Method and apparatus of improving accuracy of accelerometer

1. A method of calibrating the accuracy of a 3-axis accelerometer comprising the steps of:

a) holding the 3-axis accelerometer in an orientation and relatively still to the earth;

b) obtaining 3-axis accelerometer outputs, V x , V y , V z , for each respective axis x, y, z;

c) equating outputs V x , V y , V z to gravitational force of 1 g according to the equation,

1 =G x 2 ( V x −V xo ) 2 +G y 2 ( V y −V yo ) 2 +G z 2 ( V z −V zo ) 2 ;

where

G x =gain of the 3-axis accelerometer along the x axis;

G y =gain of the 3-axis accelerometer along the y axis;

G z =gain of the 3-axis accelerometer along the z axis;

V x0 =zero-g output of the x axis;

V y0 =zero-g output of the y axis;

V z0 =zero-g output of the z axis;

d) solving the values of G x , G y , G z , V x0 , V y0 and V z0 ;

whereby

subsequent 3-axis accelerometer output is treated by the values of G x , G y , G z , V x0 , V y0 and V z0 to obtain the component force vectors, a x , a y , a z , along the axes of x, y and z, according to the relationship:

a x =G x ( V x −V x0 );

a y =G y ( V y −V y0 ); and

a z =G z ( V z −V z0 ).

2. A method of calibrating the accuracy of a 3-axis accelerometer as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:

e) repeating steps a) to c) to obtain and store outputs V xm , V ym , V zm (m=1 to ≧6) from the 3-axis accelerometer in the m th orientation to provide a full rank matrix, in order to obtaining the values of G x , G y , G z , V x0 , V y0 and V z0 from the full rank matrix.

3. A method of calibrating the accuracy of a 3-axis accelerometer as claimed in claim 1 ,

wherein solving out the values of G x , G y , G z , V x0 , V y0 and V z0 comprises using the least-squares method.

4. A method of calibrating the accuracy of a 3-axis accelerometer as claimed in claim 2 , wherein

if m≧6 at step e) and if the number of stored sets of V xm , V ym , V zm are enough to provide a full rank matrix, the method of claim 2 is used; and

if m<6 at step e), the method of claim 3 is used.

5. A method of calibrating the accuracy of a 3-axis accelerometer as claimed in claim 4 , further comprising the steps of:

detecting that the accelerometer is rotated into a new orientation before collecting the outputs, V xm , V ym , V zm in step (e).

6. A method of calibrating the accuracy of a 3-axis accelerometer as claimed in claim 1 , wherein

determining that the 3-axis accelerometer is held still in the orientation comprises the steps of:

calculating the composite acceleration vector represented by V x , V y , V z ;

wherein

the 3-axis accelerometer is deemed to be still if the composite acceleration vector is within a pre-determined threshold value.

7. A method of calibrating the accuracy of a 3-axis accelerometer as claimed in claim 1 , wherein determining that the 3-axis accelerometer is held still in the orientation comprises the steps of:

collecting a plurality of accelerometer outputs for each axis within a pre-determined period of time,

calculating the mean and standard deviation between the plurality of accelerometer outputs; and

if the standard deviation between the plurality of accelerometer outputs is within a pre-determined threshold, the accelerometer output is deemed to have been collected with the accelerometer being sufficiently still, whereby

the mean value of the outputs for each axis is accepted as accelerometer output, V x , V y , V z in step (b).

8. A method of calibrating the accuracy of a 3-axis accelerometer as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the method is triggered by a timer.

9. An accuracy improvement unit for a 3-axis accelerometer comprising

an x input for receiving a V x output from the 3-axis accelerometer representing the force acting on an x axis;

a y input for receiving a V y output from the 3-axis accelerometer representing the force acting on a y axis;

a z input for receiving a V z output from the 3-axis accelerometer representing the force acting on a z axis;

the accuracy improvement unit being capable of treating outputs V x , V y , V z as indicative of component vectors of an acceleration force of 1 g according to the relationship:

1 =G x 2 ( V x −V xo ) 2 +G y 2 ( V y −V yo ) 2 +G z 2 ( V z −V zo ) 2

G x =sensitivity of the accelerometer along the x axis;

G y =sensitivity of the accelerometer along the y axis;

G z =sensitivity of the accelerometer along the z axis;

V x0 =zero-g output the x axis;

V y0 =zero-g output the y axis; and

V z0 =zero-g output the z axis;

the processing unit is capable of determining G x , G y , G z , V x0 , V y0 and V z0 from said relationship;

wherein

the accuracy improvement unit being further capable of applying G x , G y , G z , V x0 , V y0 and V z0 to subsequent outputs V x , V y , V z from the accelerometer to provide component force vectors a x , a y , a z according to the relationship:

a x =G x ( V x −V x0 )

a y =G y ( V y −V y0 )

a z =G z ( V z −V z0 ).

10. An accuracy improvement unit for a 3-axis accelerometer as claimed in claim 9 , wherein

the accuracy improvement unit is capable of storing m sets of outputs V zm , V ym , V zm ;

the accuracy improvement unit is capable of providing a full rank matrix from m (m=1 to ≧6) sets of outputs V zm , V ym , V zm to determine G x , G y , G z , V x0 , V y0 and V z0 ; wherein

the m sets of outputs are obtained when the 3-axis accelerometer is held relatively still to the earth, in respective m orientations.

11. An accuracy improvement unit for a 3-axis accelerometer as claimed in claim 9 , wherein

solving out the values of G x , G y , G z , V x0 , V y0 and V z0 comprises using the least squares method.

12. An accuracy improvement unit for a 3-axis accelerometer as claimed in claim 9 , wherein

the values of G x , G y , G z , V x0 , V y0 and V z0 are solved by the method of claim 11 if the stored m sets of V zm , V ym , V zm are not sufficient to provide a full rank matrix; and

the values of G x , G y , G z , V x0 , V y0 and V z0 are solved by the method of claim 10 if the stored m sets of V zm , V ym , V zm are sufficient to provide a full rank matrix.

13. An accuracy improvement unit for a 3-axis accelerometer as claimed in anyone of claim 9 , further comprising

an output unit for indicating the count of m.

14. An accuracy improvement unit for a 3-axis accelerometer as claimed in anyone of claim 9 , further comprising

an input device for triggering the start of a calibration.

15. An accuracy improvement unit for a 3-axis accelerometer as claimed in anyone of claim 9 , further comprising

a time-based trigger for starting calibration at a pre-determined time.

16. An accuracy improvement unit for a 3-axis accelerometer as claimed in anyone of claim 9 , wherein

the accuracy improvement unit determines that the 3-axis accelerometer is rotated into a new orientation before collecting the outputs V x , V y , V z .

17. An accuracy improvement unit for a 3-axis accelerometer as claimed in anyone of claim 9 , wherein:

the accuracy improvement unit determines that the 3-axis accelerometer is held still before collecting outputs V x , V y , V z .

18. An accuracy improvement unit for a 3-axis accelerometer as claimed in claim 17 , wherein

the accuracy improvement unit determines that the 3-axis accelerometer is held still if V x , V y , V z indicate a composite vector within an acceptable value.

19. An accuracy improvement unit for a 3-axis accelerometer as claimed in claim 17 , wherein

the accuracy improvement unit determines that the 3-axis accelerometer is held still in an orientation if a plurality of successive accelerometer outputs collected within a pre-determined period of time for each axis has a standard deviation within a pre-determined threshold; wherein

the mean value of the plurality of successive accelerometer outputs for each axis is accepted as accelerometer outputs, V x , V y , V z .

20. An accuracy improvement unit for a 3-axis accelerometer as claimed in anyone of claim 9 , wherein

the accuracy improvement unit is a separate device to be connected to the 3-axis accelerometer for use.

21. An accuracy improvement unit for a 3-axis accelerometer as claimed in claim 9 , wherein

the accuracy improvement unit is integrated with or embedded in the 3-axis accelerometer.

22. An accuracy improvement unit for a 3-axis accelerometer as claimed in claim 9 , wherein

the accuracy improvement unit is integrated with or embedded in a processor which connects to the 3-axis accelerometer.