Tilt Sensor

Overview

A tilt sensor is a simplified accelerometer. It is a switch that can detect basic motion/orientation. The metal tube has a little metal ball that rolls around in it. When it is tilted upright, the ball rolls onto the contacts sticking out of end and shorts them together.

Shown in Figure 6.1 is the tile sensor SW-460D. The electric characteristics of this sensor are listed in Table 6.1. The minimum tilt angel of this sensor is 2-5°.

Adjustable coupling

• • Sensors Pack for Arduino [KIT_SENPACK]

Specifications

Characteristics

SW-460D Electrical Characteristics

Voltage	Current	Conduction Time	Path Resistance	Open Circuit Resistance	Resistance To Temperature
12V	5mA	20mS	>10M omh	10M omh	100°C

Schematic

Example Project

Hardware Preparation

The following hardware is needed in this project.

• An Arduino Duemilanove board or compatible Arduino controller
• 1 tilt sensor
• 1 Prototyping Shield
• 1 mini breadboard
• A 4-pin pitch pin header
• A resistor and a capacitor
• A few jumper wires

Programming

The program below uses the tilt sensor to control the LED.

Sample code：

<syntaxhighlight lang="c">

int ledPin = 13; // Connect LED to pin 13 int switcher = 3; // Connect Tilt sensor to Pin3

void setup() {

 pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);      // Set digital pin 13 to output mode
 pinMode(switcher, INPUT);       // Set digital pin 3 to input mode

} void loop() {

  if(digitalRead(switcher)==HIGH) //Read sensor value
    { 
       digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);   // Turn on LED when the sensor is tilted
    }
  else
    {
       digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);    // Turn off LED when the sensor is not triggered
    }

}

</syntaxhighlight>