It's easy to use the VEML7700 sensor with CircuitPython and the Adafruit CircuitPython VEML7700 module.  This module allows you to easily write Python code that reads the ambient light levels, including Lux, from the sensor.

You can use this sensor with any CircuitPython microcontroller board or with a computer that has GPIO and Python thanks to Adafruit_Blinka, our CircuitPython-for-Python compatibility library.

CircuitPython Microcontroller Wiring

First wire up a VEML7700 to your board exactly as follows. Here is an example of the VEML7700 wired to a Feather using I2C:

Python Computer Wiring

Since there's dozens of Linux computers/boards you can use we will show wiring for Raspberry Pi. For other platforms, please visit the guide for CircuitPython on Linux to see whether your platform is supported. 

Here's the Raspberry Pi wired with I2C:

CircuitPython Installation of VEML7700 Library

You'll need to install the Adafruit CircuitPython VEML7700 library on your CircuitPython board.

First make sure you are running the latest version of Adafruit CircuitPython for your board.

Next you'll need to install the necessary libraries to use the hardware--carefully follow the steps to find and install these libraries from Adafruit's CircuitPython library bundle.  Our CircuitPython starter guide has a great page on how to install the library bundle.

For non-express boards like the Trinket M0 or Gemma M0, you'll need to manually install the necessary libraries from the bundle:

• adafruit_veml7700.mpy
• adafruit_bus_device
• adafruit_register

Before continuing make sure your board's lib folder or root filesystem has the adafruit_veml7700.mpy, adafruit_bus_device, and adafruit_register files and folders copied over.

Next connect to the board's serial REPL so you are at the CircuitPython >>> prompt.

Python Installation of VEML7700 Library

You'll need to install the Adafruit_Blinka library that provides the CircuitPython support in Python. This may also require enabling I2C on your platform and verifying you are running Python 3. Since each platform is a little different, and Linux changes often, please visit the CircuitPython on Linux guide to get your computer ready!

Once that's done, from your command line run the following command:

• sudo pip3 install adafruit-circuitpython-veml7700

If your default Python is version 3 you may need to run 'pip' instead. Just make sure you aren't trying to use CircuitPython on Python 2.x, it isn't supported!

CircuitPython & Python Usage

To demonstrate the usage of the sensor we'll initialize it and read the ambient light levels from the board's Python REPL.

Run the following code to import the necessary modules and initialize the I2C connection with the sensor:

import time
import board
import busio
import adafruit_veml7700

i2c = busio.I2C(board.SCL, board.SDA)
veml7700 = adafruit_veml7700.VEML7700(i2c)

import time
import board
import busio
import adafruit_veml7700

i2c = busio.I2C(board.SCL, board.SDA)
veml7700 = adafruit_veml7700.VEML7700(i2c)

Now you're ready to read values from the sensor using these properties:

• light - The ambient light data.
• lux - The light levels in Lux.

For example to print ambient light levels and lux values:

print("Ambient light:", veml7700.light)
print("Lux:", veml7700.lux)

print("Ambient light:", veml7700.light)
print("Lux:", veml7700.lux)

For more details, check out the library documentation.

That's all there is to using the VEML7700 sensor with CircuitPython!

Full Example Code

# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2021 ladyada for Adafruit Industries
# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT

import time
import board
import adafruit_veml7700

i2c = board.I2C()  # uses board.SCL and board.SDA
# i2c = board.STEMMA_I2C()  # For using the built-in STEMMA QT connector on a microcontroller
veml7700 = adafruit_veml7700.VEML7700(i2c)

while True:
    print("Ambient light:", veml7700.light)
    time.sleep(0.1)

# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2021 ladyada for Adafruit Industries
# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT

import time
import board
import adafruit_veml7700

i2c = board.I2C()  # uses board.SCL and board.SDA
# i2c = board.STEMMA_I2C()  # For using the built-in STEMMA QT connector on a microcontroller
veml7700 = adafruit_veml7700.VEML7700(i2c)

while True:
    print("Ambient light:", veml7700.light)
    time.sleep(0.1)