Using Smartphone Pressure Sensors to Measure Vertical Velocities of Elevators, Stairways, and Drones

Autor/inn/en	Monteiro, Martín; Martí, Arturo C.
Titel	Using Smartphone Pressure Sensors to Measure Vertical Velocities of Elevators, Stairways, and Drones
Quelle	In: Physics Education, 52 (2017) 1, Artikel 015010 (11 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0031-9120
DOI	10.1088/1361-6552/52/1/015010
Schlagwörter	Handheld Devices; Telecommunications; Motion; Aviation Technology; Aviation Mechanics; Science Instruction; Physics; Acceleration (Education); Foreign Countries; Measurement Techniques; Science Experiments; Uruguay; New York (New York) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Telekommunikationstechnik; Bewegungsablauf; Flugtechnik; Fluggerät; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Physik; Acceleration; Beschleunigung; Ausland; Messtechnik
Abstract	We measure the vertical velocities of elevators, pedestrians climbing stairs, and drones (flying unmanned aerial vehicles), by means of smartphone pressure sensors. The barometric pressure obtained with the smartphone is related to the altitude of the device via the hydrostatic approximation. From the altitude values, vertical velocities are derived. The approximation considered is valid in the first hundred meters of the inner layers of the atmosphere. In addition to pressure, acceleration values were also recorded using the built-in accelerometer. Numerical integration was performed, obtaining both vertical velocity and altitude. We show that data obtained using the pressure sensor is significantly less noisy than that obtained using the accelerometer. Error accumulation is also evident in the numerical integration of the acceleration values. In the proposed experiments, the pressure sensor also outperforms GPS, because this sensor does not receive satellite signals indoors and, in general, the operating frequency is considerably lower than that of the pressure sensor. In the cases in which it is possible, comparison with reference values taken from the architectural plans of buildings validates the results obtained using the pressure sensor. This proposal is ideally performed as an external or outreach activity with students to gain insight about fundamental questions in mechanics, fluids, and thermodynamics. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01