Displaying Accelerometer Values in Android

Question

I am looking for some source code or example code detailing how to display the values of the accelerometer in Android. Preferably, the values would show acceleration in the x direction, y direction, and z direction.

I am an Android noob so any help is much appreciated.

Potential exact duplicate of http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5180187/android-accelerometer — Kurtis Nusbaum, Oct 21 '11 at 22:59
one of the links is outdated, the other is just too complicated for what I'm trying to do. — Slicekick, Oct 21 '11 at 23:03

score 11 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 28 '15 at 21:14

Have you checked out the Accelerometer example in the android samples? You could always try something like this (which I got from here):

 public class SensorActivity extends Activity implements SensorEventListener {
     private final SensorManager mSensorManager;
     private final Sensor mAccelerometer;

     public SensorActivity() {
         mSensorManager = (SensorManager)getSystemService(SENSOR_SERVICE);
         mAccelerometer = mSensorManager.getDefaultSensor(Sensor.TYPE_ACCELEROMETER);
     }

     protected void onResume() {
         super.onResume();
         mSensorManager.registerListener(this, mAccelerometer, SensorManager.SENSOR_DELAY_NORMAL);
     }

     protected void onPause() {
         super.onPause();
         mSensorManager.unregisterListener(this);
     }

     public void onAccuracyChanged(Sensor sensor, int accuracy) {
     }

     public void onSensorChanged(SensorEvent event) {
       //Right in here is where you put code to read the current sensor values and 
       //update any views you might have that are displaying the sensor information
       //You'd get accelerometer values like this:
       if (event.sensor.getType() != Sensor.TYPE_ACCELEROMETER)
            return;
        float mSensorX, mSensorY;
        switch (mDisplay.getRotation()) {
            case Surface.ROTATION_0:
                mSensorX = event.values[0];
                mSensorY = event.values[1];
                break;
            case Surface.ROTATION_90:
                mSensorX = -event.values[1];
                mSensorY = event.values[0];
                break;
            case Surface.ROTATION_180:
                mSensorX = -event.values[0];
                mSensorY = -event.values[1];
                break;
            case Surface.ROTATION_270:
                mSensorX = event.values[1];
                mSensorY = -event.values[0];
         }
     }
 }

Yes, but I don't know how to use that information to display basic accelerometer values. — Slicekick, Oct 21 '11 at 23:45
I see, but in the commented section, what exactly do I need to put in to read the values? — Slicekick, Oct 22 '11 at 00:40
I lifted some code directly from the android accelerometer example and put it in my answer. — Kurtis Nusbaum, Oct 22 '11 at 00:48
@KurtisNusbaum From where you get the mDisplay.getRotation() ?? — KK_07k11A0585, Nov 28 '17 at 09:30
For those who are looking for `getRotation`, use this `Display display = ((WindowManager) getSystemService(Context.WINDOW_SERVICE)).getDefaultDisplay();` — James Poulose, Apr 10 '21 at 05:59

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 17 '13 at 20:47

Here is another example with gravitation, this will return the vector of gravity. Note that you can change the sensor type and the speed of sampling, more details here

SensorManager sensorManager = (SensorManager) getSystemService(Context.SENSOR_SERVICE);
Sensor sensor = sensorManager.getDefaultSensor(Sensor.TYPE_ACCELEROMETER);

sensorManager.registerListener(new SensorEventListener() {
    @Override
    public void onSensorChanged(SensorEvent event) {

        float x = event.values[0];
        float y = event.values[1];
        float z = event.values[2];
        double total = Math.sqrt(x * x + y * y + z * z);

    }

    @Override
    public void onAccuracyChanged(Sensor sensor, int accuracy) {
    }

}, sensor, SensorManager.SENSOR_DELAY_FASTEST);

Displaying Accelerometer Values in Android

2 Answers2