android accelerometer accuracy is extremely poor

Question

Wrote a simple program that prints out accelerometer output.

mSensorManager = (SensorManager)getSystemService(SENSOR_SERVICE);
mSensorManager.registerListener(this,mSensorManager.getDefaultSensor(Sensor.TYPE_ACCELEROMETER), SensorManager.SENSOR_DELAY_FASTEST);     

It turns out that:

1. The accelerometer output is always set to "lowest" as determined by:

   public void onAccuracyChanged(Sensor sensor, int accuracy) {
     if (collectingData){  
        accelPrecision.setText("accelerometer accuracy: " + accuracy);
     }
   }
   

2. The actual accelerometer readings are very inaccurate - about 2%-5% fluctuations even when it's resting on the table

as far as I can tell it's the same problem on Nexus S, Nexus One and G1

Any idea how it could be made mode accurate / what sets a

Answer 1

Use a filter. You are looking at raw data so of course its going to fluctuate. Something like a weighted average or a moving average will suffice.