{"id":1412,"date":"2016-05-12T19:28:51","date_gmt":"2016-05-13T02:28:51","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-07-25T06:52:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T13:52:17","slug":"1412","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/1412","title":{"rendered":"3-Axis Accelerometer Troubleshooting and FAQs"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50%\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"\/product\/3-axis-accelerometer\/\">3-Axis Accelerometer<\/a> (<nobr>3D-BTA<\/nobr>)<\/h3>\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> <a href=\"\/manuals\/3D-BTA\">Specifications and User Guide<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50%\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/product\/3-axis-accelerometer\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/product.3d-bta._hero.001-2.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Troubleshooting<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><b>Primary Test:<\/b> Make sure that the line marked by the arrow on the label of the sensor is positioned properly to measure the desired acceleration.<\/li>\n<li><b>Secondary Test:<\/b> Position the sensor to read gravity effect and confirm that the reading is sufficiently precise.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Additional Troubleshooting<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"\/til\/677\/\">What is the difference between your accelerometers?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/til\/418\/\">How do you calibrate an accelerometer?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/til\/3706\/\">What does an accelerometer actually measure?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/til\/4102\/\">What are the dimensions of the mounting holes on the Vernier wired (BTA) accelerometers?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Specifications<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Power: 30 mA @ 5VDC<\/li>\n<li>For each axis:<br \/>\u26ac Range: +\/-50 m\/s\u00b2 (+\/-5g)<br \/>\u26ac Accuracy: +\/-0.5 m\/s\u00b2 (+\/- 0.05g)<br \/>\u26ac Frequency Response: 0 to 100 Hz<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Calibration<\/h3>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Calibrate? Usually, no. The sensor is individually calibrated before shipping. For some experiments, you may use the stored calibration and zero the sensor before collecting data. For more information, see <a href=\"\/til\/4011\/\">How do I calibrate my sensor?<\/a><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>HORIZONTAL DIRECTION<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you wish to calibrate the sensor for acceleration in the horizontal direction, you will conduct a two-point calibration.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>First point<\/strong><br \/>\u26ac position the sensor with the arrow pointing down<br \/>\u26ac define this reading as -9.8 m\/s\u00b2 or -1 g<\/li>\n<li><strong>Second point<\/strong><br \/>\u26ac rotate the sensor so that the arrow points up<br \/>\u26ac define this reading as +9.8 m\/s\u00b2 or +1 g<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>VERTICAL DIRECTION<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you wish to calibrate the sensor for acceleration in the vertical direction, first decide which direction (up or down) will be the positive direction. Our recommendation is to consider up as positive and conduct the experiment with the vertical direction arrow pointing vertically upward.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>First point<\/strong><br \/>\u26ac position the sensor with the arrow pointing upward<br \/>\u26ac define this reading as 0 m\/s\u00b2 or 0 g<\/li>\n<li><strong>Second point<\/strong><br \/>\u26ac rotate the sensor so that the arrow points downward <br \/>\u26ac define this reading as -19.6 m\/s\u00b2 or -2 g<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Related Products<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"\/product\/25-g-accelerometer\/\">25-g Accelerometer<\/a> (<nobr>ACC-BTA<\/nobr>)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/product\/low-g-accelerometer\/\">Low-g Accelerometer<\/a> (<nobr>LGA-BTA<\/nobr>)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/product\/go-direct-acceleration-sensor\/\">Go Direct<sup>&reg;<\/sup> Acceleration Sensor<\/a> (<nobr>GDX-ACC<\/nobr>)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/product\/go-direct-force-and-acceleration-sensor\/\">Go Direct<sup>&reg;<\/sup> Force and Acceleration Sensor<\/a> (<nobr>GDX-FOR<\/nobr>)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/product\/go-direct-sensor-cart\/\">Go Direct<sup>&reg;<\/sup> Sensor Cart<\/a> (<nobr>GDX-CART-G<\/nobr>)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/product\/go-direct-sensor-cart\/\">Go Direct<sup>&reg;<\/sup> Sensor Cart<\/a> (<nobr>GDX-CART-Y<\/nobr>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Specifications and User Guide Troubleshooting Additional Troubleshooting Specifications Calibration Calibrate? Usually, no. The sensor is individually calibrated before shipping. For some experiments, you may use&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[369,273,1828,720],"class_list":["post-1412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-3d-bta","tag-3d-din","tag-3dmain","tag-maintil"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1412\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}