Digital Accelerometer ADXL345 3 Axis Range: +/- 16g

Accelerometers are used to sense both static (e.g. gravity) and dynamic (e.g. sudden starts/stops) acceleration. One of the more widely used applications for accelerometers is tilt-sensing. An accelerometer can tell you how it’s oriented with respect to the Earth’s surface. For example, smartphones have an accelerometer, which lets them know whether it’s being held in portrait or landscape mode. An accelerometer can also be used to sense motion. For instance, an accelerometer in Nintendo’s WiiMote can be used to sense emulated forehands and backhands of a tennis racket, or rolls of a bowling ball. Finally, an accelerometer can also be used to sense if a device is in a state of free fall. This feature is implemented in several hard drives: if a drop is sensed, the hard drive is quickly switched off to protect against data loss.

The ADXL345 is a low-power, 3-axis MEMS accelerometer modules with both I2C and SPI interfaces. This module features on-board 3.3v voltage regulation and makes it simple to interface with microcontrollers such as the Arduino, Raspberry Pi and other general purpose micro controllers.

The ADXL345 is a small, thin, low power, 3-axis MEMS accelerometer with high resolution (13-bit) measurement at up to +-16 g. Digital output data is formatted as 16-bit twos complement and is accessible through either a SPI (3- or 4-wire) or I2C digital interface. Its high resolution (4 mg/LSB) enables measurement of inclination changes less than 1.0 degrees.

Several special sensing functions are provided. Activity and inactivity sensing detect the presence or lack of motion and if the acceleration on any axis exceeds a user-set level. Tap sensing detects single and double taps. Free-fall sensing detects if the device is falling. These functions can be mapped to one of two interrupt output pins. An integrated, patent pending 32-level first in, first out (FIFO) buffer can be used to store data to minimize host processor intervention. Low power modes enable intelligent motion-based power management with threshold sensing and active acceleration measurement at extremely low power dissipation.

Features

• On-board ADXL345 IC, it's a low cost based accelerometer sensor;
• Supports 5V/3.3V voltage input, onboard RT9161 voltage regulator which offers better performance than 1117, ideal for high noise power supply environment;
• Pins are arrange in 0.1" spacing, which means it plugs directly onto a breadboard for easy prototyping and testing
• Support high resolution readings in all 3 axis
• High output update frequency
• Special Sensing Functions - Motion Sensing, Single and Double Tap Sensing, Free Fall Detection, etc
• PCB board is Gold-plated, Boad size: 2.8 (cm) x 1.4 (cm)

• Using the ADXL345 with Arduino