Hi all,
I've been scanning around the interwebs at various supplies for a gyroscope and/or accelerometer but the problem is, I don't know which I need to handle the task in hand.
I'm putting together the pieces to create my own tri-copter and have run into some confusion when it comes to the difference between gyros and accels.
I've been playing around with the new iPhone 4 (which has both gyro and accel in) trying to determine which does what in terms of the readings they both push out.
Basically, all I want to achieve is making some form of auto leveling for the tri-copter when I get round to building it. From reading other forums it seems people are using a combination of both to achieve 5+ degrees of freedom (this, I also don't understand).
Would an accelerometer suffice for simply determining whether the tri-copter is level, or do I need to utilise a gyroscope as well to get the correct readings?
At this moment, I'm not really too bothered about the orientation of the tri-copter as I assume a compass or gps sensor would suffice to give me a heading or location of some degree which I can factor in later once I have the tri-copter off the ground with the ability to hover steadily at a set altitude.
Can anyone provide a brief explanation of the differences between the two sensors and whether or not both are needed to be able to level out the tri-copter. Any insight into this 'degrees of freedom' lark would be appreciated too
Thanks for reading!