Hi Mark;I'd suggest starting with an accelerometer breakout board, like this one from Adafruit:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/2019Just about any would work, but I found the MMA8451 to be well documented, with a lot of example and tutorials online. Most of these chips are pretty tiny, so the breakout board allows you to try them out without needing a custom PC board.
For my project, I started with that breakout board and an Arduino. Once I got it working, I migrated to a custom PCB and a PIC microcontroller.I agree with Mike that wireless might be a problem in the live environment. However, you can always try it, again, with another breakout board. There are a couple that will allow you to easily put together an interface on your smart phone. You can build it, and swap out modules or breakout boards until you find a setup that works.Here's a Bluetooth module, again from Adafruit, that would be worth trying. The Simblee is another good example. It also has an Arduino compatible processor on it, so you could experiment without a separate microcontroller.
