Accelerometer and devices using the same

A method of determining position and acceleration of a moving object which comprises:

• providing a power supply associated with the object;
• creating a constant output light source powered by the power supply;
• transmitting the output of the light source through an optical fiber light transmitter, said optical fiber having a fixed end adjacent the light source and a cantilevered motion and position responsive free end;
• determining light output and position of the optical fiber by a photoreceptor array having a plurality of photosensors, the individual photosensors in the array being arranged adjacent to each other around a central point, said array being located adjacent the free end of the optical fiber light transmitter, the photoreceptor array adapted to detect direction and amplitude of any movement of the free end of the light transmitter relative to two axes of displacement;
• sequentially and repetitively sampling the output of each photosensor of the photoreceptor array;
• conditioning the signal from the photosensors in an output means;
• and
• receiving and processing signals from the output means to show position and acceleration of the object as indicated by inertial displacement of the optical fiber relative to the photoreceptor array during movement of the object.