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Tuesday, December 22, 2009

"MEMS: Gyroscope and accelerometer share MEMS package"

STMicroelectronics has combined in one micro-electro-mechanical system a 3-axis digital accelerometer with a 2-axis gyro. Look for every major user of accelerometers today, from game controllers to smart phones, to incorporate gyroscopes during 2010. R.C.J.


Movea S.A., a specialist in motion sensing for consumer electronics, healthcare, and sports applications, is the first customer. Movea's SmartMotion software simplifies the job of "fusing" linear-motion detection with angular-rotation detection. The company claims that an accelerometer together with a gyro improves performance, boosts reliability, and enables higher-precision gesture and motion recognition in the medical and sports markets. Three axis-accelerometers work against gravity to detect coarse linear motions in any direction, but track poorly slow steady rotational movement. By adding a two-axis gyroscope which generates its own internal motion reference, rather than depend on gravity, fine rotational motion up-and-down (pitch) and back-and-forth (yaw) can be detected too, making user interfaces more accurate and responsive.
Full Text: http://bit.ly/7yDP6M