Need information regarding accelerometers

[mattmiller518]

I am an undergraduate student and full-time Emergency Medical Technician and I am trying to obtain a few basic measurements requiring the use of an accelerometer. What I require is a device that can measure acceleration of two directions, such as forward to rear acceleration and side to side forces as in a vehicle, or "sway". I would like a unit that is fairly simple to use, preferably one that would mount to the vehicle, where I could measure my data for a set period of time, then upload it to my laptop. I have spent quite a bit of time searching the internet, yet haven't been able to find a production unit that fits this description. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[kstylian]

I would start with something simple, like a smartphone. They have built in 3-way accelorometers (x,y,z) and are fairly sensitive. Free apps (Droid Market) such as Accelerometer Values or Accelerometer Toy will allow you to capture and save the data to the SD card then you can transfer to your PC and analyze.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.arak.sensor.accele&hl=en

https://market.android.com/details?id=pearson.accelerometer_toy

I'm sure there is something similar for the iPhones...

 

[mattmiller518]

Thank you very much, this should be plenty to collect my base data. Eventually I will need to either buy or build a unit that can collect this data and translate it in real time to a gauge located elsewhere, but that will be on down the road.