Strange behavior with android orientation sensor
Currently, I'm trying to rotate 3D Cube using orientation sensor values, using getRotation() method. Some unexpected behaviors are observed when the android device is rotated above some bounds. For instance, if I make the device 'stand up', the value of the 'roll' just becomes crazy.
Also I'm experiencing the phenomenon similar to so-called gimbal-lock. The only difference is I'm experiencing the very problem even before applying the sensor values to the 3D rotation. When I try to change the 'pitch' value by rotating the device around only 'pitch' axis, the 'yaw' value also changes according to the rotation of the pitch. It seems completely unreasonable to me.
Could somebody help me?? I'm stuck in this problem for a month.
Answer
This is a common problem with yaw, pitch and roll. You cannot get rid of it as long as you are using yaw, pitch and roll (Euler angles). This video explains why.
I use rotation matrices instead of Euler angles in my motion sensing application. For an introduction to rotation matrices I recommend:
Direction Cosine Matrix IMU: Theory
Rotation matrices work like a charm.
Quaternions are also very popular and said to be the most stable.
[This answer was copied from here.]