Acceleration measurements

Once reserved for engineering applications (vibration studies) or inertial navigation, accelerometers have entered our everyday lives with the development of miniature sensors that can be produced in large quantities using technologies analogous to those used for the production of integrated circuits. The first "consumer" application to make an impact was probably the "airbag" in the automotive industry, for which an accelerometer integrated on a silicon chip (a 5-euro sensor) made it possible to market a complete system costing several hundred euros. Miniature linear acceleration and angular velocity sensors have since made their appearance in the inertial units of portable GPS navigation systems (miniature inertial units ensure GPS positioning when satellites are temporarily no longer visible, e.g. in a road tunnel), in automobiles, where they are crucial components of road-holding assistance systems (ABS, ESP, etc.), but also in the medical field (inertial sensors for the medical sector).), as well as the medical sector (pacemaker control), washing machines (helping to balance laundry in the drum before spinning to minimize vibrations), etc.

The accelerometers presented in this dossier cover these different applications. After a brief reminder of some of the physics involved in measuring acceleration, various classifications of accelerometers (linear acceleration measurement) are presented and then described in detail. A final paragraph deals specifically with angular velocity measurement (gyrometers).