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Gyro

Questions:

1) What exactly is the technical benefit of having a gyro, in addition to accelerometers?

2) I understand that (if not how) accelerometers can be made with no moving parts. But surely, a gyro does require a spinner of some manner??
 
There seems to be a lot of buzz around at the minute about the benefits of the gyro, many claiming they are a fad. However, the way they are being used in phones is as a means of improving the accuracy of the accelerometer/compass alone solution. As I understand it, while you can get the phones orientation in space using compass and accelerometers, it is a slow process (resulting in a less responsive user experience). For a quick and responsive values, gyros are needed (better games, smoother rotations of screen etc...).

MEMS Gyros, use some kind of vibrating technology in place of actual spinning hardware. Can't say I understand it, but that is as much as I know.

@DontEatPoop, I can't find a whole lot of info about the Droid Pro, have you seen somewhere that it actually does have a gyro?

Slicc
 
well, Heres what one of the motorola people said..

"We already knew that Motorola had plans to release 2-4 new Android smartphones by the end of the year, but what we didn
 
Developers won't develop applications that use the gyro until enough people have a phone with a gyro. Phone manufacturers will likely be reluctant to include a gyro when it has little use with the lack of developer support...

I'd quite like it to catch on, from what I've seen of it on the iPhone 4, it is quite a nice improvement.
 
Jammy said:
Developers won't develop applications that use the gyro until enough people have a phone with a gyro.
Click to expand...
Not necessarily: Since it is basically a refinement of an existing capability, maybe it can be subscribed to in the same way that "Location" can -- coarse (via cell towers vis-
 
The fact that the iPhone4 has a gyroscope means there will be lots of users out there with one. I'm sure developers are working on adding support right now.

Not every technological "breakthrough" comes from Apple, but it seems that anything they have added to their iPhones takes off. Even if the technology existed prior to iPhone use and just never took off prior to Apple using it.

Basically what I am saying is that gyros are here to stay and I think most developers probably understand this fact.
 
the new samsung galaxy has the gyro and it will be everywhere, not just verizon or sprint.
Apple has good marketing but another reason why devs will use the gyro is because the same features are available in one phone for all over the world as opposed to having certain features for this carrier and others for another carrier. Samsung is the first android OEM to realize this but there are still important differences between Sprint's version and the others.
 
KlaymenDK said:
Questions:

1) What exactly is the technical benefit of having a gyro, in addition to accelerometers?

2) I understand that (if not how) accelerometers can be made with no moving parts. But surely, a gyro does require a spinner of some manner??
Click to expand...

1) Much more smooth & responsive.

2) Two ways that I know of. One involves tuning forks and the other involves firing two simultaneous pulses into the opposite ends of a coil of wire and seeing if they come out at the same time.

I can't make any claims as to which of those methods (if either) is actually used.
 
KlaymenDK said:
Questions:

1) What exactly is the technical benefit of having a gyro, in addition to accelerometers?

2) I understand that (if not how) accelerometers can be made with no moving parts. But surely, a gyro does require a spinner of some manner??
Click to expand...


1) I found this helpful http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7JQ7Rpwn2k

2) A MEMS gyro does not require a spinner, as explained in the video (i think), it uses a vibrating structure and can measure angular velocity. Correct me if im wrong but a MEMS gyro can not provide the same information as a mechanical "Spinner" connected to gimbals which can be used to provide orientation.
 
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