Why do I need 9-axis inertial motion sensor?

The 9-axis inertial motion sensor includes:

• 3-axis gyroscope
• 3-axis accelerometer
• 3-axis magnetometer

The gyroscope and accelerometer provide information about accelerations in all three directions and rotations around each axis. Gravity provides a background direction from the accelerometer, so we can do a pretty good job of tracking short term movements. However, in order to track the real position and orientation in space, the six-axis sensor is not quite there because small errors build up in each axis and over time these errors can add up to drift in the absolute direction. We can deal with this problem by adding one more absolute directional sensor – a 3-axis magnetometer. The extra magnetic field information allows the sensing algorithms to compensate for small drifts over much longer periods of time, so we can track the absolute change in position and orientation more accurate. You will be able to measure and track your location precisely during very complex movements – track your head position even while trampolining!

They enable applications such as:

– Short term full-space head tracking – plot the head trajectory and attitude through complex movements
– Camera and motion control for navigation and control in real and virtual environments – full control of 3D cursor in CAD package, flight simulators, head-mounted mouse, remote controlled vehicles
– Automatic recognition of gestures – nod YES, head shake NO, shrug and other gestures
– Recognize, monitor, record and replay exercise, activity
– Possible extraction of respiration and heart rate using small scale periodic motion
– Gait and tremor analysis
– Major improvements navigating through virtual 3D environments such as CAD models and virtual gaming environments
– Track distance traveled and find your way back home after a long run
– As an added bonus, the magnetic sensor provides a built-in compass function