Table of Contents

Vl6180X - distance sensor

The Vl6180X sensor is a Time-to-Flight sensor measuring precisely distances. The sensor allows you to get precise short distance measurement (from 5 millimeters to 2 meters) as well as long distance measurement (up to 8 meters but with a decreased precision). This sensor is a laser ranging sensor. It is using laser pulses to measure the distances.

Documentation

Vl6180X datasheet

Usage

Important: make sure you properly setup the I2C pins especially for ESP32 before creating the I2cDevice, make sure you install the nanoFramework.Hardware.ESP32 nuget:

// when connecting to an ESP32 device, need to configure the I2C GPIOs used for the bus
Configuration.SetPinFunction(11, DeviceFunction.I2C1_DATA);
Configuration.SetPinFunction(10, DeviceFunction.I2C1_CLOCK);

using VL6180X sensor = new(I2cDevice.Create(new I2cConnectionSettings(1, VL6180X.DefaultI2cAddress)));
sensor.Init();
while (true)
{
    var distance = sensor.ReadRange();
    Console.WriteLine($"Distance: {distance.Centimeters} cm.");
    Thread.Sleep(500);
}

Not implemented

  • ALS (ambient light sensor
  • Range scaling
  • Range continuous measurement
  • I2C Address set
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