Effects of Misalignments of MEMS Accelerometers in Tilt Measurements

The paper discusses effects of misalignments of the sensitive axes of MEMS accelerometers applied in tilt measurements. Possible ways of reducing the errors due to the misalignment are introduced and briefly discussed. Results of experimental and simulation studies are also presented, including values of the evaluated accuracy of measurements performed by means of a tilt sensor built of two commercial MEMS accelerometers. It was found out that the existing misalignment, being of ca. 0.9 degrees, decreased accuracy of the measurements ca. 3 times, which in the case of aligned accelerometers was no worse than 0.35 degrees. Designs of special precision instruments simplifying the aligning process are proposed.