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Qwiic Distance Sensor (VL53L1X) Hookup Guide
Introduction
The VL53L1X is the latest Time Of Flight (ToF) sensor to be released. It uses a VCSEL (vertical cavity
surface emitting laser) to emit a class 1 IR laser (940 nm) and time the reflection to the target. (You
can’t see the laser but cell phones can) What does all this mean? You can measure the distance to an
object up to 4 meters away with millimeter resolution! That’s pretty incredible.
SparkFun Distance Sensor Breakout - 4 Meter,
VL53L1X (Qwiic)
SEN-14722
We’ve found the precision of the sensor to be 1mm but the accuracy is around +/-5mm. The minimum
read distance of this sensor is 4cm. In this hookup guide we’ll go over how to read distance, change
ranging modes, and check the status of our range measurement along with the sample rate. We’ll also
check out how to display distance and speed over an LCD display.
Product Showcase: VL53L1X Qwiic Distance Sensor
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Required Materials
To get started, you’ll need a microcontroller to, well, control everything.
SparkFun RedBoard - Programmed with
Arduino
DEV-13975
SparkFun ESP32 Thing
DEV-13907
Raspberry Pi 3
DEV-13825
Particle Photon (Headers)
WRL-13774
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Now to get into the Qwiic ecosystem, the key will be one of the following Qwiic shields to match your
preference of microcontroller:
SparkFun Qwiic Shield for Arduino
DEV-14352
SparkFun Qwiic HAT for Raspberry Pi
DEV-14459
SparkFun Qwiic Shield for Photon
DEV-14477
You will also need a Qwiic cable to connect the shield to your distance sensor, choose a length that
suits your needs.
Qwiic Cable - 200mm
PRT-14428
Qwiic Cable - 100mm
PRT-14427
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Qwiic Cable - 500mm
PRT-14429
Qwiic Cable - 50mm
PRT-14426
Suggested Reading
If you aren’t familiar with our new Qwiic system, we recommend starting here for an overview.
QWIIC SYSTEM OVERVIEW
We would also recommend taking a look at the following tutorials if you aren’t familiar with them.
Serial Communication
Asynchronous serial communication concepts:
packets, signal levels, baud rates, UARTs and
more!
I2C
An introduction to I2C, one of the main embedded
communications protocols in use today.
Serial Terminal Basics
This tutorial will show you how to communicate
with your serial devices using a variety of terminal
emulator applications.
Qwiic Shield for Arduino & Photon Hookup
Guide
Get started with our Qwiic ecosystem with the
Qwiic shield for Arduino or Photon.
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Hardware Overview
First let’s check out some of the characteristics of the VL53L1X sensor we’re dealing with, so we know
what to expect out of the board.
Characteristic
Operating Voltage
Power Consumption
Measurement Range
Resolution
Light Source
I
2
C Address
Field of View
Max Read Rate
Range
2.6V-3.5V
20 mW @10Hz
~40mm to 4,000mm
+/-1mm
Class 1 940nm VCSEL
0x52
15° - 27°
50Hz
Pins
The following table lists all of the VL53L1X’s pins and their functionality.
Pin
GND
3.3V
SDA
SCL
INT
SHUT
Description
Ground
Power
Data
Clock
Interrupt, goes low when data is ready.
Shutdown, can be pulled low to put the IC in
shutdown mode.
Direction
In
In
In
In
Out
In
Optional Features
The VL53L1X breakout has pull up resistors attached to the I
2
C bus as well as the interrupt pin; both
can be removed by cutting the traces on the corresponding jumpers on the back of the board,
highlighted below.
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