Ballistics company Full Flight Technology has chosen a MEMS accelerometer from Analog Devices for instrumented arrows and crossbow bolts.
"The ADXL346 3-axis device accelerometer was selected for use in the company's Velocitip Ballistic System, which is the first ever to use an arrow-mounted device to provide information about arrow speed, flight dynamics and bow performance," said ADI.
As well as the arrow tip, the system has a battery pack, docking station, USB cable and PC software.
It continuously measures arrow drag in flight to provide performance data without needing equipment along the flight route. The archer simply screws the instrumented tip on instead of the standard tip and shoots at the target.
"This is without a doubt the most sophisticated microelectronics technology ever applied to the field of archery," said Full Flight founder Bob Donahoe. "The accelerometer is an essential enabling technology for system thanks to its ability to survive repeated hi-g shock, its small package, and low power."
The ADXL346 measures to 13bits resolution at up to +/-16g (gravity), and is rated to survive 10,000g.
According to Full Flight, with today's archery equipment an arrow experiences >1,000g at launch and >4,000g at impact.
Each tip must be able to survive for a minimum of 100 shots.
During product development, the accelerometer was tested in-situ for 100 cycles at 5,000g.
The 9mm diameter aluminium arrow tip weighs 6.5grams and is powered by coin cells which last for a minimum of 100 shots.
An on-chip 32 sample FIFO stores the ballistics data.