(This is the legacy documentation for SDL2, the previous stable version; SDL3 is the current stable version.)

SDL_SensorType

The different sensors defined by SDL.

Header File

Syntax

typedef enum SDL_SensorType
{
    SDL_SENSOR_INVALID = -1,    /**< Returned for an invalid sensor */
    SDL_SENSOR_UNKNOWN,         /**< Unknown sensor type */
    SDL_SENSOR_ACCEL,           /**< Accelerometer */
    SDL_SENSOR_GYRO,            /**< Gyroscope */
    SDL_SENSOR_ACCEL_L,         /**< Accelerometer for left Joy-Con controller and Wii nunchuk */
    SDL_SENSOR_GYRO_L,          /**< Gyroscope for left Joy-Con controller */
    SDL_SENSOR_ACCEL_R,         /**< Accelerometer for right Joy-Con controller */
    SDL_SENSOR_GYRO_R           /**< Gyroscope for right Joy-Con controller */
} SDL_SensorType;

Remarks

Additional sensors may be available, using platform dependent semantics.

Here are the additional Android sensors:

https://developer.android.com/reference/android/hardware/SensorEvent.html#values

Accelerometer sensor notes:

The accelerometer returns the current acceleration in SI meters per second squared. This measurement includes the force of gravity, so a device at rest will have an value of SDL_STANDARD_GRAVITY away from the center of the earth, which is a positive Y value.

values[0]: Acceleration on the x axis
values[1]: Acceleration on the y axis
values[2]: Acceleration on the z axis

For phones and tablets held in natural orientation and game controllers held in front of you, the axes are defined as follows:

-X ... +X : left ... right
-Y ... +Y : bottom ... top
-Z ... +Z : farther ... closer

The accelerometer axis data is not changed when the device is rotated.

Gyroscope sensor notes:

The gyroscope returns the current rate of rotation in radians per second. The rotation is positive in the counter-clockwise direction. That is, an observer looking from a positive location on one of the axes would see positive rotation on that axis when it appeared to be rotating counter-clockwise.

values[0]: Angular speed around the x axis (pitch)
values[1]: Angular speed around the y axis (yaw)
values[2]: Angular speed around the z axis (roll)