6DOF or 6 degrees of freedom refers to 3 axis accelerometer (linear) and 3 axis gyroscope (rotation) which ideally is all you need in an IMU (Inertial monitoring system. Well thats the theory, in truth only a few seconds later the numbers have gone to crap...but with some tricks thats no problem. Sparkfun are a neat company that sprung up in the US catering to the hobbyist that wanted to use specialist electronics but might not have the resources. Started as a couple of boys out of collegue they have rapidly gained a repuptation for quality low cost solutions and fun projects. They have a range of modules including a range of inertial monitoring units. We have used these units for some of our sword monitoring and soccer throwing projects(link for this work yet to come) See more DIY accelerometer applications |