Analog Accelerometer Amplifier and Filter Circuit

Circuit designs I do at home and post on this site will generally be simple enough to implement on a two-layer PCB and exclusively utilize hand-solderable components. This is so I have a chance to actually build and test my circuits on a reasonable budget without a professional rework station, and also because I am using a free and somewhat limited CAD tool.

This is a single-axis analog output accelerometer and signal conditioning circuit. The Analog Devices ADXL001 accelerometer has very wide bandwidth for a MEMS accelerometer, and my intent is to use it in an audio application. I have no idea what the chances of this working are, but I will follow up once I have a prototype in-hand and operational.

As I do not really have any idea what to expect the output levels to be, I made the signal conditioning chain as versatile as possible; R1 and R2 allow me to scale the output, R1 and C8 form a RC low-pass filter, C3 and R3 form a high-pass filter and AC-couple the signal, etc. I chose the opamp to optimize power and noise, and enough GBW to cover the audio band.

The circuit was small enough to finish the layout in only a couple hours. DesignSpark PCB is really great for circuits of this scope because it has a very extensive library of components and is fairly intuitive.

Thanks to OSH Park batch PCB service, I'll be getting 6 board in about 2 weeks for just $17!

Click to View Schematic Full Size