Adafruit VL53L1X User Manual

Adafruit VL53L1X Time of Flight Distance

Sensor

Created by Kattni Rembor

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-vl53l1x

Last updated on 2021-11-15 08:29:56 PM EST

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Table of Contents

Overview

• Removing the Protective Tape

Pinouts

• Power Pins

• I2C Logic Pins

• Other Pins

• Jumper

Python & CircuitPython

• CircuitPython Microcontroller Wiring

• Python Computer Wiring

• Python Installation of VL53L1X Library

• CircuitPython Usage

• Python Usage

• Example Code

Python Docs

Arduino

• Wiring

• Library Installation

• Load Example

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Arduino Docs

Downloads

• Files

• Schematic and Fab Print

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Overview

TheAdafruit VL53L1X Time of Flight Distance Sensor (also known as VL53L1CX) is aT

ime of Flightdistance sensor that has a massive 4 meter range and LIDAR-like

precision. The sensor contains a very tiny invisible laser source and a matching

sensor. The VL53L1X can detect the "time of flight", or how long the light has taken to

bounce back to the sensor.

This breakout ships with a protector over the sensor. It must be removed before

use! See details below.

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Since the sensor uses a very narrow light source, it is good for determining the

distance of only the surface directly in front of it. Unlike sonar that bounces ultrasonic

waves, the 'cone' of sensing is very narrow. Unlike IR distance sensors that try to

measure the amount of light bounced, the VL53L1X 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.

This is the 'next generation' of theVL53L0X ToF sensor(http://adafru.it/3317)and can

handle about ~30 to 4000mm of range distance, with up to 50Hz update rate. If you

need an even smaller/closer range, check out the VL6180X(https://adafru.it/y6B)

which can measure 5mm to 200mm and also contains a light sensor.

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The sensor is small and easy to use in any robotics or interactive project. Since it

needs 2.8V power and logic we put the little fellow on a breakout board with a

regulator and level shifting. You can use it with any 3-5V power or logic

microcontroller with no worries. Works great with the3.3V logic level of a Feather or

Raspberry Pi, or the 5V level of a Metro 328 or Arduino Uno, this breakout is ready to

work with most common microcontrollers or SBCs. and sinceit speaks I2C, you can

easily connect it up with two data wires plus power and ground.

As if that weren't enough, we've also addedSparkFun qwiic(https://adafru.it/Fpw)co

mpatibleSTEMMA QT(https://adafru.it/Ft4)connectors for the I2C busso you don't

even need to solder.Just wire up to your favorite micro with a plug-and-play cable to

get ToF data ASAP. For a no-solder experience,just wire up to your favorite micro, like

the STM32F405 Feather(https://adafru.it/Iqc)using aSTEMMA QT adapter cable.(htt

ps://adafru.it/JnB)The Stemma QT connectors also mean the VL53L1X can be used

with ourvarious associated accessories.(https://adafru.it/Ft6)QT Cable is not

included, but we have a variety in the shop(https://adafru.it/JnB)

Communicating to the sensor is done over I2C with an API written by ST, so it's not

too hard to port it to your favorite microcontroller. We've written a wrapper library for

Arduino so you can use it with any of your Arduino-compatible boards(https://

adafru.it/VA4).

Removing the Protective Tape

Be careful when removing the tape! You don't want to damage the sensor.

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Using tweezers (or some other appropriate tool), CAREFULLY remove the protective

tape over the sensor, as seen in the image below. There is a small tab on the side of

the tape that you can use to remove it.

Pinouts

This breakout ships with a protector over the sensor. It must be removed before

use! See details at the bottom of the Overview page.

Power Pins

VIN - This is the power pin. To power the board, give it the same power as the

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logic level of your microcontroller - e.g. for a 3V microcontroller like a Feather

M4, use 3V, or for a 5V microcontroller like Arduino, use 5V.

GND - This is common ground for power and logic.

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I2C Logic Pins

The default I2C address for the SCD-4x is 0x29.

SCL - I2C clock pin, connect to your microcontroller I2C clock line. There's a 10K

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pullup on this pin.

SDA - I2C data pin, connect to your microcontroller I2C data line. There's a 10K

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pullup on this pin.

STEMMA QT(https://adafru.it/Ft4)- These connectors allow you to connect to

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development boards with STEMMA QT connectors or to other things withvariou

s associated accessories(https://adafru.it/Ft6).

Other Pins

GPIO - This is the interrupt output pin, it is 2.8V logic level output - it can be

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read by 3.3V and most 5V logic microcontrollers

XSHUT - This is the shutdown pin. It is active low, and is logic-level shifted so

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you can use 3V or 5V logic.

Jumper

LED jumper - This jumper is located on the back of the board. Cut the trace on

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this jumper to cut power to the "on" LED.

Python & CircuitPython

It's easy to use the VL53L1X with Python or CircuitPython, and the Adafruit

CircuitPython VL53L1X(https://adafru.it/VA6) module. This module allows you to easily

write Python code that reads the distance from the VL53L1X 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(https://adafru.it/BSN).

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CircuitPython Microcontroller Wiring

First wire up a VL53L1X to your board exactly as shown below. Here's an example of

wiring a Feather M4 to the sensor with I2C using one of the handy STEMMA QT(http

s://adafru.it/Ft4) connectors:

Board 3Vtosensor VIN (red wire)

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Board GNDtosensor GND (black

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wire)

Board SCLtosensor SCL (yellow

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wire)

Board SDAtosensor SDA (blue

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wire)

You can also use the standard 0.100" pitch headers to wire it up on a breadboard:

Board 3Vtosensor VIN (red wire)

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Board GNDtosensor GND (black

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wire)

Board SCLtosensor SCL (yellow

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wire)

Board SDAtosensor SDA (blue

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wire)

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(https://adafru.it/BSN).

Here's the Raspberry Pi wired to the sensor using I2C and a STEMMA QT(https://

adafru.it/Ft4) connector:

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Pi 3Vtosensor VIN (red wire)

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Pi GNDtosensor GND (black wire)

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Pi SCLtosensor SCL (yellow wire)

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Pi SDAtosensor SDA (blue wire)

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Finally here is an example of how to wire up a Raspberry Pi to the sensor using a

solderless breadboard:

Pi 3Vtosensor VIN (red wire)

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Pi GNDtosensor GND (black wire)

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Pi SCLtosensor SCL (yellow wire)

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Pi SDAtosensor SDA (blue wire)

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Python Installation of VL53L1X 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(https

://adafru.it/BSN)!

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

pip3 install adafruit-circuitpython-vl53l1x

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If your default Python is version 3, you may need to run pip instead. Make sure you

aren't trying to use CircuitPython on Python 2.x, it isn't supported!

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CircuitPython Usage

To use with CircuitPython, you need to first install the VL53L1X library, and its

dependencies, into the lib folder on your CIRCUITPY drive. Then you need to update

code.py with the example script.

Thankfully, we can do this in one go. In the example below, click the Download

Project Bundle button below to download the necessary libraries and the code.py file

in a zip file. Extract the contents of the zip file, and copy the entire lib folder and the c

ode.py file to your CIRCUITPY drive.

Your CIRCUITPY/lib folder should contain the following folder and file:

adafruit_bus_device/

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adafruit_vl53l1x.mpy

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Python Usage

Once you have the library pip3 installed on your computer, copy or download the

following example to your computer, and run the following, replacing code.py with

whatever you named the file:

python3 code.py

Example Code

# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2017 Scott Shawcroft, written for Adafruit Industries
# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2021 Carter Nelson for Adafruit Industries
#
# SPDX-License-Identifier: Unlicense

# Simple demo of the VL53L1X distance sensor.
# Will print the sensed range/distance every second.

import time
import board
import adafruit_vl53l1x

i2c = board.I2C()

vl53 = adafruit_vl53l1x.VL53L1X(i2c)

# OPTIONAL: can set non-default values

vl53.distance_mode = 1
vl53.timing_budget = 100

print("VL53L1X Simple Test.")

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print("--------------------")

model_id, module_type, mask_rev = vl53.model_info

print("Model ID: 0x{:0X}".format(model_id))
print("Module Type: 0x{:0X}".format(module_type))
print("Mask Revision: 0x{:0X}".format(mask_rev))
print("Distance Mode: ", end="")
if vl53.distance_mode == 1:

print("SHORT")

elif vl53.distance_mode == 2:

print("LONG")

else:

print("UNKNOWN")

print("Timing Budget: {}".format(vl53.timing_budget))
print("--------------------")

vl53.start_ranging()

while True:

if vl53.data_ready:
print("Distance: {} cm".format(vl53.distance))
vl53.clear_interrupt()
time.sleep(1.0)

If running CircuitPython: Once everything is saved to the CIRCUITPY drive, connect to

the serial console(https://adafru.it/Bec) to see the data printed out!

If running Python: The console output will appear wherever you are running Python.

Now try holding your hand in front of the sensor, and moving it closer and further

away to see the values change!

First you import the necessary modules and libraries. Then you instantiate the sensor

on I2C.

Then you're ready to read data from the sensor, including the initial information

printed to the serial console.

Finally, inside the loop, you check the distance every second.

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That's all there is to using the VL53L!X with CircuitPython!

Python Docs

Python Docs(https://adafru.it/VA7)

Arduino

Using the VL53L1X with Arduino involves wiring up the sensor to your Arduino-

compatible microcontroller, installing the Adafruit VL53L1X(https://adafru.it/VA4)

library and running the provided example code.

Wiring

Wire as shown for a 5V board like an UNO. If you are using a 3V board, like an

Adafruit Metro, wire the board's 3V pin to the VL53L1X Vin.

Board 5V to sensor Vin

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Board GND to sensor GND

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Board SCL to sensor SCL

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Board SDA to sensor SDA

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Board 2 to sensor GPIO

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Board 3 to sensor XSHUT

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Library Installation

You can install the VL53L1X library for Arduino using the Library Manager in the

Arduino IDE.

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Click theManage Libraries ... menu item, search for VL53L1X ,and select the Adafruit

VL53L1X library:

If asked about dependencies, click "Install all".

Load Example

Open up File -> Examples -> Adafruit VL53L1X -> VL53L1X_simpletest and upload to

your Arduino wired to the sensor.

Upload the sketch to your board and open up the Serial Monitor (Tools -> Serial

Monitor) at 115200 baud. You should see the the values from the senor being printed

out.

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Arduino Docs

Arduino Docs(https://adafru.it/VBt)

Downloads

Files

VL53L1X datasheet(https://adafru.it/VB8)

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EagleCAD PCB files on GitHub(https://adafru.it/VB9)

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Fritzing object in the Adafruit Fritzing Library(https://adafru.it/VBa)

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Schematic and Fab Print

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