High-frequency logging accelerometers

My background is software development; haven't done any hardware yet.

I'd like to build a logging accelerometer: a solid-state device that can record acceleration on two axes up to around 10G with a sample rate of at least 5kHz. And ideally I'd like to capture the peak acceleration during each sample interval.

Is this a good application for Arduino? If so:

  • How do I find options for readily-compatible accelerometers?
  • Given a CPU board how can I calculate peak sample rate?
  • How do I pick the core hardware? Looks like of the stock boards I'd want the Due thanks to its high clockrate. But I need to be able to power the thing off a battery, and I also need a high-capacity solid-state memory module. Any pointers in these areas?

Thanks for any guidance!