Triple Axis Accelerometer ADXL345

The ADXL345 is a small, thin, low power, 3-axis accelerometer with high resolution (13-bit) measurement at up to ±16 g. Digital output data is formatted as 16-bit twos complement and is accessible through either an SPI (3- or 4-wire) or I2C digital interface. 

The ADXL345 is well suited to measures the static acceleration of gravity in tilt-sensing applications, as well as dynamic acceleration resulting from motion or shock. Its high resolution (4 mg/LSB) enables measurement of inclination changes less than 1.0°.

Several special sensing functions are provided. Activity and inactivity sensing detect the presence or lack of motion and if the acceleration on any axis exceeds a user-set level. Tap sensing detects single and double taps. Free-fall sensing detects if the device is falling. These functions can be mapped to one of two interrupt output pins. An integrated, patent-pending 32-level first in, first out (FIFO) buffer can be used to store data to minimize host processor intervention. Low power modes enable intelligent motion-based power management with threshold sensing and active acceleration measurement at extremely low power dissipation.

Specification

• 2.0-3.6VDC Supply Voltage
• Ultra Low Power: 40uA in measurement mode, 0.1uA in standby@ 2.5V
• Tap/Double Tap Detection
• Free-Fall Detection
• SPI and I2C interfaces

Hooking it Up:

Here is the guide illustrates how to connect an Arduino to the ADXL345 breakout board. The following is a table describing which pins on the Arduino should be connected to the pins on the accelerometer:

Test Code: 

//Add the SPI library so we can communicate with the ADXL345 sensor
#include <SPI.h>

//Assign the Chip Select signal to pin 10.
int CS=10;

//This is a list of some of the registers available on the ADXL345.
//To learn more about these and the rest of the registers on the ADXL345, read the datasheet!
char POWER_CTL = 0x2D;    //Power Control Register
char DATA_FORMAT = 0x31;
char DATAX0 = 0x32;    //X-Axis Data 0
char DATAX1 = 0x33;    //X-Axis Data 1
char DATAY0 = 0x34;    //Y-Axis Data 0
char DATAY1 = 0x35;    //Y-Axis Data 1
char DATAZ0 = 0x36;    //Z-Axis Data 0
char DATAZ1 = 0x37;    //Z-Axis Data 1

//This buffer will hold values read from the ADXL345 registers.
char values[10];
//These variables will be used to hold the x,y and z axis accelerometer values.
int x,y,z;

void setup(){
  //Initiate an SPI communication instance.
  SPI.begin();
  //Configure the SPI connection for the ADXL345.
  SPI.setDataMode(SPI_MODE3);
  //Create a serial connection to display the data on the terminal.
  Serial.begin(9600);
 
  //Set up the Chip Select pin to be an output from the Arduino.
  pinMode(CS, OUTPUT);
  //Before communication starts, the Chip Select pin needs to be set high.
  digitalWrite(CS, HIGH);
 
  //Put the ADXL345 into +/- 4G range by writing the value 0x01 to the DATA_FORMAT register.
  writeRegister(DATA_FORMAT, 0x01);
  //Put the ADXL345 into Measurement Mode by writing 0x08 to the POWER_CTL register.
  writeRegister(POWER_CTL, 0x08);  //Measurement mode  
}

void loop(){
  //Reading 6 bytes of data starting at register DATAX0 will retrieve the x,y and z acceleration values from the ADXL345.
  //The results of the read operation will get stored to the values[] buffer.
  readRegister(DATAX0, 6, values);

  //The ADXL345 gives 10-bit acceleration values, but they are stored as bytes (8-bits). To get the full value, two bytes must be combined for each axis.
  //The X value is stored in values[0] and values[1].
  x = ((int)values[1]<<8)|(int)values[0];
  //The Y value is stored in values[2] and values[3].
  y = ((int)values[3]<<8)|(int)values[2];
  //The Z value is stored in values[4] and values[5].
  z = ((int)values[5]<<8)|(int)values[4];
 
  //Print the results to the terminal.
  Serial.print(x, DEC);
  Serial.print(',');
  Serial.print(y, DEC);
  Serial.print(',');
  Serial.println(z, DEC);      
  delay(10);
}

//This function will write a value to a register on the ADXL345.
//Parameters:
//  char registerAddress - The register to write a value to
//  char value - The value to be written to the specified register.
void writeRegister(char registerAddress, char value){
  //Set Chip Select pin low to signal the beginning of an SPI packet.
  digitalWrite(CS, LOW);
  //Transfer the register address over SPI.
  SPI.transfer(registerAddress);
  //Transfer the desired register value over SPI.
  SPI.transfer(value);
  //Set the Chip Select pin high to signal the end of an SPI packet.
  digitalWrite(CS, HIGH);
}

//This function will read a certain number of registers starting from a specified address and store their values in a buffer.
//Parameters:
//  char registerAddress - The register addresse to start the read sequence from.
//  int numBytes - The number of registers that should be read.
//  char * values - A pointer to a buffer where the results of the operation should be stored.
void readRegister(char registerAddress, int numBytes, char * values){
  //Since we're performing a read operation, the most significant bit of the register address should be set.
  char address = 0x80 | registerAddress;
  //If we're doing a multi-byte read, bit 6 needs to be set as well.
  if(numBytes > 1)address = address | 0x40;
 
  //Set the Chip select pin low to start an SPI packet.
  digitalWrite(CS, LOW);
  //Transfer the starting register address that needs to be read.
  SPI.transfer(address);
  //Continue to read registers until we've read the number specified, storing the results to the input buffer.
  for(int i=0; i<numBytes; i++){
    values[i] = SPI.transfer(0x00);
  }
  //Set the Chips Select pin high to end the SPI packet.
  digitalWrite(CS, HIGH);
}