MEMS Accelerometer

 

MEMS Accelerometers

MEMS - Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems
MEMS is a technology that consists of miniaturized mechanical and electro-mechanical elements.
Accelerometer is a device used to measure the change in acceleration.
MEMS accelerometers are used to accurately detect and measure the acceleration, tilt, shock and vibration.
The most important elements of the MEMS are micro sensors and micro actuators.
These two are called as transducers because it converts one form of energy into another.
For instance, Micro sensors converts mechanical signal into an electrical signal.
MEMS accelerometers are mostly used in smartphones, automobiles and location based devices.

Let us see the application of MEMS accelerometers in smartphones.
Smartphones rotate their display between portrait and landscape mode depending on how you tilt the phone.
It is done by means of accelerometer. It senses the change in its axis and orients the display accordingly.
The change in axis is the mechanical movement and is converted into electrical form.
Likewise it is used in automobiles and location based devices to find speed and location.