Inclinometer probes produce readings that are negative or positive. How does this relate to direction of movement?
The answer involves both the inclinometer probe and the orientation of the inclinometer casing. 1. The inclinometer probe contains two accelerometers. One accelerometer senses tilt in the plane of the wheels. The other accelerometer senses tilt in a plane rotated 90 degrees to the wheels. The drawing at right is a top view of the probe. If the bottom of the probe is held in a fixed position, moving the top of the probe in the direction of the arrows results in positive and negative readings. 2. Inclinometer casing has grooves that control the orientation of the inclinometer probe. Usually one set of grooves is aligned with the expected direction of movement (For slopes, this is usually downhill. For excavations, this is usually toward the area being excavated). The probe travels in this set of grooves. If the probe is inserted so that the upper wheel points to the expected direction of movement, then A0 pass through the casing will show positive tilt if there is actually tilt in that d
