README
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apple-silicon-accelerometer
Go port of olvvier/apple-silicon-accelerometer — read accelerometer, gyroscope, ambient light sensor, and lid angle from Apple Silicon MacBooks via IOKit HID.
What it does
Reads the Bosch BMI286 IMU and other sensors exposed through Apple's AppleSPUHIDDevice IOKit interface on Apple Silicon MacBooks. Two binaries:
sensord— Daemon that reads raw sensor data via IOKit HID callbacks and writes to POSIX shared memory ring buffers. Requiressudo.sensordash— Terminal dashboard that reads from shared memory and displays live vibration detection, orientation (Mahony AHRS), heartbeat estimation (BCG), lid angle, and ambient light.
Requirements
- macOS on Apple Silicon (tested on M-series MacBooks)
- Go 1.26+
- Root privileges for
sensord(IOKit HID access)
Install
go install github.com/taigrr/apple-silicon-accelerometer/cmd/sensord@latest
go install github.com/taigrr/apple-silicon-accelerometer/cmd/sensordash@latest
Usage
# Terminal 1: Start the sensor daemon (requires sudo)
sudo sensord
# Terminal 2: Launch the dashboard
sensordash
Architecture
cmd/sensord/ → Sensor daemon (IOKit HID → shared memory)
cmd/sensordash/ → Terminal dashboard (shared memory → TUI)
sensor/ → IOKit/CoreFoundation bindings via purego (no CGO)
shm/ → POSIX shared memory ring buffers and snapshots
detector/ → Vibration detection, AHRS orientation, heartbeat BCG
Shared Memory Layout
The shared memory format is compatible with the original Python implementation, allowing mixed Go/Python usage:
- Ring buffers (accel, gyro): 16-byte header + 8000 entries × 12 bytes (3× int32)
- Snapshots (ALS, lid): 8-byte header + raw payload
No CGO
All macOS framework calls (IOKit, CoreFoundation) use purego for zero-CGO dynamic linking.
Credits
Original Python implementation by olvvier.
License
MIT — see LICENSE.
Directories
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| Path | Synopsis |
|---|---|
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cmd
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kbpulse
command
kbpulse controls Apple Silicon MacBook keyboard backlight brightness.
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kbpulse controls Apple Silicon MacBook keyboard backlight brightness. |
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sensord
command
sensord is a daemon that reads Apple Silicon IMU sensors and writes data to POSIX shared memory ring buffers for consumption by sensordash or other readers.
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sensord is a daemon that reads Apple Silicon IMU sensors and writes data to POSIX shared memory ring buffers for consumption by sensordash or other readers. |
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sensordash
command
sensordash is a terminal dashboard that reads sensor data from shared memory (written by sensord) and displays live vibration detection, orientation, heartbeat estimation, and environmental sensors.
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sensordash is a terminal dashboard that reads sensor data from shared memory (written by sensord) and displays live vibration detection, orientation, heartbeat estimation, and environmental sensors. |
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Package detector implements vibration detection, orientation tracking (Mahony AHRS), and experimental heartbeat (BCG) detection from IMU data.
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Package detector implements vibration detection, orientation tracking (Mahony AHRS), and experimental heartbeat (BCG) detection from IMU data. |
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Package keyboard controls Apple Silicon MacBook keyboard backlight brightness via the private CoreBrightness.framework (KeyboardBrightnessClient).
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Package keyboard controls Apple Silicon MacBook keyboard backlight brightness via the private CoreBrightness.framework (KeyboardBrightnessClient). |
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Package sensor reads accelerometer, gyroscope, ambient light, and lid angle from Apple Silicon MacBooks via IOKit HID (AppleSPUHIDDevice, Bosch BMI286 IMU).
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Package sensor reads accelerometer, gyroscope, ambient light, and lid angle from Apple Silicon MacBooks via IOKit HID (AppleSPUHIDDevice, Bosch BMI286 IMU). |
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Package shm provides POSIX shared memory ring buffers and snapshot regions compatible with the Python spu_sensor.py layout.
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Package shm provides POSIX shared memory ring buffers and snapshot regions compatible with the Python spu_sensor.py layout. |
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