use accelerometers.

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Quadraphonic Suspension

Quadraphonic Suspension

New Car Technology

Automatic adapting suspension of cars from Bose Corp.

If you have drove a car or at least used one, you know how irritating it is when the car sways as it brakes and accelerates or enters a bump etc…For many years engineers have tried to avoid this, but by compromising handling. They have to sacrifice comfort if they need more handling. Now Amar G Bose, founder of Bose Corp has founded a solution by using a new technology.

The new technology enabled the car in their demonstration stayed almost still even though it was cornering, entering a bump or even sudden braking. The car’s body stayed perfectly still and steady.

Bose does this by using technology of electro-magnetic motors.They work on the principle that they telescope up or down to prevent the car from rolling. This is done very fast and is controlled by an algorithm.

To explain the working, assume the car’s right wheel is entering a dip.As soon as the wheel is lowered, an accelerometer sends data to the central control.The algorithm is then executed and the motor lowers right wheel into the dip so that the car stays level.

You may ask what a speaker company has to do with automobile and its technology.In fact this thing,detecting dips,corners generate random electric pulses which is used to modulate high frequency signals for its working. The same thing is done in a normal speaker, so in that sense it can be considered that the suspension motor is the strongest quadraphonic speaker in the world. But the funny part is that the world’s strongest speaker cant even make a noise that can make a bird fly away.

The entire research was done with such secrecy that only at the top of the food chain of Bose knew about this project. Bose has been awarded few patents for this wonderful new technology. A car which can comfort you while you Rock n Roll will be in your stores in a few years.

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