Mobile Computing
Dr. Ayman Alhelbawy , 11th April 2023
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Mobile Sensing
Mobile Sensing
Smartphones (and tablets, etc.) not only serve as
a key computing and communication device, but
also come with a rich set of embedded sensors
Which enables new applications across a wide
variety of domains, such as transportation, social
networks, environmental monitoring, healthcare,
etc Giving rise to new research areas such as
mobile sensing, crowdsensing, mobile data
mining, etc
Sensors & Sensing
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A sensor is a
converter that
measures a physical
quantity and converts
it into a signal which
can be read by an
instrument
Basic Terms
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Transducer: a device which converts one form of
energy to another
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Sensor: a transducer that converts a physical
phenomenon into an electric signal an interface
between the physical world and the computing
world.
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Actuator: a transducer that converts an electric
signal to a physical phenomenon
Sensor Types: Power Supply
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Modulating
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Also known as Active Sensors
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They need auxiliary power to perform
functionality
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Self-Generating
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Also known as Passive Sensors
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They derive the power from the input
Sensor Types: Physical Property
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Temperature
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Pressure
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Humidity
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Light
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Microphone (sound)
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Motion detector
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Chemical detector
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Image Sensor
Sensor Types: HW & SW
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Hardware-based sensors
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Physical components built into a device
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They derive their data by directly measuring
speci ic environmental properties
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Software-based sensors
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Not physical devices, although they mimic
hardware-based sensors
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They derive their data from one or more
hardware-based sensors
f
Sensor Types: Function Type
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Motion sensors
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Measure acceleration forces and rotational forces along
three axes, e.g., accelerometer, gyroscope, etc.
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Position sensors
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Measure the physical position of a device, e.g., GPS,
proximity sensor, etc.
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Environmental sensors
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Measure various environmental parameters, e.g., light
sensor, thermometer, etc.
Sensor Types: Function Type
●
Motion sensors
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Measure acceleration forces and rotational forces along
three axes, e.g., accelerometer, gyroscope, etc.
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Position sensors
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Measure the physical position of a device, e.g., GPS,
proximity sensor, etc.
●
Environmental sensors
●
Measure various environmental parameters, e.g., light
sensor, thermometer, etc.
Sensor List
Smartphone Sensing
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Light
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Proximity
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Cameras (multiple)
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Microphones (multiple)
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Touch
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Position
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GPS, Wi-Fi, cell, NFC, Bluetooth
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Accelerometer
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Gyroscope
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Magnetometer
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Pressure
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Temperature
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Humidity
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Fingerprint sensor
Sensor: Motion and Orientation
• Most of the sensors use the same
coordinate system
• When a device’s screen is facing the
user
• The X axis is horizontal and
points to the right
• The Y axis is vertical and points up
• The Z axis pints toward outside of
the screen face
Sensor: Accelerometer/ G-sensor
•
Measure proper acceleration (acceleration it
•
experiences relative to freefall)
• Proper acceleration is the acceleration of a
body in its own instantaneous rest frame
• Coordinate acceleration is the acceleration
in a ixed coordinate system
f
Sensor: Accelerometer/ G-sensor
• Acceleration is measured on 3 axes
• Note that the force of gravity is always included in the measured
acceleration
• When the device is sitting on the table stationary, the
accelerometer reads a magnitude of 1g
• When the device is in free fall, the accelerometer reads a
magnitude of 0g
• To measure the real acceleration of the device, the contribution
of the force of gravity must be removed from the reading
• When the device is lying lat gives +1g (gravitational force)
reading on Z axis
f
Sensor: Types of Accelerometer
• MEMS Accelerometer; (Micro-Electro-
Mechanical Systems) capacitive
• Piezoresistive Accelerometer
• Piezoelectric Accelerometer.
MEMS Accelerometer
• Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems
• Cheap and small
• Made of components from 1 to 100 micrometers
• Low accuracy specially with high amplitude signals and
frequency
• 1-D only
Piezoresistive Accelerometer
• It works by measuring the electrical resistance of a
piezoelectric material (crystal or ceramic) when mechanical
stress is applied
• It is based on piezoresistive effect (change of electrical
resistivity of a semiconductor when mechanical street is
applied)
• It provides a wider measuring range
• Good for slow changing signals
• Not good to measure weak signals
• It requires a temperature compensation.
Piezoelectric Accelerometer
• piezoelectric accelerometer also based on piezoelectric effect. When
an accelerative force is applied upon it, the crystal will produce a
voltage that is proportional to the accelerative force. Then force
will then be measured
• Good with high frequency signals
• Good for low amplitude signals
Sensors: Accelerometer
• What is the best type of accelerometer to use for
each of the following applications on your mobile
App?
• Accident detection
• Walking activity
• stepping over stairs
• dropping the phone
• What type of accelerometer in your mobile phone?
Sensor: Gyroscope
• Gyro sensors are devices that sense angular
velocity
• Angular velocity is the change in rotational
angle per unit of time. Angular velocity is
generally expressed in deg/s (degrees per
second)
• Could you give some applications that needs
Gyroscope sensor?
Sensor: Gyroscope
• Measures the rate of rotation (angular speed) around an axis
• Speed is expressed in rad/s on 3 axis
• When the device is not rotating, the sensor values will be zeros
• It gives us 3 values
• Pitch value (rotation around X axis)
• Roll value (rotation around Y axis)
• Yaw value (rotation around Z axis)
• Unfortunately, gyroscope is error prone over time.
• As time goes, gyroscope introduces drift in result
• By sensor fusion (combining accelerometer and gyroscope), results can
be corrected and path of movement of device can be obtained correctly
Thank You
Questions?????
