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Project Notes

#424 VL53L0X/TheToneRanger

A simple modification of the basic VL53L0X example to add audio indication of range.

Here’s a quick demo..

clip

Notes

The VL53L0X is a very small Time-of-Flight (ToF) ranging sensor. It can be used for measurement up to 2m (in long distance mode).

This is a simple modification of the vl53l0x.ino example from the Adafruit_VL53L0X library.

It adds a tone output at a frequency that is inversely proportional to the distance.

In VL53L0X default mode, this results in a frequency range of about 1000Hz (about half a meter away) to 1480Hz (close in). The actual range can be adjusted by changing the calculation that converts distance into frequency.

Construction

Breadboard

Schematic

I’ve actually used a Maker UNO board for this demo, as it has the piezo buzzer built-in:

TheToneRanger_module

Build

Credits and References

About LEAP#424 ArduinoSensorsAudio
Project Source on GitHub Project Gallery Return to the LEAP Catalog

This page is a web-friendly rendering of my project notes shared in the LEAP GitHub repository.

LEAP is just my personal collection of projects. Two main themes have emerged in recent years, sometimes combined:

  • electronics - usually involving an Arduino or other microprocessor in one way or another. Some are full-blown projects, while many are trivial breadboard experiments, intended to learn and explore something interesting
  • scale modelling - I caught the bug after deciding to build a Harrier during covid to demonstrate an electronic jet engine simulation. Let the fun begin..
To be honest, I haven't quite figured out if these two interests belong in the same GitHub repo or not. But for now - they are all here!

Projects are often inspired by things found wild on the net, or ideas from the many great electronics and scale modelling podcasts and YouTube channels. Feel free to borrow liberally, and if you spot any issues do let me know (or send a PR!). See the individual projects for credits where due.