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APDS-9960 RGB and Gesture Sensor Hookup
Guide
Introduction
Touchless gestures are the new frontier in the world of human-machine
interfaces. By swiping your hand over a sensor, you can control a
computer, microcontroller, robot, etc. One manufacturer has even created a
touchless toilet that flushes when you move your hand over the tank. The
Avago APDS-9960 offers ambient light and color (as clear, red, green, and
blue) measuring, proximity detection, and gesture sensing.
The APDS-9960 RGB and Gesture Sensor board breaks out the pins on
the Avago APDS-9960 so you can easily use it in a variety of projects. The
APDS-9960 uses the I2C interface for communications.
Covered In This Tutorial
In this tutorial, we will give an overview of the APDS-9960 sensor board
and provide an example hookup and code. The tutorial is split into the
following sections:
• Board Overview – To begin, we’ll go over each of the pins on the
breakout board and their function. This section also overviews the
jumpers on the front of the board.
• Hardware Hookup – In this section, we’ll show you how to hook the
APDS-9960 up to an Arduino to detect gestures via I2C.
• Arduino Library Installation – Here, we download and install the
APDS-9960 Arduino library.
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• Gesture Sensing Example – We try out the sensor with the the
GestureTest example.
• Resources and Going Further – You made a simple gesture sensor,
but where do you go from there? This section gives you some
additional resources for getting more use out of the APDS-9960.
Materials Used
You will need a few components and tools to follow along with this tutorial.
Here is what you will need:
APDS-9960 Hookup Guide SparkFun Wish List
SparkFun RGB and Gesture Sensor - APDS-9960
SEN-12787
This is the SparkFun RGB and Gesture Sensor, a small breakout boa…
Breadboard - Mini Modular (White)
PRT-12043
This white Mini Breadboard is a great way to prototype your small proj…
Jumper Wires Standard 7" M/M Pack of 30
PRT-11026
If you need to knock up a quick prototype there's nothing like having a…
Break Away Headers - Straight
PRT-00116
A row of headers - break to fit. 40 pins that can be cut to any size. Us…
SparkFun USB Mini-B Cable - 6 Foot
CAB-11301
This is a USB 2.0 type A to Mini-B 5-pin cable. You know, the mini-B…
SparkFun FTDI Basic Breakout - 3.3V
DEV-09873
This is the newest revision of our [FTDI Basic](http://www.sparkfun.co…
Arduino Pro 328 - 3.3V/8MHz
DEV-10914
It's blue! It's skinny! It's the Arduino Pro! SparkFun's minimal design a…
If you do not have specifically a 3.3V Arduino Pro, there are a number of
ways to complete the walkthrough. In general, you will need:
• Arduino or other microcontroller – You will need something that is
capable of I2C and communicating back to the computer (e.g. serial
communications). The microcontroller needs to have a 3.3V I/O
voltage or you will have to use a level shifter. We are using the 3.3V
Arduino Pro, but the 3.3V Arduino Pro Mini would work as well.
• Level shifting – If you are using a 5V Arduino, like the Uno or
RedBoard, you will need to use a level shifter, such as the bidirectional logic level converter.
• Connectors – You will need to interface your microcontroller with the
breakout board. Male headers are perfect if you’re using a
breadboard. Another option is to use wire to connect the breakout
board directly to the microcontroller.
• Soldering tools – After you’ve picked a connector, you will need to
solder it to the breakout board. A simple soldering iron and some
solder should be all you need.
Recommended Reading
Before getting started with the APDS-9960, there are a few concepts that
you should be familiar with. Consider reading some of these tutorials before
continuing:
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• What is an Arduino? – We will use an Arduino to control the APDS9960
• I2C – I2C is the communication protocol used by the APDS-9960
• Serial Communication – We use serial communications (with the
FTDI breakout board) to program the Arduino and provide
information to our computer from the Arduino
• How to Use a Breadboard – The breadboard ties the Arduino to the
APDS-9960 breakout board
Board Overview
Pin Descriptions
The APDS-9960 breakout board provides 6 pins to provide power to the
sensor and I2C bus.
Pin
Label
Description
VL
Optional power to the IR LED if PS jumper is disconnected.
Must be 3.0 - 4.5V
GND
Connect to ground.
VCC
Used to power the APDS-9960 sensor. Must be 2.4 - 3.6V
SDA
I2C data
SCL
I2C clock
INT
External interrupt pin. Active LOW on interrupt event
Setting the Jumpers
On the front of the breakout board are 2 solder jumpers:
• PS – This jumper connects the power supplies of the sensor and IR
LED (also located on the APDS-9960) together. When the jumper is
closed (i.e. connected), you only need to supply power to the VCC
pin to power both the sensor and the IR LED. If the jumper is open,
you need to provide power to both the VCC (2.4 - 3.6V) and VL (3.0 4.5V) pins separately. This jumper is closed by default.
• I2C PU – This is a 3-way solder jumper that is used to connect and
disconnect the I2C pullup resistors. By default, this jumper is closed,
which means that both SDA and SCL lines have connected pullup
resistors on the breakout board. Use some solder wick to open the
jumper if you do not need the pullup resistors (e.g. you have pullup
resistors that are located on the I2C bus somewhere else).
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Hardware Hookup
Add Headers
Solder a row of break away male headers to the 6 headers holes on the
board.
Connect the Breakout Board
We will be using the Arduino Pro’s regulated 3.3V power and I2C bus with
the APDS-9960. Note that we are leaving VL on the breakout board
unconnected.
IMPORTANT: You must use 3.3V! If you try to use a 5V power supply or
5V I2C communications, you risk damaging the APDS-9960. If you are
using a 5V Arduino (e.g. UNO), then you need to have some kind of level
shifting.
Connect the breakout board to the following pins on the Arduino:
APDS-9960 Breakout Board Arduino Pro 3.3V
GND
GND
VCC
VCC
SDA
A4
SCL
A5
INT
2
Arduino Library Installation
To use the APDS-9960, you will need some supporting software. If you are
using an Arduino, then you are in luck! We created an Arduino library that
makes the APDS-9960 easy to use. Click the button below to download the
latest version of the APDS-9960 breakout board project, which includes the
Arduino library.
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D O W N L O A D T H E P RO J EC T F I L ES !
Unzip the downloaded file and navigate to \APDS-9960_RGB_and_Gesture_Sensor-master\APDS9960_RGB_and_Gesture_Sensor-master\Libraries.
Note: the directory names in this picture have changed slightly since the
Arduino 1.6.3 update.
Follow this guide on installing Arduino libraries to install the files within the
SparkFun_APDS9960 directory as an Arduino library.
Gesture Sensing Example
Load the GestureTest Example
Open up the Arduino program and select File → Examples →
SparkFun_APDS9960 → GestureTest.
Plug in your FTDI Breakout (3.3V) to the Arduino Pro (3.3V). Attach a USB
mini cable from your computer to the FTDI Breakout. If you have not
previously done so, install the FTDI drivers.
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For reference, here is the GestureTest.ino sketch.
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/*************************************************************
***
GestureTest.ino
APDS9960 RGB and Gesture Sensor
Shawn Hymel @ SparkFun Electronics
May 30, 2014
https://github.com/sparkfun/APDS9960_RGB_and_Gesture_Sensor
Tests the gesture sensing abilities of the APDS9960. Configur
es
APDS9960 over I2C and waits for gesture events. Calculates th
e
direction of the swipe (up, down, left, right) and displays it
on a serial console.
To perform a NEAR gesture, hold your hand
far above the sensor and move it close to the sensor (within 2
inches). Hold your hand there for at least 1 second and move i
t
away.
To perform a FAR gesture, hold your hand within 2 inches of th
e
sensor for at least 1 second and then move it above (out of
range) of the sensor.
Hardware Connections:
IMPORTANT: The APDS9960 can only accept 3.3V!
Arduino Pin APDS9960 Board Function
3.3V VCC Power
GND GND Ground
A4 SDA I2C Data
A5 SCL I2C Clock
2 INT Interrupt
Resources:
Include Wire.h and SparkFun_APDS9960.h
Development environment specifics:
Written in Arduino 1.0.5
Tested with SparkFun Arduino Pro Mini 3.3V
This code is beerware; if you see me (or any other SparkFun
employee) at the local, and you've found our code helpful, ple
ase
buy us a round!
Distributed asis; no warranty is given.
**************************************************************
**/
#include
#include
// Pins
#define APDS9960_INT 2 // Needs to be an interrupt pin
// Constants
// Global Variables
SparkFun_APDS9960 apds = SparkFun_APDS9960();
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int isr_flag = 0;
void setup() {
// Initialize Serial port
Serial.begin(9600);
Serial.println();
Serial.println(F(""));
Serial.println(F("SparkFun APDS9960 GestureTest"));
Serial.println(F(""));
// Initialize interrupt service routine
attachInterrupt(0, interruptRoutine, FALLING);
// Initialize APDS9960 (configure I2C and initial values)
if ( apds.init() ) {
Serial.println(F("APDS9960 initialization complete"));
} else {
Serial.println(F("Something went wrong during APDS9960 in
it!"));
}
// Start running the APDS9960 gesture sensor engine
if ( apds.enableGestureSensor(true) ) {
Serial.println(F("Gesture sensor is now running"));
} else {
Serial.println(F("Something went wrong during gesture sens
or init!"));
}
}
void loop() {
if( isr_flag == 1 ) {
detachInterrupt(0);
handleGesture();
isr_flag = 0;
attachInterrupt(0, interruptRoutine, FALLING);
}
}
void interruptRoutine() {
isr_flag = 1;
}
void handleGesture() {
if ( apds.isGestureAvailable() ) {
switch ( apds.readGesture() ) {
case DIR_UP:
Serial.println("UP");
break;
case DIR_DOWN:
Serial.println("DOWN");
break;
case DIR_LEFT:
Serial.println("LEFT");
break;
case DIR_RIGHT:
Serial.println("RIGHT");
break;
case DIR_NEAR:
Serial.println("NEAR");
break;
case DIR_FAR:
Serial.println("FAR");
break;
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default:
Serial.println("NONE");
}
}
}
Run
Make sure you have the correct serial port selected under Tools → Serial
Port and “Arduino Pro or Pro Mini (3.3V, 8MHz) w/ ATmega328” selected
under Tools → Board. If you have never used the Arduino IDE before, this
turoial should get you started.
Click the Upload button and wait for the program to finish uploading to the
Arduino. Select Tools → Serial Monitor to open up the serial terminal. More
info on the Serial Terminal can be found here. You should see a couple of
messages noting that “APDS-9960 initialization complete” and “Gesture
sensor is now running.”
Hover your hand 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 cm) above the sensor but off to
one side (i.e. not directly above the sensor). While maintaining the same
height, swipe your hand over the sensor (into and then immediately out of
range of the sensor). If you move too fast, the sensor will not recognize the
gesture.
Gestures will appear on the serial monitor, which indicate the direction of
the swipe.
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There are also 2 other gestures available: NEAR and FAR.
A NEAR gesture can be achieved by holding your hand far above the
sensor (greater than 10 inches (25 cm)), bringing it close to the sensor
(about 2 inches (5 cm) directly above the sensor), holding it there for at
least 1 second, and then removing your hand.
A FAR gesture can be achieved by holding your hand directly above and
close to the sensor (about 2 inches (5 cm)) for at least 1 second and then
moving your hand up directly above and out of range of the sensor.
If a gesture was not correctly interpreted, NONE will appear in the serial
monitor.
Supported Gestures
Here is a list of the currently supported gestures. Make sure each gesture
begins outside of the range of the sensor, moves into the range of the
sensor, and ends outside the range of the sensor.
Gesture
Description
UP
A swipe from the bottom of the board to the top and out of range
of the sensor. Make sure that your wrist/arm is not in the
sensor's range at the end of the swipe!
DOWN
A swipe from the top of the board to the bottom and out of range
of the sensor.
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LEFT
A swipe from the right side of the board to the left and out of
range of the sensor.
RIGHT
A swipe from the left side of the board to the right and out of
range of the sensor.
NEAR
Object (e.g. hand) starts far above the sensor, moves close to
the sensor, hovers for at least 1 second, and moves out of
range of the sensor.
FAR
Object starts near the sensor, hovers for at least 1 second, and
then moves up above and out of range of the sensor.
NONE
The sensor could not correctly guess the gesture being
performed.
Resources and Going Further
Now that you have seen the gesture recognition capabilities of the APDS9960, you can begin to use it in your project! Keep in mind that the APDS9960 is also capable of sensing object proximity and ambient/color light. Try
out the other examples in the SFE_APDS9960 library to see what the
sensor can do:
• AmbientLightInterrupt – This example shows how you can
generate an Arduino interrupt whenever the ambient light falls below
a given level. You can also change it to throw an interrupt when the
light rises above a certain level.
• ColorSensor – This demo shows how to read ambient, red, green,
and blue light values from the APDS-9960.
• GestureTest – We used this example in this hookup guide. It shows
how to read basic gestures with the APDS-9960.
• ProximityInterrupt – The APDS-9960 can be used to detect when
objects move within range of its sensor. This example shows how to
throw an interrupt whenever an object moves within a certain range
of the sensor. You can also change the limits to generate an interrupt
whenever an object moves outside of a certain range.
• ProximitySensor – You do not need to use interrupts with the
proximity sensor. In this demo, we show you how to poll the sensor
for proximity data at regular intervals. Try running this example and
moving your hand close to the sensor.
Resources
Here are some additional resources to help you with the APDS-9960:
• APDS-9960 Datasheet
• APDS-9960 Breakout Board Schematic
• APDS-9960 RGB and Gesture Sensor GitHub Repository
Other Tutorials
What will you make with the APDS-9960? If you need some inspiration,
check out these related tutorials:
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Learn how to hook up the Micro
OLED breakout to an Arduino. Then
draw pixels, shapes, text and
bitmaps all over it!
https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/apds-9960-rgb-and-gesture-sensor-hookup-guide?_ga=... 9/29/2015
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