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ADXL35x Series of Accelerometers from Analog Devices | Featured Product Spotlight

April 26, 2017 by Mouser Electronics

Analog Devices ADXL35x series of accelerometers are designed for applications like structural health monitoring, or SHM, and orientation and navigation.

This Featured Product Spotlight is part of a video series exploring the specifications, applications, and market context of new products.

ADXL35x Series of Accelerometers

Analog Devices' ADXL35x series of accelerometers are designed for applications like structural health monitoring, or SHM, and orientation and navigation. The series is comprised of the ADXL354, which has an analog output, and the ADXL355, which has a 20-bit ADC and a SPI interface.  

Now, there are a lot of accelerometers on the market today. So what makes these noteworthy? For this series, it’s their noise performance as well as their stability over time and temperature.

If you look at the accelerometers used in typical applications, like your smartphone, they lack the high combination of high resolution and ultra-low noise that allow you to measure your very small amplitude signals. They lack the stability and tight offsets offered by the ADXL35x series and required by applications like SHM and tilt sensing. They also lack the industrial-rated ceramic package and industrial temperature range that you need when you deploy to these applications.

 

Functional block diagram of the ADXL354

 

With SHM, your measurements are typically below five hertz and below half a g, and most accelerometers perform very poorly in those ranges. There have been studies done to determine whether smartphones could be used for SHM, and what they found was that you have up to a 50% amplitude error, and that highlights one of the key benefits of the ADXL35x.  

Its noise density is spec’d at 25 μg/√Hz, which is four to five times lower than what you’ll find with consumer grade accelerometers. Noise density is a factor that basically sets a floor on the signal amplitude you can measure. In fact, with the ADXL35x can you measure below 1 mg at its full bandwidth, and you can measure even lower as you decrease your measurement bandwidth.

 

Functional block diagram of the ADXL355

 

Another key aspect for these applications is stability over time and temperature. The ADXL35x has a low zero-g offset of ±25 mg, and a low zero-g drift of ±3.5 mg, rated for 10 years. It also has a temperature sensitivity rating of 0.1%/°C. This means that, over the entire -40°C to +105°C temperature range, there will be very minimal measurement variation. There’s also a temperature sensor output on the device so you can correct for variation.

The devices also offer very low-power operation and standby modes, which are critical for battery-powered applications like inclinometers or wireless sensor networks used in SHM.

 

For more info, components, and eval boards for the Analog Devices ADXL35x-series accelerometers, visit Mouser.com.

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1 Comment
  • S
    saregister April 28, 2017

    Can this be used to obtain heading information?
    for example, if I have a stationary platform with one ADXL35 on it, and a rotational platform attached to the first with another ADXL35 on it would I be able to obtain bearing information on the moving platform with reference to the stationary platform?  I currently do this same thing with 3DM-GX3 sensors mounted to two fixtures but they are quite spendy.
    From reading through the entire data sheet for the ADXL354/355 everything is referenced to the g-force and picking up movements, but it doesn’t say what the sensor will read in a complete static state.

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