SparkFun

SparkFun ToF Range Finder Breakout - VL6180

Name: SparkFun ToF Range Finder Breakout - VL6180
Brand: SparkFun
SKU: SF-SEN-12784
Price: 46.4 AUD
Availability: InStock

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This is the SparkFun “Time-of-Flight” Range Finder, a breakout for the VL6180 distance sensor. Unlike most distance sensors that rely reflected light inte...

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This is the SparkFun “Time-of-Flight” Range Finder, a breakout for the VL6180 distance sensor. Unlike most distance sensors that rely reflected light intensity or reflected angles to determine range, the VL6180 uses a precise clock to measure the time it takes light to bounce back from a surface. This affords the ToF Range Finder and VL6180 a great benefit over other methods because it can be much more accurate and more immune to noise. Does this technology sound familiar? Well it should, it’s the same means cellphones use to detect when the caller is holding their phone to their ear.

This breakout for the VL6180 is as simple as it gets. Only the required passives are populated to give you the smallest, most cost effective way to use multiple sensors in a project with an I2C interface. The VL6180 is actually a 3-in-1 package that combines an IR emitter, a range sensor, and an ambient light sensor together for you to easily use. We’ve broken out each pin that is required to use the VL6180, including: IO1, IO0, SCL, SDA, 2.8V, and GND. Please be sure to note, however, the ToF Range Finder Breakout only accepts 2.8V input and logic. You must provide a 2.8V voltage source and level shifting to 3.3V and 5V devices.

Note: Though the datasheet states the VL6180 measures an absolute range of up to 10cm, we have successfully tested it up to 25cm. The more you know.

Features:

Operating Voltage: 2.8V
3-in-1 Module
- IR Emitter
- Range Sensor
- Ambient Light Sensor
Measures absolute range up to 10cm
Gesture Recognition
I2C Interface
Two Programmable GPIO
Two Mounting Holes

Documents:

Schematic
Eagle Files
Hookup Guide
Datasheet (VL6180)
Application Note (VL6180)
GitHub (Design Files & Example Code)
GitHub (Library)

Jargon buster

Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.

Ambient light sensor: A sensor that measures the general brightness of light falling on it, similar to how a device can adjust screen brightness automatically. It matters when you want a project to react to room lighting, daylight, shadows, or covered/uncovered conditions.
breakout: A breakout board carries a small or fine-pitched component and brings its connections out to standard, breadboard- and header-friendly pins. Describing a part as a breakout means it can be wired into a project without soldering directly to the component's tiny contacts.
GND: GND is the ground or reference connection (0 V) for a circuit. When connecting two devices together, their grounds must be joined so both agree on what counts as a low or high signal.
GPIO: General-purpose input/output pins are microcontroller pins you can set in software to read signals, switch devices on and off, or connect to peripherals. The number of GPIO pins matters because it limits how many buttons, LEDs, sensors, and other parts you can wire directly to the board.
I2C: I2C is a two-wire communication bus used by many sensors and small modules. It matters because several I2C devices can share the same two wires, but each device needs a compatible address and your controller must support I2C.