Sampling rate between arduino and adxl345

We're trying to program an adxl345 accelerometer through an arduino duemilanove. We have it setup as SPI. At the moment, our problem is that we would like to sample at the maximum rate 3.2kHz of the accelerometer. Currently, we are roughly sampling at 1KHz. However, several values are being repeated. Possibly indicating that registers are not being updated before being read. I am using the micros() command to keep track of when values are read. Attached is code. Any help would GREATLY be appreciated. Thank you.

attempt4.pde (4.07 KB)

Here, let me paste the sketch for you:

//Add the SPI library so we can communicate with the ADXL345 sensor
#include <SPI.h>

//Assign the Chip Select signal to pin 10.
int CS=10;

//This is a list of some of the registers available on the ADXL345.
//To learn more about these and the rest of the registers on the ADXL345, read the datasheet!
char POWER_CTL = 0x2D;	//Power Control Register
char DATA_FORMAT = 0x31;
char DATAX0 = 0x32;	//X-Axis Data 0
char DATAX1 = 0x33;	//X-Axis Data 1
char DATAY0 = 0x34;	//Y-Axis Data 0
char DATAY1 = 0x35;	//Y-Axis Data 1
char DATAZ0 = 0x36;	//Z-Axis Data 0
char DATAZ1 = 0x37;	//Z-Axis Data 1

//This buffer will hold values read from the ADXL345 registers.
char values[10];
//These variables will be used to hold the x,y and z axis accelerometer values.
int x,y,z;

void setup(){ 
  //Initiate an SPI communication instance.
  SPI.begin();
  //Configure the SPI connection for the ADXL345.
  SPI.setDataMode(SPI_MODE3);
  
 
  //Create a serial connection to display the data on the terminal.
  Serial.begin(19200);
  

  
  //Set up the Chip Select pin to be an output from the Arduino.
  pinMode(CS, OUTPUT);
  //Before communication starts, the Chip Select pin needs to be set high.
  digitalWrite(CS, HIGH);
  
  //Put the ADXL345 into +/- 4G range by writing the value 0x01 to the DATA_FORMAT register.
  writeRegister(DATA_FORMAT, 0x01);
  //Put the ADXL345 into Measurement Mode by writing 0x08 to the POWER_CTL register.
  writeRegister(POWER_CTL, 0x08);  //Measurement mode  
}

void loop(){
  //Reading 6 bytes of data starting at register DATAX0 will retrieve the x,y and z acceleration values from the ADXL345.
  //The results of the read operation will get stored to the values[] buffer.
  readRegister(DATAX0, 6, values);

  //The ADXL345 gives 10-bit acceleration values, but they are stored as bytes (8-bits). To get the full value, two bytes must be combined for each axis.
  //The X value is stored in values[0] and values[1].
//  x = ((int)values[1]<<8)|(int)values[0];
//  //The Y value is stored in values[2] and values[3].
//  y = ((int)values[3]<<8)|(int)values[2];
//  //The Z value is stored in values[4] and values[5].
  z = ((int)values[5]<<8)|(int)values[4];
  //Print the results to the terminal.
  Serial.print(micros());
  Serial.print(",");
//  Serial.print(x, DEC);
//  Serial.print(',');
//  Serial.print(y, DEC);
//  Serial.print(',');
  Serial.println(z, DEC);      
}

//This function will write a value to a register on the ADXL345.
//Parameters:
//  char registerAddress - The register to write a value to
//  char value - The value to be written to the specified register.
void writeRegister(char registerAddress, char value){
  //Set Chip Select pin low to signal the beginning of an SPI packet.
  digitalWrite(CS, LOW);
  //Transfer the register address over SPI.
  SPI.transfer(registerAddress);
  //Transfer the desired register value over SPI.
  SPI.transfer(value);
  //Set the Chip Select pin high to signal the end of an SPI packet.
  digitalWrite(CS, HIGH);
}

//This function will read a certain number of registers starting from a specified address and store their values in a buffer.
//Parameters:
//  char registerAddress - The register addresse to start the read sequence from.
//  int numBytes - The number of registers that should be read.
//  char * values - A pointer to a buffer where the results of the operation should be stored.
void readRegister(char registerAddress, int numBytes, char * values){
  //Since we're performing a read operation, the most significant bit of the register address should be set.
  char address = 0x80 | registerAddress;
  //If we're doing a multi-byte read, bit 6 needs to be set as well.
  if(numBytes > 1)address = address | 0x40;
  
  //Set the Chip select pin low to start an SPI packet.
  digitalWrite(CS, LOW);
  //Transfer the starting register address that needs to be read.
  SPI.transfer(address);
  //Continue to read registers until we've read the number specified, storing the results to the input buffer.
  for(int i=0; i<numBytes; i++){
    values[i] = SPI.transfer(0x00);
  }
  //Set the Chips Select pin high to end the SPI packet.
  digitalWrite(CS, HIGH);
}

Your debugging displays, which you haven't shown sadly, let's guess they are something like this:

926,12345

That's 10 bytes including the linefeed. Now at 19200 baud you can send 1920 bytes per second, so you can send 192 of your debugging displays per second. That's about 5.2 mS to send each one. Thus I wouldn't expect a particularly fast sampling rate.

However, several values are being repeated.

Could that not be normal?

Thank you for your help. I wasnt too clear about the display but yes it is in the form of xxx, yyy where xxx is tracking time in microseconds and yyy is one axis of what the accelerometer is sensing. As far as the values repeating they shouldn't because we have the accelerometer on a shaker. We would expect to receive a nice sinusoid however we have something more of a jagged sinusoid as some values are being repeated. From what you explain it doesnt seem like we can accomplish a fast sampling rate. That being the case we might have to approach this a different way. Again, thanks.

Don't forget that it takes processor time to generate those serial strings for your debug display. I see no reason why you wouldn't be able to achieve a fast sampling rate, you just have to optimize your code.

Per the ADXL345 datasheet, register 0x2C set the device bandwidth and output rate (well, the lower 4 bits).
Also per the datasheet, the default output rate is only 100hz.
Nowhere in your sketch do you set the register to the necessary value to set the output rate to 3200hz.

Well hello there. I understand your question and i am experiencing the same issue. To give more details i can read and save 5400 accelerometer value in a second. But as you said some values are repeated meaning that adxl do not give us enough sampling rate. And from further of my researchs adxl is supporting 3.2 kHz of internal sampling rate.

In the below picture i take 15 times 360 samples a second. And the graph inclues only one of it. Meaning that the graph contains 1/15 seconds and 360 samples.

I was expecting sinusoidal graphics but this is what i get. My last idea is to buy analog accelerometer and make samplings from arduino which can give me 10.000 samples a second which is much better.

Hey i've solved the issue with changing the internal sampling rate in adxl.
It was lowered by default i guess. The code is : adxl.setRate(3200);

graph.jpg

can you share your code please