📏 Adafruit VL6180X Time of Flight Distance Ranging Sensor (PID 3316) - High Precision Object Detection Review

Works very well with the Adafruit library software, good instructions on the website. The sensor measures distances precisely with a resolution of 1 mm to approx. 200 mm. This sensor is very small and difficult to solder by hand. This module makes working with the VL6180X easier as it also includes an onboard voltage regulator and I2C level switch.

After purchasing the serial packet decoder to monitor the communication I confirmed that I can indeed talk to the sensor unit and it responds but the sensor does not send a distance measurement. I've downloaded a few libraries, made sure the code is ok and the module is initialized, but I'm still getting zero for my range measurements. For 15€ I am not satisfied and cannot return it. soldered the pin to its terminals.

I'm trying to determine if an object in the range of about 30mm to 150mm is moving towards or away from the sensor. Roughly speaking I get updates of 100Hz at 35mm with a standard deviation (static sampling) of 1mm and 50Hz at 150mm with a standard deviation of about 2mm. The refresh rate corresponds to the specifications in the data sheet; the old Arduino Uno doesn't matter. I haven't tested the accuracy as I'm mostly interested in the speed sign, but it seems very reasonable. The only reason…

Works as a breakout board. Contrary to what another reviewer says, this breakout board is not Arduino specific, although Adafruit has provided an Arduino library for interacting with the sensor on this board. The ST VL6180X is a proximity sensor that communicates using the I2C protocol. This breakout board is there so you don't have to design and pin a similar circuit yourself to make it work (the circuit is fairly simple with a few transistors, capacitors and a voltage regulator - the circuit…

The distance sensor is based on VL6180X. Based on the VL6180X, a series of sensors will be built that differ only in the additional equipment. This is basically a well designed and easy to use version. Adafruit adds a few nice touches to make it easier to use. This includes a 2.8V voltage regulator - the VL6180X has a maximum operating voltage range of 2.6V to 3.0V, which means you'll need a separate voltage regulator for almost all microcontrollers to operate it. If you have it on the board…