I'm curious if it is possible/relatively simple to do the following: connect a 3-axis accelerometer (attached to a Arduino board, say the Uno R3) wirelessly to another board or computer?
I was thinking about using an Uno R3 with an ADXL345 (or similar accelerometer) with the XBee shield and series 1 module (SparkFun models) on the sending unit. and either the XBee Explorer (with module) for the computer connection, or another microcontroller and XBee shield attached with either flash memory or an SD card as well as a GPS shield (with an EM406 receiver).
The application calls for sending accelerometer data (high-G's) from a specific point in a car to a receiving unit that can store the G loads and GPS position, or transmit it to a computer.
Well as far as prototypes are concerned, I'm thinking of sticking to using a laptop connected to the XBee explorer as the receiving unit just for proof of concept.
Any board suggestions beyond the Uno?
Is ZigBee a better choice for this over Bluetooth given the power requirements?
Is ZigBee a better choice for this over Bluetooth given the power requirements?
Anything outside of cheap general RF modules is outside of my price range, so I couldn't really speak to that, but Sparkfun has a pretty nice comparison chart for the different wireless technologies:
Thanks for that. Clearly FM isn't a good choice for cars given the possibility of interference. Cellular seems a bit expensive for the units themselves. Any suggestions beyond ZigBee/XBee?
Also, any suggestions on programming the accelerometer data to be logged/converted from voltage to G ratings after it is transmitted to the computer? Clearly I'm not going to ask for a length of code for that or the XBee protocols, but hey, I'm not going to say no if it shows up.
bterry88:
Thanks for that. Clearly FM isn't a good choice for cars given the possibility of interference. Cellular seems a bit expensive for the units themselves. Any suggestions beyond ZigBee/XBee?
What are your range and budget requirements? How are these devices being powered?
Also, any suggestions on programming the accelerometer data to be logged/converted from voltage to G ratings after it is transmitted to the computer? Clearly I'm not going to ask for a length of code for that or the XBee protocols, but hey, I'm not going to say no if it shows up.
Transmitting to the computer is going to depend on the connection medium you choose. As far as converting the voltage to G ratings, this seems to be a pretty comprehensive tutorial on working with that model Accelerometer:
The range is probably somewhere around 100ft. As for budget, I was hoping to keep the components of the prototype below $200. Since I'm probably not going to use a GPS module on the prototype, that'll save a hefty chunk of that budget.
