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SENSORS
PROXIMITY
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Using VCNL4010 Proximity Sensor
How to use the VCNL4010 proximity and ambient light sensor with Arduino or CircuitPython!
by Tony DiCola
The sensor uses an infrared LED to bounce light off objects in front of it and time how fast it takes for the light to return. You could do all this yourself with LEDs and light sensors, but the VCNL4010 wraps all that logic up into a stand-alone chip for you! With the VCNL4010 you can easily read the proximity (i.e. if an object is near or far) and even ambient light level over a simple I2C connection.
UPDATED
Adafruit APDS9960 breakout
Digital Proximity, Ambient Light, RGB, and Gesture Sensor
by Dean Miller
This handy sensor is full of features! Add basic gesture sensing, RGB color sensing, proximity sensing, or ambient light sensing to your project with the Adafruit APDS9960 Proximity, Light, RGB and Gesture Sensor.
UPDATED
Adafruit VL53L0X Time of Flight Micro-LIDAR Distance Sensor Breakout
Use the power of photons for good!
by lady ada
The VL53L0X is a Time of Flight distance sensor like no other you've used! The sensor contains a very tiny invisible laser source, and a matching sensor. The VL53L0X can detect the "time of flight", or how long the light has taken to bounce back to the sensor. Since it uses a very narrow light source, it is good for determining distance of only the surface directly in front of it. Unlike sonars that bounce ultrasonic waves, the 'cone' of sensing is very narrow. Unlike IR distance sensors that try to measure the amount of light bounced, the VL53L0x is much more precise and doesn't have linearity problems or 'double imaging' where you can't tell if an object is very far or very close.
Proximity Based Lighting
Have lights react when something gets close. Useful or spooky? You decide.
by Dave Astels
Using a TrinketM0, NeoPixels, a distance sensor breakout, and some CircuitPython code, make a small board that will control lighting based on how close something is.
Screaming Cauldron
This terrifying illuminated bowl will give trick-or-treaters quite a scare when they reach for candy and trip the distance sensor!
by John Park
An IR distance sensor, Trinket M0, NeoPixel strip, and AudioFX sound board plugged into powered speakers combine to make a booby trapped candy bowl. The CircuitPython program measures the distance of objects in front of the IR sensor, and changes the LED colors to match. Then, when you get too close, it screams bloody murder!!
Porting an Arduino library to CircuitPython: VL6180X Distance Sensor
Learn about porting an Arduino library to CircuitPython with the VL6180X distance sensor.
by Tony DiCola
See what steps are needed to take a library written for Arduino and convert it into a module that can work with CircuitPython. You'll see the process of converting the VL6180X distance sensor into a CircuitPython module and learn tips about porting Arduino/C or C++ code to Python!
LPC824 NeoPixel IR Distance Sensor
Drive NeoPixels and a Sharp IR distance sensor with the ARM Cortex M0+ LPC824 MCU
by Kevin Townsend
This guide demonstrates how you can drive NeoPixels and a Sharp IR distance sensor using bare metal C, and the State Configurable Timer (SCT) on the inexpensive ARM Cortex M0+ LPC824 microcontroller.
Adafruit VL6180X Time of Flight Micro-LIDAR Distance Sensor Breakout
Bounce a mini laser off stuff!
by lady ada
The VL6180X is a Time of Flight distance sensor like no other you've used! The sensor contains a very tiny invisible laser source, and a matching sensor. The VL6180X can detect the "time of flight", or how long the light has taken to bounce back to the sensor. Since it uses a very narrow light source, it is good for determining distance of only the surface directly in front of it. Unlike sonars that bounce ultrasonic waves, the 'cone' of sensing is very narrow. Unlike IR distance sensors that try to measure the amount of light bounced, the VL6180X is much more precise and doesn't have linearity problems or 'double imaging' where you can't tell if an object is very far or very close.
Light of Your Life Wedding Bouquet
Beautiful flowers that glow more brightly when your love is near
by Erin St Blaine
Your world gets brighter when she's nearby. Your wedding flowers should too. This bouquet and boutonniere are paired with RF radios and neopixels. The closer the two are together, the brighter the flowers glow. Show the whole world the way she makes you feel.
Quadcopter Spray Can Mod
for sanctioned UAV painting
by Becky Stern
Use some electronics and either parts from your local hardware store or 3D printer to make your quadcopter paint with a spray can!
Calibrating Sensors
Get peak performance from all your sensors.
by Bill Earl
Most modern sensors perform quite well right out-of-the-box. But the sensor is only part of the measurement system. For best accuracy in critical applications, you will want to calibrate.
Magical Mistletoe
Step under the mistletoe and you'll get more than a kiss--the berries light up!
by Leslie Birch
This holiday shed some light on your relationship with glowing mistletoe. The magic comes from a motion sensor, Trinket and LED sequins. When motion under the mistletoe is sensed, the berries light up.
IR Breakbeam Sensors
Get going quickly with these simple IR breakbeam sensors
by lady ada
Infrared breakbeams are invisible to the human eye, so they make for great movement detection circuits, with fairly good precision
Capacitive Touch Holiday Light Control
Quick and easy touch control for your holiday lights.
by Bill Earl
Add touch control to your holiday lights with a stand-alone cap-touch sensor and a metallic ornament of your choice. This simple project requires minimal soldering and no programming at all!
Ultrasonic Ruler
3D Printing, LED and sensors equals ray blaster!
by Ruiz Brothers
Build a hand held sonar measuring tape!
Wireless Security Camera with the Arduino Yun
Build your own wireless security camera using the Arduino Yun & a USB webcam!
by M. Schwartz
In this project, we are going to interface a USB camera to an Arduino Yun to make exciting applications. The first one is to take a picture & upload it automatically to Dropbox when motion is detected. We'll also make the camera stream video wirelessly to Youtube, so you can monitor your home from anywhere!
PIR Motion Sensor
Pyroelectric ("Passive") InfraRed Sensors
by lady ada
PIR sensors allow you to sense motion, almost always used to detect whether a human has moved in or out of the sensors range. They are small, inexpensive, low-power, easy to use and don't wear out. This guide will show you how they work, how to use them, and give you some project examples.
Adafruit Capacitive Touch Sensor Breakouts
Add a Touch Sensor to your Project!
by Bill Earl
With Adafruit's capacitive touch sensor breakouts, you can add touch interfaces and control to anything - no microcontroller is required!
Sitcom SFX Door Trigger
A sitcom soundtrack for your life
by James DeVito
Using a Raspberry Pi, some sensors, and a speaker, you can fulfill that life-long dream of having sound effects play every time you walk into - or out of - a room.