Inclinometers

[gramo]

I'm trying to source some inclinometers for a project, nothing too accurate (+- 1 or 2deg) but am really struggling to find a cheap distributor for them, anyone have experience in the past/know where I can buy some relatively cheap ones?

 

[j.p.bill]

My Digi-Key catalog has some, but in the range of $50 - $65. They range from +/- 15 deg. to +/- 90 deg. They aren't the most common animals.

 

[ericgibbs]

hi gramo,
Have you tried a boat Chandlers

Many of the modern racing yachts have inclinometers, with instrumentation.

EricG

 

[gramo]

Thanks guys, I went to the Digi-Key site, and while looking around it got me thinking about accelerometers. If you could measure the static acceleration (gravity), you could determine what angle the device is on.

Found the perfect solution at Analog Devices;

https://www.analog.com/en/prod/0,2877,ADXL322,00.html


and their cheap as chips!

 

[gramo]

Just to explain the above post further;

**broken link removed**

The square image is the device, X and Y are the analog outputs of each axis

 

[dknguyen]

Accelerometers don't work very well as inclinometers when moving though (unless you know all your linear accelerations some other way so you can cancel them out). Then again...most inclinometers don't work well when you are moving...electrolytic, ball, etc.

They are cheap and compact though! I like using the 3-axis versions. You add up all 3 vectors use use the angle of the final vector to to find the direction of gravity and then use that to figure out your incliniation ( no need to calibrate for G variations...that is, if you're paranoid about that kind of thing.)

 

[gramo]

Accelerometers don't work very well as inclinometers when moving though (unless you know all your linear accelerations some other way so you can cancel them out). Then again...most inclinometers don't work well when you are moving...electrolytic, ball, etc.

Yea, there kind of the same when you think about it. Both can measure static acceleration via gravity quite well, but their accuracy is susceptible to any kind of movement/acceleration

They are cheap and compact though! I like using the 3-axis versions. You add up all 3 vectors use use the angle of the final vector to to find the direction of gravity and then use that to figure out your incliniation ( no need to calibrate for G variations...that is, if you're paranoid about that kind of thing.)

That’s the same line of thought I had, but I only require a 2 axis to calculate the horizontal displacement/angle for this project. Cant believe how small these things actually are!