AZIMUTH reading too sensitive on Sony Xperia phone updated with android OS 4.3 even with low pass filter

Question

I am troubled with the too sensitive sensor reading issue with SONY Xperia phone loaded with android OS 4.3 .

My compass orientation and azimuth reading has no issue at all with Samsung Note 3 or S3 galaxy even without low pass filter algorithm .

When loaded to the SONY xperia phone Z series , the compass kept spinning non-stop even when I have applied the low pass filter algorithm ,something I could not understand was it due to recent os update 4.3 or the sensor in sony phone was just far too sensitive?

I have even apply a seek bar to enable the value of ALPHA to be adjusted varies from 1 to 0 and that still does not help at all .

protected float[] lowPass( float[] input, float[] output ) { if ( output == null ) return input;

for ( int i=0; i<input.length; i++ ) {
    output[i] = output[i] + ALPHA * (input[i] - output[i]);
}
return output;

}

Any help or comment are very much appreciated.

Answer 1

Depending on which sensors you're working with (e.g. Acceleration + Magnetic Field), I've had sensitivity issues in the past. The composite sensors (the suitable one in this case might be RotationVector) produce a much better output, especially for azimuth, in that they integrate several of the sensor measurements together.

Answer 2

Thanks for the feedback ,

I do apply the suggested default acceleration + magnetic filed , and then the usual get orientation to obtain the azimuth , the funny thing is it works on all the samsung phone which I guess they properly apply some form of algorithm using the Invensense sensor , whereas in sony phone , such algorithm may be different or not presence .I will try the rotationvector to see if this solve the issue or not especially I also noticed the magnetic reading is also a bit strange on the sony phone on horizontal plane.

App will ensure tgat the phone is to be place in horizontal position before taking reading as such I think gyroscope input may not be needed, although this may be a solution to help to improve the raw sensor data processing as long as it works on SONY.

public void onSensorChanged(SensorEvent event) {

    switch (event.sensor.getType()) {
        case Sensor.TYPE_ACCELEROMETER:
            //valuesAccelerometer = (float[]) event.values.clone();
            valuesAccelerometer = lowPass(event.values.clone(), valuesAccelerometer);
        /*
         * for (int i=0;i<3;i++){ valuesAccelerometer[i]=event.values[i] ;
         *
         * }
         */
            break;
        case Sensor.TYPE_MAGNETIC_FIELD:
            //valuesMagneticField = (float[]) event.values.clone();
            valuesMagneticField = lowPass(event.values.clone(), valuesMagneticField);
        /*
         * for (int i=0;i<3;i++){ valuesMagneticField[i]=event.values[i];
         *
         * }
         */
            break;

    }
    if (valuesAccelerometer != null & valuesMagneticField != null) {

        boolean success = SensorManager.getRotationMatrix(matrixR, matrixI,
                valuesAccelerometer, valuesMagneticField);

        //  txt_read.setText(String.valueOf(success));

        if (success) {
            SensorManager.getOrientation(matrixR, matrixValues);
            azimuth = Math.toDegrees(matrixValues[0]);
            // azimuth=matrixValues[0];
            float vaz = new Float(azimuth);
            //  float degree = Math.round(event.values[0]);

            pitch = Math.toDegrees(matrixValues[1]);
            roll = Math.toDegrees(matrixValues[2]);
            for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
                valuesMagneticField[i] = event.values[i];
            }