Average rainfall 2001-2016, global tropics

Map: Average rainfall 2001-2016, global tropics

Sensor Module Project Uno Multi Project

project: VL6810X sketch and wiring - Nano

Thomas Gumbricht bio photo By Thomas Gumbricht

Introduction

This post details how to wire and sketch the VL6180X lidar Time of Flight distance and ambient light sensor to an Arduino Nano board.

The I2C communication bus

The default libraries and sketches for the VL6180X sensor all use the I2C protocol (communication bus). The sensor data is sent in a serial address format using only two (2) wires: Serial Clock (or SCL) and Serial Data (or SDA).

I2C and the Arduino Nano board

Larger boards have dedicated connectors for SDA and SCL, but not the Nano board. Instead the Nano board uses the analogue ports A4 for SDA and A5 for SCL. This is a standard for Arduino boards lacking dedicated ports for SDA and SCL.

Wiring

Breadboard wiring for the L6180X Time of Flight and ambient light sensor.
Direct wiring for the L6180X Time of Flight and ambient light sensor.

Single shot measurement

The code is just a copy from Pololus GithHub repo on the VL6180x sensor.

Continuous measurements

The code is just a copy from Pololus GithHub repo on the VL6180x sensor.

Other alternatives

The post VL6810X sketch and wiring - UNO contains links to alternative sketches that retrieves more information from the VL6810X module.

Sensor Module Project Uno Multi Project