Sensing tilt with MEMS accelerometers

A miniature tilt sensor made of standard micro-electromechanical systems accelerometers and with an accuracy of 0.3 degrees over the full measurement range of pitch and roll is presented. Such sensor performance has been achieved, owing to the application of an original method of determining tilt angles, which is described in this paper. Experimental studies performed on a physical model of the sensor are discussed, and ways on improving the performance of the sensor are briefly introduced.