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I'm trying to sense the position and orientation of an object in real-time using an Arduino. I'm able to measure orientation with ease using a 9-DOF IMU.

I cant seem to figure out how to measure linear position. I tried integrating the linear acceleration readings from the IMU (compensated for gravity) to get velocity then integrating again to get position and using filters at each step. Despite using filters I still get a very inaccurate result.

Unless there's some holy grail algorithm that can extract linear position from an IMU I have to turn to other sensors or devices. Are there any sensors/devices that measure linear position/displacement with respect to an origin (start position).

Does the following device or anything similar to it exist?

Is there such thing as device that has a cable/tether that once pulled measures the displacement based on how far its been pulled out and in what direction? (perhaps by sensing tensile forces/directions on the cable?)

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Fred
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Osz
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1 Answers1

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Is there such thing as device that has a cable/tether that once pulled measures the displacement based on how far its been pulled out and in what direction? (perhaps by sensing tensile forces/directions on the cable?)

Yes, a 'linear transducer' or 'string pot' will give you an accurate distance indication, but not the direction. Maybe you can use 2 such devices, to give the distance & angle by triangulation.

jayben
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