This breakout board provides a convenient way to start using the fantastic APDS-9960, a sensor that combines measurements for ambient light, color measuring, proximity detection, and touchless gesture. When connected to your microcontroller or single-board computer it can detect simple gestures (left-to-right, right-to-left, up-to-down, down-to-up), return the amount of red, blue, green, and clear light, or return how close an object is to the front of the sensor. This device uses an I2C interface so it's easy to wire and use.
The Avago Technologies APDS-9960 has an integrated infrared (IR) LED and driver, along with four directional photodiodes that sense reflected IR light from the LED. Its proximity detection feature allows it to measure the distance an object is from the front of the sensor (up to a few centimeters) with 8-bit resolution.Since there are four IR sensors, you can measure the changes in light reflectance at each of the cardinal locations over time and turn those changes into gestures. Standard code libraries can detect directional gestures (left-to-right, right-to-left, up-to-down, down-to-up), but more complicated gestures like zig-zag, clockwise or counterclockwise circle, near-to-far, etc., could also be detected with custom code.
Features:
- Operating Voltage: 3.3V to 5V
- Size: 17.8×17.8mm (0.7×0.7")
- Pinout (5-pins) used for I2C communication (SDA, SCL), power (Vin, GND), and interrupt (INT)
- Control Interface: I2C
We have written useful guides for getting you started with the APDS-9960/GY-9960LLC:
- ESP8266: https://learn.acrobotic.com/tutorials/
