Using an acceleromter to

explore a virtual world

 Background
Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) Accelerometer

• Principles
– Operated under Newton’s 1st Law
• F = ma = kx
– Under an applied acceleration, the beam deflection is
measured and the acceleration is determined
 Background
Analog Devices ADLX203 Accelerometer

The circuitry in the accelerometer

outputs a voltage change
 The system has both mechanical microstructures and
electrical signal process units
Accelerometers can measure 1,2 or 3 axis
 The Analog Devices ADLX203 Accelerometer measures 2
axis
○ Measures both x and y directions (2-axis) with a range
of ± 1.7g
 Limited to only two axis of rotation and translation
○ It can measure both dynamic acceleration and static
acceleration
 Prior Research
• Virtual Reality
– Sega Dreamcast
• Used first motion sensing control in the form of a fishing
rod
– Nintendo Wii
• The remote makes use of multi-axis linear acceleration
information provided from the ADXL330, an integrated
MEMS accelerometer
 Prior Research
 Use of Inertial Information for
Vision
 Active vision systems are being used in robotic
systems for navigation
 Inertial sensors coupled with an active vision
system can provide valuable information
○ Use the inertial sensors to find the ground
plane
 Once you know the ground plane, you can
know any objects 3D orientation from that
point
○ Use a Virtual Reality Modeling Language
(VRML) for describing the 3D world on the
computer
 Goals and Objectives
Hypothesis
 The human head and body is always accelerating even as it
stands still. Assuming a direct line of sight is maintained only
strong enough movements of the head and body would change
the focus and person has from an image to another. With the
data collected from the MEMS accelerometer, it is possible to
measure what kinds of accelerations could affect an image a
person is focusing on.
 Goals and Objectives
• Conduct a simple experiment using a
MEMS accelerometer
– See if accelerometers can measure
movements when placed on glasses
• Simulate virtual reality eye-set
– Use MATLAB to analyze the movements of
the accelerometer and see if a virtual reality
model can be simulated
 Lab Methods
• Connected MEMS accelerometer to function
generator and oscilloscope
• Secured accelerometer to eye glasses
– X-axis pointed straight out of the individual
– Y-axis pointed to the right of the individual
• Measured change in voltage in Oscilloscope and
Excel
– Calibration results for voltage to acceleration conversion
• 1V = 1g
• Acceleration normalized based on nominal voltage
• Nominal voltage measured by holding accelerometer
stationary
 Data Analysis
 MATLAB
 Input data from Excel into MATLAB code
 Code converts accelerometer voltage into
engineering acceleration units
○ Sensitivity, DC offset, etc.
 Acceleration data filtration
○ Kalman Filtering
○ An efficient recursive filter that estimates the state of a system
based on incomplete and noisy measurements
○ Minimum threshold filtering
○ Acceleration data is valid only if threshold is reached
○ Double filter provides consistent and more accurate data
 Data Analysis
 Kalman Filters
 1st Order Implementation
○ Smoothing a noisy sensor input
○ 2 parameters – Amount of previous state information,
Dampening effect (R), etc.
 The graphs below show that with a Kalman filter
implementation, random noise is decreased

R = 0.001 R = 10 R = 100
Data Analysis - No filter
Data Analysis – Kalman Filter
Data Analysis – Double filter
Data Analysis – Double filter
Data Analysis
Data Analysis
Data Analysis
 Simulation

This is when you take a look at the video

below.

Don’t worry, I’ll wait.

 Discussion
• Virtual Reality Model
– Translation in the x and y direction
• 1st person perspective
• Forward accelerations translate to forward
motion based on data analysis
– Roll and pitch of head
• Roll and pitch of head translates to roll and pitch
of virtual world respectively
– Capable of several viewing angles of virtual
world
 Discussion
• Feasibility
– Easily implemented with a wireless connection for
gameplay or other applications
– Cheap and robust
• Drawbacks
– Differentiation of pitching motion from forward
acceleration
– Limited to 2 axes preventing yawing motion
 Conclusion
• Virtual reality on a rudimentary level
– Benefits – Cheap and robust
– Easily implemented – Can be built with a simple
microcontroller and 2 3-axis accelerometers for
redundancy
– Additional improvements may involve integrating
a camera for verifying actions