Do any of you guys know how to set up an accelerometer like in

>>343790
You'll need a hobby board to connect it to, and to find or write a driver for it.

Either way you'll be writing some C or C++ to use it.

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-mma8451-accelerometer-breakout?view=all

>>343790
What type of g force do you expect? This is only usable to +-8g

>>344034
You can work this out.

Representative model rocket: Estes Commanche 3 upper stage
Unladen mass = 70g = 0.07 kg
Laden mass = 85g = 0.085 kg
Peak thrust = 15N

f=ma; a=f/m

a=15/0.085 = 176m/s^2 = 176/9.81G = 18G

>>343790
How about taking a look at this.
http://www.robotshop.com/blog/en/arduino-5-minute-tutorials-lesson-7-accelerometers-gyros-imus-3634

Arduino has quite a lot of support out there. Sometimes very specific too.

File: IMG_2408.png (244KB, 640x1136px) Image search: [Google]

244KB, 640x1136px

>>344039
Would it be better to use a force sensor in terms of cost and effectiveness? Accelerometers that measure above 16gs cost more and more, so I'm wondering if pic related could do the job of measuring the thrust of the rocket.

>>344056
Theoretically yes. You could use it to plot an event under a known mass and then isolating the acceleration curve from that.

However in practice, calibrating it at first would be an interesting task. Every scale needs to be calibrated to show proper values.

>>344060
What about using an ordinary digital scale to measure thrust? Is that a viable alternative?

>>344095
You still need to calibrate it beforehand in some reliable, accurate and repeatable manner. Remember, acceleration is by default a non-linear event. You need to get the force sensor respond accurately at every point within the range of measurement.

Secondly, you still need to build a data collector around it, either onboard or via RF link between the rocket and ground control.
>The most affordable vs most supported is arguably Arduino solution.

Thirdly, you still need to separately compute the acceleration curve out of the data, either during the data collection phase or afterwards point by point.

>>343790
You're going to need a MCU, I recommend getting an Arduino

>>344095
Why would I need tp calibrate a digital scale? Couldn't I just get some kind pf camera setup to record the readings on it?