This paper presents a method to measure the movement of an object from specific locations on a
straight line using an iPhone’s magnetometer. In this method, called ‘magnetogate’, an iPhone is
placed on a moving object (in this case a toy car) and small neodymium magnets are arranged at equal
intervals on one side of a straight line. The magnetometer sensor of the iPhone is switched on and
then the car starts moving. The iPhone’s magnetometer is stimulated throughout its movement along a
straight line. A ‘sensor Kinetics’ application on the iPhone saves the magnetic stimulations and
produces a graph of the changing magnetic field near the iPhone. At the end of motion, data from the
magnetometer is interpreted and peaks on the graph are detected. Thus, position-time changes can be
analysed and comments about the motion of the object can be made. The position, velocity and
acceleration of the object can be easily measured with this method.