Sensor Data Collection

Collect data from your mobile device position and motion sensors, camera, and microphone

With MATLAB^®, MATLAB Mobile™, or MATLAB Online™, you can acquire and log sensor and camera data from your mobile device. Use MATLAB to process this data in various ways, such as plots and processing images.

You can collect data from these device sensors:

Acceleration
Angular velocity
Magnetic field
Orientation
Position
Camera
Microphone

You can set camera properties including resolution, autofocus, and flash. You can set microphone properties such as sampling rate.

Add-On Required

To access mobile device sensors remotely from MATLAB installed on a desktop or laptop computer, you must also install either MATLAB Support Package for Apple iOS Sensors or MATLAB Support Package for Android^® Sensors. For more information, see Get and Manage Add-Ons.

Functions

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Device Connection and Information

`mobiledev`	Create `mobiledev` object to acquire data from mobile device sensors
`mobiledevlist`	List of mobile devices with accessible sensor data (Since R2020b)

Position and Motion

`accellog`	Return logged acceleration data from mobile device sensor
`angvellog`	Return logged angular velocity data from mobile device sensor
`magfieldlog`	Return logged magnetic field data from mobile device sensor
`orientlog`	Return logged orientation data from mobile device sensor
`poslog`	Return logged position data from mobile device sensor
`discardlogs`	Discard all logged data from mobile device sensors
`readMobileSensorData`	Import collected data file from mobile device via USB connection

Audio and Image

`readAudio`	Read collected audio data from mobile device (Since R2022b)
`camera`	Connection to camera on mobile device
`snapshot`	Acquire single image frame from mobile device camera

Topics

Get Started with Sensors

Sensor Data Collection with MATLAB Mobile
Capture device sensor data locally or stream sensor data to desktop MATLAB, MATLAB Online, or another device running MATLAB.
Sensor Data Streaming
A basic workflow showing how to control remote sensors data from MATLAB.
Process Logged Sensor Data
Plot orientation data logged from a mobile device sensor.

Log Sensor Data Locally

Log Sensor Data Locally
Capture sensor data to a file on your mobile device.

Stream Sensor Data to MATLAB

Stream Sensor Data with Mobile Device Controls
Use the controls on your mobile device to send sensor data to MATLAB running on MathWorks^® Cloud or your computer.
Stream Sensor Data with MATLAB Object Properties
Stream mobile device sensor data to MATLAB running on the MathWorks Cloud or your computer using the mobiledev.logging property.

Acquire Audio and Images from Device

Acquire Audio Data from a Mobile Device Microphone
Connect to your mobile device microphone and acquire audio signals.
Acquire Images from a Mobile Device Camera
Connect to your mobile device camera and acquire images.
Classify Images from Mobile Device Camera Using Pretrained Network
Use deep learning to classify images acquired by your mobile device camera.

Featured Examples

Acquire and Plot Angular Velocity and Orientation Data from Your Mobile Device

Plot data from multiple sensors on an Android™ or iOS mobile device together in one timeline. Measurements of angular velocity and orientation will be collected from the device and plotted over absolute time. This will allow correlations between data from two sensors to be visualized based on the actual time of measurement.

Open Live Script

Counting Steps by Capturing Acceleration Data from Your Mobile Device

Collect acceleration data from an Android™ or iOS mobile device and use it to count the number of steps taken.

Open Live Script

Logging Accelerometer Data

Manipulate and visualize data coming from a smartphone or tablet accelerometer.

Open Live Script

Acquire GPS Data from Your Mobile Device and Plot Your Location and Speed on a Map

Collect position data from an Android™ or iOS mobile device and display it on a map. Latitude and longitude coordinates are used to mark the device's route. Speed information is used to add color to the route. The final result is a visual representation of location and speed for the device's journey.

Open Live Script

Acquire and Analyze Audio Data from Mobile Device

Use FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) to analyze microphone audio data collected by MATLAB Mobile. A mobile device with Sensor Access turned on is required. To turn on Sensor Access, in the MATLAB Mobile app go to Sensors > More, and switch on Sensor Access.

Open Script