PASCO PS-2136 3-Axis Acceleration_Altimeter Sensor - Manual (Page 2)

3-Axis Acceleration/Altimeter Sensor Introduction
2
Using SPARKvue Software
• Connect the sensor to a SPARKvue-compatible device
and start the software. The sensor parameter screen
opens and shows the list of measurements for the sensor.
• In the sensor parameter screen, touch a measurement
such as ‘Altitude’ to highlight it, and then touch ‘Show’
to open a graph display.
Record Data
• Click “Record” or tap ‘Start’ to begin recording data.
Direction of Sensitivity
The acceleration sensing units inside the sensor are oriented
so that the lines of greatest sensitivity follow the three
arrows indicating the direction of acceleration.
In this orientation, the X-axis direction is ‘positive’ to the
right, the Y-axis direction is ‘positive’ toward the end plate,
and the Z-axis direction is ‘positive’ perpendicular to the
label on top.
Test the Sensor’s Output Using Earth’s Gravity
For example, if
the sensor is on its
side and oriented
with its long axis
horizontal as
shown, the Accel-
eration X-axis
reading is 1.0 g. If
the sensor is ori-
ented with the
X-axis arrow
pointing down,
the Acceleration
X-axis reading is
-1.0 g.
If the sensor is ori-
ented with its the
Y-axis arrow
pointing up, the
Acceleration
Y-axis reading is
1.0 g. If the sensor
is oriented with the
Y-axis pointing
down, the Acceler-
ation Y-Axis read-
ing is -1.0 g.
If the sensor is ori-
ented with the
label facing up, the
Acceleration
Z-axis reading will
read 1.0 g. If the
label is facing
down, the reading
is -1.0 g.
Zeroing the Sensor
The Acceleration Sensor can be set up so that it will auto-
matically zero itself when you start to record data. Or, the
sensor could be mounted in the specific orientation needed
for an experiment, and then set to zero from within the data
acquisition software,
Touch a
measurement
Touch “Show”
Arrows indicate direction
of acceleration
Z
X
Y
1.0 g
-1.0 g
-1.0 g 1.0 g
-1.0 g
1.0 g