If the sensors are part of an Inertial Measurement Unit, they often use an ARM processor on board, which produces the data in a number of formats, Euler, Quaternion, rotation matrix, as well as the raw values from each sensor.
The data can be sent to a PC via a serial bus, or USB. Otherwise, you need a host processor (often just eight bit) that takes data from the sensors or the IMU, and again, uploads it to a PC, usually over a USB bus.
Once uploaded to a PC, it can then be saved and processed further.
There is an enormous amount on information on the Web, with applications, hardware, and software for the sensor end of the process.
Find out who makes the IMUs and sensors, from there you can search on specific manufacturers and part numbers. For example, look out for Invensense, Kionix, Freescale, ST Semiconductor, PNI sensor corporation to name a few of the players in MEMs sensors. They often have code and app notes available. Places like Sparkfun electronics and Adafruit sell the units and processor cards, and often have information in forums. If you have the funds, then you can buy hardware with the sensors, which does all the work for you, USB straight to a PC. Typically they are used in industry in areas like crash and impact testing.
Cheers,
Richard
