In this guide, we’re going to learn how to interface with the APDS-9960 Sensor — a built in sensor on the Arduino Nano BLE Sense.
The APDS-9960 is a wonderful board packed with features and functionality. It’s got the ability to figure out the RGB color of stuff in front of it, do proximity sensing, detect ambient light levels and even pick up gestures performed near it.
It operates in the range of 4-8in (10-20cm) so it’s great for close interactions but won’t be able to pick up much if if things are happening far away from it
The datasheet can be found here: https://cdn.sparkfun.com/datasheets/Sensors/Proximity/apds9960.pdf
The APDS-9960 is ultra compact — hint see how small it is above
We use the I2C protocol to talk to and get sensor readings from it. This is a really easy way to interface with components. This a way of communicating with connected stuff from the built in sensors to things you might connect to your Arduino Board. The I2C protocol assigns everything on the communications relay an address (think of it as an ID that helps you specify what messages should go to it and what should go to other things).
Proximity
The proximity sensor works by giving a range of values
-1 = somethings gone wrong / there’s an error
0 = really close (10cm away)