Sensors / Proximity

PIR sensors are used to detect motion from pets/humanoids from about 20 feet away (possibly works on zombies, not guaranteed). This one has an adjustable delay before firing (approx 2-4 seconds), adjustable sensitivity and we include a 1 foot (30 cm) cable with a socket so you can easily reposition the sensor or mount it using the two holes on either side. Runs on...

This SHARP distance sensor bounces IR off objects to determine how far away they are. It returns an analog voltage that can be used to determine how close the nearest object is. Comes with 12" long 3-JST interface wire. These sensors are good for short-range detection. For over 1 m distance, we suggest using sonar sensors To use, connect black wire to ground, red...

This SHARP distance sensor bounces IR off objects to determine how far away they are. It returns an analog voltage that can be used to determine how close the nearest object is. Comes with 8" long 3-JST interface wire. These sensors are good for detection between 20cm-150cm. For over 1 m distance, we suggest using sonar sensors. To use, connect black wire to ground,...

Hall effect sensors detect whether a magnet is near. Useful for non-contact/waterproof type switches, position sensors, rotary/shaft encoders. I tried dozens of different hall effect sensors to see which one would work best for the SpokePOV kit (to determine the wheel location) and this one came out on top! Runs at 3.5V up to 24V. To use connect power to pin 1 (all...

This sensor is essentially a reed switch, encased in an ABS plastic shell. Normally the reed is 'open' (no connection between the two wires). The other half is a magnet. When the magnet is less than 13mm (0.5") away, the reed switch closes. They're often used to detect when a door or drawer is open, which is why they have mounting tabs and screws. You can also pick...

LV-EZ4 Maxbotix Ultrasonic Rangefinder provides very short to long-range detection and ranging, in an incredibly small package. It can detect objects from 0-inches to 254-inches (6.45-meters) and provides sonar range information from 6-inches out to 254-inches with 1-inch resolution. (Objects from 0 inches to 6-inches range as 6-inches.) The interface output formats...

LV-EZ0 Maxbotix Ultrasonic Rangefinder provides very short to long-range detection and ranging, in an incredibly small package. It can detect objects from 0-inches to 254-inches (6.45-meters) and provides sonar range information from 6-inches out to 254-inches with 1-inch resolution. (Objects from 0 inches to 6-inches range as 6-inches.) The interface output formats...

Yow! These things are super powerful. .47" diameter and .18" thick discs. Great for use with your SpokePOV Kit. If you have an aluminium frame, use tape/foam sticky tape to attach it.

The Adafruit VL53L4CD Time of Flight Sensor is another great Time of Flight distance sensor from ST in the VL5 series of chips, this one is great for shorter distances. The sensor contains a very tiny invisible laser source and a matching sensor. The VL53L4CD can detect the "time of flight", or how long the light has taken to bounce back to the sensor. Since it uses...

If you're like me, you've dreamed of being a dolphin - smoothly gliding through the water. Using your echo-location abilities to detect tasty fish treats. Until genetic modifications catches up with our desires, we'll just have to make do with these handy HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Sonar Distance Sensors and a pair of flippers. These ubiquitous sensors are really common in...

This breakout is chock full o' sensors! Add basic gesture sensing, RGB color sensing, proximity sensing, or ambient light sensing to your project with the Adafruit APDS9960 Proximity, Light, RGB, and Gesture Sensor. When connected to your microcontroller (running our library code) it can detect simple gestures (left to right, right to left, up to down, down to up are...

The VL53L0X is a Time of Flight distance sensor like no other you've used! The sensor contains a very tiny invisible laser source, and a matching sensor. The VL53L0X can detect the "time of flight", or how long the light has taken to bounce back to the sensor. Since it uses a narrow light source, it is good for determining distance of the surface directly in front of...

Add rotational sensing - without a mechanical connection - with the Adafruit AS5600 Magnetic Angle Sensor. Featuring the classic ams AS5600, this board can sense a rotating N/S magnetic field up to 3mm away from the chip body. These sensors are often used to create 'frictionless' rotary encoders or potentiometers, without the risk of mechanical failure or noise....

The Adafruit VL53L4CX Time of Flight Sensor is another great Time of Flight distance sensor from ST in the VL5 series of chips, this one is great for long distances - it goes up to 6 meters compared with 4 meter max of the VL53L1X. The sensor contains a very tiny invisible laser source and a matching sensor. The VL53L4CX can detect the "time of flight", or how long...

PIR sensors are used to detect motion from pets/humanoids from about 5 meters away (possibly works on zombies, not guaranteed). This sensor is much smaller than most PIR modules, which makes it great for unobtrusive projects. It's also fully-contained - only needs power and ground, and it's breadboard or perfboard friendly. Usage is super simple: You can power it...

PIR sensors are used to detect motion from pets/humanoids from about 5 meters away (possibly works on zombies, not guaranteed). This sensor is much smaller than most PIR modules, which makes it great for unobtrusive projects. It's also fully-contained - only needs power, ground and a resistor to set the delay time - and breadboard or perfboard friendly. Runs on 3.3V...

This is an easy to use lux sensor, and features an ultra-wide 22-bit dynamic range from 0.045 lux to 188,000 lux. That means you can use the Adafruit MAX44009 Wide-range Lux Sensor in darkness or in bright outdoors sun, without having to tweak the integration time or gain: the sensor will auto-range for you so you get smooth readings no matter the light level. Most...

This is a breakout for the Texas Instruments DRV5032 Digital Magnetic Hall Effect Sensor. It is the perfect way to add magnetic sensing to your project. The sensor has a digital output that indicates when the magnetic flux density threshold has been crossed. The device integrates a Hall effect element, analog signal conditioning, and a low-frequency oscillator that...

The VCNL4030 is a handy two-in-one sensor, with a proximity sensor that works from 0 to 300mm (about 12 inches) and light sensor with range of 0.004 to 16,768 lux. We've all been there. That thing is close but how close? When you need to measure a small distance with reasonable accuracy, such as the rough height of particularly calm bumble bee, the VCNL4030 Proximity...

Sense the magnetic fields that surround us with this handy triple-axis magnetometer (compass) module. Magnetometers can sense where the strongest magnetic force is coming from, generally used to detect magnetic north, but can also be used for measuring magnetic fields. This sensor tends to be paired with a 6-DoF (degree of freedom) accelerometer/gyroscope to create a...

If you're like me, you've dreamed of being a dolphin - smoothly gliding through the water. Using your echo-location abilities to detect tasty fish treats. Until genetic modifications catch up with our desires, we'll just have to make do with this handy US-100 Ultrasonic Sonar Distance Sensor and a pair of flippers. The US-100 is very similar to the popular HC-SR04...

An optical reflective sensor is a composite electronic device with two elements - an IR LED and an IR photo-transistor. The IR LED blasts light, and when something bounces the light back to the photo-transistor, the transistor turns on and the amount of current flowing through it increases. This makes the sensor great at detecting when something is in front of the...

Is your favorite robot currently in a mid-life crisis? Does it need a new purpose or perhaps, direction? Well now you can find your way with the affordable and easy to use Slamtec RPLIDAR A1 You may have heard of LIDARs when people talk about self-driving cars. A LIDAR is a sensor that can detect distance precisely, using a laser. Unlike Time-of-Flight sensors,...

It's half USB Key, half Adafruit Trinket M0, half APDS9960 breakout...it's Proximity Trinkey, the circuit board with a Trinket M0 heart, APDS9960 Proximity, Light, RGB, and Gesture Sensor, and two RGB NeoPixels for a customizable glow. We wanted to make it super-easy to add one of our most popular combination-sensors to any computer with a USB port and this one is...

Garmin's LIDAR-Lite LED V4 is the latest, ideal high-performance (but compact) optical distant measurement sensor solution for robotics, Internet of Things, and unmanned vehicles – or any application where an ultrasonic sensor might otherwise be used. Garmin makes high-quality sensors. They're renowned for their GPS sensors, and these distance sensors are nice...

You've heard about the sensors in the news, when used in self-driving cars, and now you can have your own! Garmin's LIDAR-Lite V3 is the ideal high-performance (but compact) optical distant measurement sensor solution for drone, rovers, robots, or interactive project. Garmin makes high quality sensors, they're renowned for their GPS sensors, and these LIDARs are nice...

If you want a sensor that's a 3-in-1, the Adafruit APDS9999 Proximity, Lux Light, and Color Sensor has RGB color, lux light level as well as infrared proximity all built into one device. When connected to your microcontroller (running our library code), it can detect the amount of red, blue, green, and clear light, as well as how close an object is to the front of...

If you're like me, you've dreamed of being a dolphin - smoothly gliding through the water. Using your echo-location abilities to detect tasty fish treats. Until genetic modifications catches up with our desires, we'll just have to make do with these handy 3V Ultrasonic Sonar Distance Sensor and a pair of flippers. These ubiquitous sensors are really common in...

The Adafruit VL53L1X Time of Flight Distance Sensor (also known as VL53L1CX) is a Time 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. Since it...

The VL6180X (sometimes called the VL6180) is a Time of Flight distance sensor like no other you've used! The sensor contains a very tiny laser source, and a matching sensor. The VL6180X can detect the "time of flight", or how long the laser light has taken to bounce back to the sensor. Since it uses a very narrow light source, it is good for determining distance of...

PIR sensors are used to detect motion from pets/humanoids from about 5 meters away (possibly works on zombies, not guaranteed). This sensor is much smaller than most PIR modules, which makes it great for unobtrusive projects. It's also fully-contained - only needs power, ground and a resistor to set the delay time - and breadboard or perfboard friendly. Runs on 3.3V...

If you're like me, you've dreamed of being a dolphin - smoothly gliding through the water. Using your echo-location abilities to detect tasty fish treats. Until genetic modifications catches up with our desires, we'll just have to make do with these handy 3V Ultrasonic Sonar Distance Sensor with I2C Interface and a pair of flippers. These ubiquitous sensors are...

The VCNL4010 sensor is a nice way to add a small-distance proximity sensor to your microcontroller project. For longer distances (in the range of cm, you can use a SHARP IR distance sensor, but those are only good if the object is over 10 cm away. The VCNL4010 is designed for much shorter distances, no more than 200mm (about 7.5") and under our experimentation we...

LV-EZ1 Maxbotix Ultrasonic Rangefinder provides very short to long-range detection and ranging, in an incredibly small package. It can detect objects from 0-inches to 254-inches (6.45-meters) and provides sonar range information from 6-inches out to 254-inches with 1-inch resolution. (Objects from 0 inches to 6-inches range as 6-inches.) The interface output formats...

Makers and robot lovers can use the tracking data to control almost anything – from flying drones and robotic arms to LEDs and 3D printers. You can integrate your Leap Motion Controller with an Arduino, map your hand motions to your favorite robot, or drive a remote-controlled car over Wi-Fi. Highly accurate hand and finger tracking with near-zero latency. 8...

Take your sonar outside - great for all-weather robots! The XL-MaxSonar-WRMA1 ignores smaller targets and only reports the range to target with the largest acoustic return. This is our most advanced weather-resistant sensor designed for target detection and ranging outdoors or in tank or bin applications. The weather-resistant XL-MaxSonar-WRMA1 is a rugged ultrasonic...

Discontinued - you can grab Adafruit VL53L1X Time of Flight Distance Sensor - ~30 to 4000mm - STEMMA QT / Qwiic instead! This extra-long-range SHARP distance sensor bounces IR off objects to determine how far away they are. It returns an analog voltage that can be used to determine how close the nearest object is. Comes with 6" long 6-JST interface wire. These...

The HRLV-MaxSonar-EZ sensor line is the most cost-effective solution for applications where precision range-finding, low-voltage operation, space-saving, and low-cost are needed. The HRLV-MaxSonar-EZ sensor line provides high accuracy and high-resolution ultrasonic proximity detection and ranging in air, in a package less than one cubic inch. This sensor line...

The HRLV-MaxSonar-EZ sensor line is the most cost-effective solution for applications where precision range-finding, low-voltage operation, space-saving, and low cost are needed. The HRLV-MaxSonar-EZ sensor line provides high accuracy and high-resolution ultrasonic proximity detection and ranging in air, in a package less than one cubic inch. This sensor line...

The HRLV-MaxSonar-EZ sensor line is the most cost-effective solution for applications where precision range-finding, low-voltage operation, space-saving, and low-cost are needed. The HRLV-MaxSonar-EZ sensor line provides high accuracy and high-resolution ultrasonic proximity detection and ranging in air, in a package less than one cubic inch. This sensor line...

LV-EZ3 Maxbotix Ultrasonic Rangefinder provides very short to long-range detection and ranging, in an incredibly small package. It can detect objects from 0-inches to 254-inches (6.45-meters) and provides sonar range information from 6-inches out to 254-inches with 1-inch resolution. (Objects from 0 inches to 6-inches range as 6-inches.) The interface output formats...

Discontinued - you can grab this Adafruit VL6180X Time of Flight Distance Ranging Sensor (VL6180) - STEMMA QT instead! If you're like me, you've always wanted a smaller and faster way to sense an object between 2 and 10 centimeters away. If you're really like me, you've wanted the sensor to come with a low current draw and on a tiny carrier board with all of the...

LV-EZ2 Maxbotix Ultrasonic Rangefinder provides very short to long-range detection and ranging, in an incredibly small package. It can detect objects from 0-inches to 254-inches (6.45-meters) and provides sonar range information from 6-inches out to 254-inches with 1-inch resolution. (Objects from 0 inches to 6-inches range as 6-inches.) The interface output formats...

The HRLV-MaxSonar-EZ sensor line is the fastest way to get precision range-finding into your computer. No microcontroller or adapter required, simply connect any micro B USB cable (not included) into the sensor and install the FTDI drivers to get serial sonar distance data via serial on any computer operating system. The HR-USB-EZ sensor line provides high accuracy...

This is an interesting sensor component from the CNC world - a steel strip that has a precision magnetic pattern embedded in it. Also known as a Multi-Pole Magnetic Strip, it contains alternating North and South pole magnetic fields along the length of the tape at 5mm spacing. You can see our demo above with a magnetic view film Using a magnetometer, hall effect...

The Ultraleap 3Di Stereo Hand Tracking Camera is designed to be connected to an interactive screen. Together with Ultraleap’s world-leading software, it transforms displays into touchless, three-dimensional, immersive surfaces. Ultraleap 3Di allows easy integration of Ultraleap hand tracking in a form factor ruggedized for use in permanent settings – such...

Introducing the second generation of Ultraleap's iconic hand tracking camera, the Leap Motion Controller 2, powered by Ultraleap’s advanced computer vision software. The Leap Motion Controller 2 is the best camera for using Ultraleap Hyperion for hand tracking or as a computer vision platform. By tracking hands, this camera enables touchless 3D interaction,...

The XR Headset Mount Accessory is designed for the Leap Motion Controller 2 hand-tracking camera module. This headset mount flexible design offers a secure fit to the face of the most popular XR headsets from Pico, HTC, Varjo, and Oculus. Features a downward tilt angle of 15°, maximizing the interaction area where users hold hands. Typical applications include...

Discontinued - you can grab this Adafruit VL6180X Time of Flight Distance Ranging Sensor (VL6180) - STEMMA QT instead! If you're like me, you've always wanted a smaller and faster way to sense an object between 0.5 and 5 centimeters away. If you're really like me, you've wanted the sensor to come with a low current draw and on a tiny carrier board with all of the...

This sleek-looking 'button' is actually an ultrasonic sensor, ready for panel mount use. Inside is a module that uses high-frequency signals to determine distance to a surface. It's elegant looking and is more durable than the 'raw' ultrasonics we sell a lot of, so it would do well in a garage, robot, or installation where you want a durable dust and...

This impressive-looking horn is actually an ultrasonic sensor, ready for panel mount use. Inside is a module that uses high-frequency signals to determine distance to a surface, and the horn helps guide the waveform so it can reach farther without spreading too wide. It's elegant looking and is more durable than the 'raw' ultrasonics we sell a lot of, so it would do...

We've got many distance sensors, and the TFmini Distance Sensor is a nice addition. This sensor bounces light off objects and returns the distance in centimeters. It's a nice compact plastic package, with UART serial output. Please note that the company calls this a "LiDAR" but it is not a true LIDAR. Instead, its a time-of-flight (ToF) infrared sensor like the...