Motion Measurement
MAE 311 Part 2
Principles of Measurement and Instrumentation
Textbook Sections 17.1 – 17.10
November 21, 2024
1
Flow/Motion Measurement –
The Pitch Drop Experiment
Late Professor John Mainstone before the Eight drop 2
Slow Motion Pitch Drop Experiment
Thomas Parnell began the experiment in 1927 at the
University of Queensland (Australia).
Pitch (viscosity is 1011 time water) was placed in a funnel.
The first three years allowed for the pitch to settle in the
funnel.
Bottom stem of the funnel was cut in 1930.
Each drop takes a successively long period of time.
Now the tenth drop is forming since April 2014.
Next drop expected about 2028.
3
The Pitch Drop Experiment
No one has ever seen a drop fall.1
Won IG Nobel prize in 2005.
On April 24, 2014
experiment custodian Prof.
Andrew White decided to
change beakers and the
drop broke off during the
change.2
Live Video Feed3
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZvsrOciU_Q
2. http://smp.uq.edu.au/content/pitch-drop-experiment
3. http://thetenthwatch.com/feed/ 4
Isaac Newton
Recognized that Velocity is the time rate of change of
distance or the derivative of distance.
Acceleration is the time rate of change of velocity or the
derivative of velocity.
Velocity is the integral of acceleration.
Distance is the integral of velocity.
He developed calculus to relate these values to one
another.
5
Other Measures of Motion
Third derivative of distance is the Jerk.
Fourth derivative of distance is the Jounce or unofficially
the Snap.
Unofficially the Fifth derivative of distance is the Crackle.
Unofficially the Sixth derivative of distance is the Pop.
6
Distance and Velocity from Acceleration
(Integral approximation techniques)
v t = a 𝑡𝑡𝑛𝑛 � 𝑡𝑡𝑛𝑛 − 𝑡𝑡𝑛𝑛−1 + v(𝑡𝑡𝑛𝑛−1 )
d t = v 𝑡𝑡𝑛𝑛 � 𝑡𝑡𝑛𝑛 − 𝑡𝑡𝑛𝑛−1 + d(𝑡𝑡𝑛𝑛−1 )
A B C D
1 Time Acceleration Velocity Position
2 0 0.12613916 0 0
3 0.005 0.18196633 =B3*(A3-A2)+C2 =C3*(A3-A2)+D2
4 0.01 -0.07396582 =B4*(A4-A3)+C3 =C4*(A4-A3)+D3
7
Distance and Velocity from Acceleration
Free Fall Motion
8
Noise and Acceleration 1
9
Noise and Acceleration 2
10
Noise and Acceleration 3
11
Noisy Acceleration with Bias (Slight offset)
12
Local Accelerometer Application
Josiah Thomas,
December 2013 ME
graduate.
Worked for RMCI, Inc.
RMCI, Inc. is the most experience helicopter health
monitoring team in the world.
They use accelerometers to diagnose helicopter problems.
Josiah’s first task was to develop MATLAB code for Vehicle
Health Monitoring system.
www.rmci-inc.com 13
Periodic sampling for Velocity Measurement
Use a strobe to freeze motion and determine velocity from
a repeating pattern.
For a strobe rate slightly high than necessary to freeze
motion, the velocity will appear to reverse.
Slow rate down to determine if the strobe rate is the
slowest rate for freeze motion (multiples of the slowest
freeze rate will also freeze motion).
14
Doppler Velocity Measurement
Waves reflected from a moving surface will change
frequency.
Objects moving away from the source will decrease in
frequency (red shift).
Objects moving toward the source will increase in
frequency (blue shift).
Frequently uses sound, ultrasonics, microwaves, infrared,
or visible light (radar detectors and Doppler radar).
15
Elementary Accelerometers/Vibrometers
One time Accelerometers - fracture at specified
acceleration (force)
Bulbs with dye that burst above a specific acceleration
Burst disks
Human sense of touch (able to detect vibration
amplitudes down to 25 nm)
16
Elementary Accelerometers/Vibrometers
Preloaded cantilever beams that break electrical contact
when acceleration is high.
17
Seismic Type Accelerometer
Mass on springs with dampers
Displacement relates to the acceleration of the vibrating
mass.
Multiple ways
to measure
displacement.
18
Accelerometer on a Clip
The auto industry needed a cheap and reliable
accelerometer to trigger airbags.
They developed an accelerometer on a chip.
Common in smartphones and gaming systems.
The acceleration is measured with
a Microelectromechanical system
(MEMS).
19
Calibration
Static
Plus or minus 1 g and zero (Turnover method)
Circular
Centrifuge method
𝑎𝑎 = 𝑟𝑟(2𝜋𝜋𝑓𝑓)2 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑎𝑎 = 𝑟𝑟(𝜔𝜔)2
Periodic (sinusoidal)
Shaker table (derivative of sin(x) is cos(x))
20
Nine Measurements for Full Motion Description
Three axes of acceleration
Three axes of rotational motion
Three axes of rotational acceleration
Sometimes magnetometer for orientation drift.
These measurements are often combined in an Inertial
Measurement Unit (IMU).
21
Accelerometers for Rocket and Ship Navigation
Error accumulation in position can be reset with slower
methods.
Used to initiate self-destruct for rockets moving off course.
Used for ships before Global Positioning System (GPS).
Used to continue positioning when GPS is not available
(tunnel or poor signal conditions)
22
Optical (Ring laser) Gyros
23
Gyros
Used for stability control in airplanes and rockets.
Human reaction time is not fast enough to control the
latest fighter planes.
24
Global Positioning System (GPS)
“Most people don't know what the global
positioning system (GPS) is. Five years from now,
Americans won't know how we lived without it.”
Federico Pena, U.S. Secretary of
Transportation, in 1997
25
Global Positioning System (GPS)
Satellite orbits and positions are well known.
Each satellite has an atomic clock broadcasting the time
signal.
Using the signal from at least 4 satellites your three-
dimensional position and time can be obtained.
4 Equations
4 Unknowns
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/GPS-Satellite-Position-Estimation-from-
Ephemeris-by-Monaghan/51a7b1a262b6e4928d0dace8f8cfa93ae8e0ee75 26
GPS Atomic Clocks
Atomic Clocks in GPS are not as accurate as clocks on
Earth (±1 sec in 200,000 years)
This inaccuracy can make a big difference in determining
location.
GPS Clock time is recalibrated twice per day to maintain
position accuracy.
27
GPS was Inspired by Sputnik
William Guier and George Weiffenbach at Johns Hopkins’s Applied
Physics Laboratory monitored Sputnik’s radio transmissions (Oct
4, 1957).
Doppler effect is used to determine speed.
Realized they had to track
the orbit with multiple
ground receivers.
Spring of 1958 APL director
asked if the process could
be reversed to find the
position on Earth.
https://www.space.com/38357-sputnik-launch-60th-anniversary-space-age.html 28
Global Positioning System
Higher precision is possible with more satellites in view.
Compute signal time to travel from each satellite.
Specific relativity time correction
Time slowing due to the speed of the satellite
General relativity time correction
Time slowing due to gravitational
field.
Compute location (time)
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20190031942/downloads/20190031942.pdf 29
GPS Accuracy
The initial system was only for the military.
The need in aviation prompted a dual-use system
Military had code to get high position accuracy
Civilian use had poor position accuracy position
The high accuracy available initially for the military is our
standard 7-10 m accuracy.
Now GPS Surveyors can get an accuracy down to 1 cm with
correction for local disturbance through calibration with a
known nearby ground location.
Time base accuracy to ±10 ns (±3 m).
30
Navigation Satellite Systems History/Future
1985 Ten experimental satellites to validate the concept.
1989 First Block-II (Gen II) satellites in orbit.
1990-91 Used in Gulf War
December 1993 Full constellation (24 satellites)
April 1995 GPS Full Operation capability for military use.
1995 GLONASS (Russian) with a full constellation
1996 Dual-use system opened up for civilian use.
May 2000 Same precision for all.
2011 GLONASS again with a full constellation
2012 BeiDou Chinese regional navigation BDS (Asia-Pacific)
2016 Navigation Indian Constellation (NAVIC) (India)
2020 BDS-3 Global system
December 2023 EU Galileo global system accuracy to 1 m
2027-2034 GPS-IIIf (Generation III) satellites to launch 31
Accelerometer Projects
Ping pong paddle position
Golf club swing
Baseball bat swing
Drag force on objects
Coefficient of friction
Angle of incline
Forces on a quadcopter
Crash Car
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