Clinometer : Inclinometer App For Android

Clinometer is a basic App that uses the onboard accelerometers to measure your device's inclination angles with regard to gravity's direction.

It is a simple and light App with geometric-inspired visuals that may be used as a Clinometer or Bubble Level.

It is designed to measure rather than store data.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Before using, please go to Settings and calibrate it.

The precision of the measurement is mostly determined by the quality of the calibration: utilize a suitable horizontal and vertical reference.

An inclinometer or clinometer is an instrument used for measuring angles of slope (or tilt), elevation, or depression of an object with respect to gravity's direction. It is also known as a tilt indicator, tilt sensor, tilt meter, 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) using three different units of measure: degrees, percent, and topo (see Grade (slope) for details). Astrolabes are inclinometers that were used for navigation and locating astronomical objects from ancient times to the Renaissance.

A tilt sensor can measure the tilting in often two axes of a reference plane in two axes. In contrast, a full motion would use at least three axes and often additional sensors. One way to measure tilt angle with reference to the earth's ground plane, is to use an accelerometer. Typical applications can be found in the industry and in game controllers. In aircraft, the "ball" in turn coordinators or turn and bank indicators is sometimes referred to as an inclinometer.

Hand-held clinometers are used for a variety of surveying and measurement tasks. In land surveying and mapping, a clinometer can provide a rapid measurement of the slope of a geographic feature, or used for cave survey. In prospecting for minerals, clinometers are used to measure the strike and dip of geologic formations. In forestry, tree height measurement can be done with a clinometer using standardized methods. Major artillery guns may have an associated clinometer used to facilitate aiming of shells over long distances.

Measuring slope with a clinometer

Factors which influence the use of inclinometers

(Overall accuracy varies depending on the type of tilt sensor (or inclinometer) and technology used)

Accuracy :

Certain highly sensitive electronic inclinometer sensors can achieve an output resolution to 0.0001°; depending on the technology and angle range, it may be limited to 0.01°. An inclinometer sensor's true or absolute accuracy (which is the combined total error), however, is a combination of initial sets of sensor zero offset and sensitivity, sensor linearity, hysteresis, repeatability, and the temperature drifts of zero and sensitivity—electronic inclinometers accuracy can typically range from ±0.01–2° depending on the sensor and situation. Typically in room ambient conditions the accuracy is limited to the sensor linearity specification.

Inclinometers are used for:

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.

Determining the dip of beds or strata, or the slope of an embankment or cutting; a kind of plumb level.

Some automotive safety systems.

it measures the angle of elevation, and ultimately computing the altitudes of, many things otherwise inaccessible for direct measurement.

Measuring and fine tuning the angle of line array speaker hangs. Confirmation of the angle achieved via use of a laser built into the remote inclinometer.

The USDA Forest Service uses tilt sensors (or inclinometers) to measure tree height in its Forest Inventory and Analysis program.