Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Path: brunix!uunet!charon.amdahl.com!pacbell.com!mips!sdd.hp.com!decwrl!csus.edu!netcom.com!nagle
From: nagle@netcom.com (John Nagle)
Subject: Re: Electronic Spirit Level
Message-ID: <89!n!aq.nagle@netcom.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 92 00:27:26 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Keywords: inclination, balance, mobile robots
References: <1992Aug19.210513.27247@constellation.ecn.uoknor.edu>
Lines: 16

rwmurphr@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu (Robert W Murphree) writes:
>	The heart of the SMARTLEVEL, produced by Wedge Innovations
>in San Jose, California, is a device called a liquid-filled
>inclinometer.  A sealed capsule contains two parallel conducting
>discs with a space, partially filled with iquid between them.  

       Available at Orchard Supply Hardware.

       This is not a new idea; ETAK has built two-axis versions of 
such devices, packaged with a rate gyro, for their vehicle navigation
system.  These were supposed to be cheap (I paid about $125 a few years
ago) and of modest accuracy, but I doubt they still make them.
But the technology is cheap, although there are tricks to getting it to
work well during violent motion.

					John Nagle
