Hi,
from what I understand, the Edge 1050 (like probably most cycling head units) uses a mixture of GPS position, barometric height measurement and topographic map data to determine the current altitude, and from the amount of altitude changes over a certain horizontal distance, it calculates the current gradient. Alas, I find the precision of the gradient displayed to be severely lacking, in particular when riding on my MTB, with many often massive gradient changes over very short distances. I assume that this is probably compounded by being under tree cover most of the time, which will negatively impact GPS precision, with height measurements often being affected first in that case.
I assume this has been suggested already, but I couldn't find it anywhere, so...
Since the Edge probably uses a pretty standard SoC with the usual set of orientation/rotation sensors, the device knows the direction of "down" (=center of Earth).
So, why not using this sensor to provide a more precise gradient display? To compensate for the mounting angle of the device on the bike, allow users to calibrate this when the bike is on flat ground. That way, the device could show gradients with almost arbitrary precision.
I assume that one factor that might prevent this approach is vibration, which would have to be smoothed out a bit.
Is this something that could be done?
Regards
J