accuracy of accelerometers

Question

accuracy of accelerometers

Many auto insurers are now offering discounts for "safe" driving by supplying apps that use the accelerometers and gyros built into iPhones to measure driving. The "trigger" levels for "bad" driving are approximately 1/3 g. My measurements using even the GPS location derived numbers and calculating g levels do not agree. My impression is the insurance companies are assuming the features of the Apple phones are much more accurate than they were designed to be. At g levels below 0.5g what is the 3 sigma range of the measurements of the Apple accelerometers?

iPhone XR

Posted on Jul 22, 2024 8:06 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 22, 2024 8:25 AM in response to KowtownBarbarian

I have been using the AARP SafeTrip app for over 6 months, which does the same thing as insurer’s apps, but keeps the results private to the user. I’ve found it to be very accurate. It’s free; you might want to try it yourself.

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Answer 2

Jul 22, 2024 8:23 AM in response to KowtownBarbarian

I’ve not seen those specs published by Apple.

A tear-down might show the parts, and those parts specs might be available, if the hardware is third-party and not custom Apple parts. I’d suspect the parts are Apple custom parts, though.

That all sounds like a research project for a technically-inclined media outlet.

The location and tracking data potentially collected by an insurance app can itself be valuable, of course.

Some insurance entities buying satellite radio or other vehicle location-tracking data would not surprise.

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Answer 3

Jul 24, 2024 6:16 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

I use the The Hartford insurance app in parallel with the AARP app. My AARP score is 96 and The Hartford app score is 66! Small braking or acceleration infractions (less than 1/3g) gets me 4/5 stars on AARP and The Hartford (the preferred AARP insurer) gets me 1/5 stars on the insurance app. The claim is their trigger point is 1/3 g and my calculations by the mph and seconds says the "infractions" are 0.2g or even less. Insurer does not want to budge so I am questioning with money at stake what is the accuracy of the accelerometer in the phone. I plan to pursue the issue to my state insurance commission for promising discounts and then stacking the deck with inaccurate measuring systems and algorithms. I don't think changing insurance companies will change the game.

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