Freescale publishes open sample data sets for inertial and magnetic sensors

On working with the MMA7260Q accelerometer Mike Stanley from Freescale semiconductors writes:

There’s nothing like looking at the raw data, running it through an algorithm and viewing the results to cement an understanding of the technology.

Later, I gathered an appreciation for the need to be able to reproduce my results from one run to the next. I needed to be able to clearly differentiate the effects of a subtle software change versus simple random input variation of one experiment to the next. I started caching experimentally captured data sets onto my hard drive. I invested in a 3rd party inertial measurement unit and the data sets started piling up. Eventually, I developed a standard set of Matlab scripts and consistent ways to view my data. I showed my data set to my immediate manager, and his reaction was “we should share this.”

Freescale has made these data sets available on their website. The company is releasing raw data files, Matlab scripts, and full report under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You can download the entire package as a zip file here.

Via the Freescale blog.

Editorial comment: On the surface, this seems like a noble gesture by Freescale toward the open source community. However, as we researched further it appears that the MMA7260Q accelerometer is no longer manufactured by Freescale. Also, their website links to another obsolete part as the “suggested replacement”.

If you’re really into this type of data modeling and can’t find a spare MMA7260Q gathering dust in your parts bin you can purchase Freescale’s $99 MCF51QE128 Demonstration Board which conveniently includes the MMA7260Q accelerometer.