Motion Sensing Series

Opening post of the Motion Sensing series. Sensors are the window through which embedded systems perceive the physical world, and the IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) is the most common type. This article skips heavy theory — just how MEMS sensors work, how to wire them, how to read data, and what the numbers actually look like.

IMU Coordinate System

The diagram below defines the three axes of the IMU — all formulas and discussions that follow are based on this coordinate system: