Interfacing a gyroscope and accelerometer with the RPZ

Gyroscopes and accelerometers are chips that detect their relative position and movement. They are the core component of things such as quadcopters that need to make fast motor adjustments for the drone to hold a position or move in a particular direction. Let's take a look at how easy it is to integrate a gyroscope with your Raspberry Pi Zero. Could you make your own quadcopter? Here's how you might start!

Getting ready

The Elego kit includes an analog gyroscope/accelerometer, which is easy to use with an ADC such as the MCP3008 used earlier in this chapter. The Raspberry Pi Zero, MCP3008, and gyroscope are all you'll need.

How to do it...

1. If you've kept your MCP3008 connected from the earlier recipe with resistive sensors, you are almost done. Here is the circuit you'll need to read your gyroscope:

   

2. Using the ADC, the gyroscope is easy to read. Create the gyro.py file in the ch9 folder:

       #!/usr/bin/env python 
       # Raspberry Pi Zero...