Gyro spin meter
The spin meter converts the gyroscope's rotation rate into revolutions per minute. It works for anything the phone can ride on, up to the point where the sensor saturates.
| Sensor used | Gyroscope |
|---|---|
| Unit | Revolutions per minute (RPM), from °/s |
| Useful range | Up to roughly 300 RPM before typical sensors saturate |
| Cannot do | Measure a separate spinning object the phone is not attached to, or high-speed machinery |
The mechanism, not the marketing.
The gyroscope reports how fast the phone turns in degrees per second. Dividing by 360 gives revolutions per second, and multiplying by 60 gives RPM.
The phone has to be turning with the thing being measured, so it must be attached to or resting on the rotating object.
What a phone cannot do here.
- Gyroscopes commonly saturate around 2000 °/s, which is roughly 330 RPM. Anything faster reads at the ceiling rather than its true rate, so motors, drills and wheels at speed are out of range.
- This measures the phone's own rotation. A spinning object across the room cannot be measured this way — that needs an optical tachometer.
- Securing a phone to something spinning fast is a genuinely bad idea. Keep this to slow, safe rotations.
What is the maximum RPM it can measure?
Around 300 RPM on typical hardware, set by where the gyroscope saturates. Beyond that the reading flattens out and understates the true speed.
Can I measure a fan or a drill?
Not safely or accurately. Both spin far beyond the sensor's range, and the phone would have to be attached to the moving part.
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