What to do with an accelerometer?

[Oneslowz28]

I am beta testing a new accelerometer for Seeedstudio.com. My initial plan was to write a library for it and some example code, but one of the other beta testers beat me to it. So now I want to use it to develop a sample project. What would you use it for? I had thought of a simple line following robot that self balanced on 2 wheels, or maybe a car acceleration logger. Any ideas?

[SXRguyinMA]

how many g's a mouse takes when you get pissed at your game and chuck it @ the wall? lol :D

really though...hmmm...

robotics would seem the easiest to integrate it into, or the car idea. maybe log g's during a 1/4 mile run?

[blaze15301]

drop a key board or something old from the second story of your house and measure how many gs a keyboard takes before it breaks. other then that i got nothing.

[Konrad]

Anti-tampering security feature for a PC chassis which triggers whenever a chassis component is moved or tilted?

Integrated into a display monitor to autosense landscape/portrait mode, à la iPhone?

A self-balancing robot which can fetch you beer and floppy disks?

[mDust]

A self-balancing robot which can fetch you beer and floppy disks?

Fetch floppy disks? Why would anyone want more floppy disks?!? How about a robot that picks up then chucks the floppy disks great distances? Or short distances into a wall or the nearest trash bin? It should still be able to fetch beer or other beverages. It's also going to need AI to survive, because if it chucks my cold beer in the trash...

[Konrad]

How about a robot that picks up then chucks the floppy disks great distances? Or short distances into a wall or the nearest trash bin? It should still be able to fetch beer or other beverages.
See! Plenty of possible uses for an accelerometer.

You need the floppy disks to serve as coasters for the beer, duh.

In these modern times we no longer collect piles of free AOL discs or bad CD burns ... floppy disks aren't quite as flat but work well enough.

[Konrad]

You could use your accelerometer (along with many others) to build a modern version of one of these
http://nintendorks.com/media/7/20080814-nintendo_power_glove_bar.jpg
Aw yeah! Of course your version could also incorporate all the badass gaming features seen in all those awful sci-fi movies over the years (I can't remember their titles 'cuz they sucked). Batman forever would envy your raw accelerometer glove gadget pwnage. Although he'd probably try to do it in a sulking antagonistic way. Just tell your wife/boss it's not for crushing the soft virtual throats of your laughably feeble gaming opponents, it's for, ah, engineering simulations and manipulating 3D models or something else that sounds plausible enough to justify the cost of all those parts.

Whether it would be of much use as a replacement for traditional gaming peripherals is somewhat debatable. But its bold and daring nerd appeal combined with its primal modding geek potential simply cannot be denied. Succumb to temptation. Build the glove.

Maybe with enough accelerometers you could build a new generation motion capture suit?
A headband that automatically switches your KVM to the monitor you're looking at?
A new Z-dimension (and a couple of twists) to your joystick's X-Y-twist capabilities?
A semi-useless gizmo for your car dashboard?
A positional wow effect for your electric guitar?

[mDust]

You need the floppy disks to serve as coasters for the beer, duh.OK, you're off the hook this time...:)
An interesting but completely useless thing I've seen is a robot that just balances on a ball. That's it. The ball could be on an incline and stays put because the robot keeps the ball from rolling unless it is intentionally traveling that direction.

[Konrad]

I think I've seen the same one. One big fat wheel, full of gyros, made from Lego NXT?

I'm always impressed by dancing robots, like the Sony QRIO (here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_0I4nr4u3A) and here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JTUGukss70&feature=watch_response)) or even these little guys (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIuRc1r_N34). And there's always BigDog (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNZPRsrwumQ) (along with the equally fascinating BigDog Beta (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXJZVZFRFJc)). Lots of accelerometers.

[Kayin]

I want a PC power glove, no kidding. It would help me a lot after the accidents...

[Konrad]

Why stop with just the glove? With a few more accelerometers you could have yourself a complete light (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdK2y3lphmE&feature=related) or heavy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nhj3Z9o6t0g) exoskeleton, you could even be armor plated and look like you belong in Halo. So says youtube "boston dynamics exoskeleton", fwiw.

[Oneslowz28]

Well this is now a moot point. I killed the accelerometer on accident.

[SXRguyinMA]

D'oh!

[slaveofconvention]

Well this is now a moot point. I killed the accelerometer on accident.

Bloody vandal!

[Oneslowz28]

heh... how was I supposed to know that it was 3v only when the data sheet I got with it said 3-5v operating range....... I did not see any white smoke though, just no output from it now.

[Konrad]

So now the question is "What to do with a broken accelerometer?"

[Oneslowz28]

Well its smaller than a 5mm LED but the breakout board its on is about 3/4 the size of a quarter. I may order a new accelerometer from digi key and try my hand at fine pinch hand soldering. Might be the excuse I need to buy a hot air rework station!

[Konrad]

Pah, you don't need that junk. Hand methods are always best. Check here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_cDV92IuWY) and here (http://vimeo.com/10659915)

(Yes, I can do this. No I can't do it anywhere near as well as these guys. I am teh suXors compared to them. Just sayin' you don't need big equipment to do big quality.)

[nevermind1534]

Want another one cheap?

[crenn]

Hehe, I only trust documentation of the manufacturer of the IC. Did you order those level logic converters I showed you?

[Oneslowz28]

No I haven't ordered anything yet.