AY Honors/Forestry/Answer Key

Compass with inclinometer

An inclinometer or clinometer is an instrument for measuring angles of slope (or tilt), elevation or inclination of an object with respect to gravity. It is also known as a tilt meter, tilt indicator, slope alert, slope gauge, gradient meter, gradiometer, level gauge, level meter, declinometer, and pitch & roll indicator. Clinometers measure both inclines (positive slopes, as seen by an observer looking upwards) and declines (negative slopes, as seen by an observer looking downward).

In aircraft, the "ball" in turn coordinators or turn and bank indicators is sometimes referred to as an inclinometer.

Is shit.... final!

Accuracy

Lika socca bawl!! yeehaww

Sensor technology

Tilt sensors and inclinometers generate an artificial horizon and measure angular tilt with respect to this horizon. They are used in cameras, aircraft flight controls, automobile security systems, and speciality switches and are also used for platform leveling, boom angle indication, indeed anywhere tilt requires measuring.

Important specifications to consider when searching for tilt sensors and inclinometers are the tilt angle range and number of axes (which are usually, but not always, orthogonal). The tilt angle range is the range of desired linear output.

Common sensor technologies for tilt sensors and inclinometers are accelerometer, Liquid Capacitive, electrolytic, gas bubble in liquid, and pendulum.

Tilt sensor technology has also been implemented in video games. Yoshi's Universal Gravitation and Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble are both built around a tilt sensor mechanism, which is built into the cartridge. The PlayStation 3 and Wii game controllers also use tilt as a means to play video games.

Inclinometers are also used in civil engineering, for example to measure the inclination of land to be built upon.

Uses

Inclinometers are used for:

• Determining latitude using Polaris (in the Northern Hemisphere) or the two stars of the constellation Crux (in the Southern Hemisphere).
• Determining the angle of the Earth's magnetic field with respect to the horizontal plane.
• Showing a deviation from the true vertical or horizontal.
• Surveying, to measure an angle of inclination or elevation.
• Alerting an equipment operator that it may tip over.[1]
• Measuring angles of elevation, slope, or incline, e.g. of an embankment.
• Measuring slight differences in slopes, particularly for geophysics. Such inclinometers are, for instance, used for monitoring volcanoes, or for measuring the depth and rate of landslide movement.
• Measuring movements in walls or the ground in civil engineering projects.[2]
• Determining the dip of beds or strata, or the slope of an embankment or cutting; a kind of plumb level.
• Some automotive safety systems.
• Indicating pitch and roll of vehicles, nautical craft, and aircraft. See turn coordinator and slip indicator.[3]
• Monitoring the boom angle of cranes and material handlers.
• Measuring the "look angle" of a satellite antenna towards a satellite.
• Measuring the slope angle of a tape or chain during distance measurement.
• Measuring the height of a building, tree, or other feature using a vertical angle and a distance (determined by taping or pacing), using trigonometry.
• Measuring the angle of drilling in well logging.
• Measuring the list of a ship in still water and the roll in rough water.
• Measuring steepness of a ski slope.
• Measuring the orientation of planes and lineations in rocks, in combination with a compass, in structural geology.
• Measuring Range of Motion in the joints of the body
• Measuring the angles of elevation to, and ultimately computing the altitudes of, many things otherwise inaccessible for direct measurement.

See also

• Theodolite
• Clinometer (forestry)

External links

• Inclinometer Blog - General Inclinometer Information