Documentation

// APDS-9960 Gesture Sensor - Arduino Uno Example
// SDA: A4, SCL: A5, INT: D2 (all through a logic level converter)
// VCC: 3.3V (NOT 5V)
// Library: "SparkFun APDS9960 RGB and Gesture Sensor" (Library Manager)

#include <Wire.h>
#include <SparkFun_APDS9960.h>

#define APDS9960_INT 2  // INT pin, active low

SparkFun_APDS9960 apds = SparkFun_APDS9960();
volatile bool isr_flag = false;

void interruptRoutine() {
  isr_flag = true;  // Keep the ISR short - just set a flag
}

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  pinMode(APDS9960_INT, INPUT);
  attachInterrupt(digitalPinToInterrupt(APDS9960_INT), interruptRoutine, FALLING);

  // Initialize I2C and the sensor's default settings
  if (apds.init()) {
    Serial.println(F("APDS-9960 initialized"));
  } else {
    Serial.println(F("Init failed! Check wiring and 3.3V power."));
  }

  // Start the gesture engine with interrupts enabled
  if (apds.enableGestureSensor(true)) {
    Serial.println(F("Gesture sensor running - swipe over the sensor!"));
  } else {
    Serial.println(F("Could not start the gesture engine."));
  }
}

void loop() {
  if (isr_flag) {
    detachInterrupt(digitalPinToInterrupt(APDS9960_INT));
    handleGesture();
    isr_flag = false;
    attachInterrupt(digitalPinToInterrupt(APDS9960_INT), interruptRoutine, FALLING);
  }
}

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;
      default:        Serial.println("NONE");
    }
  }
}

// APDS-9960 Proximity + RGB Color - ESP32 Arduino Example
// SDA: GPIO 21, SCL: GPIO 22 (ESP32 default I2C pins), VCC: 3V3
// Library: "SparkFun APDS9960 RGB and Gesture Sensor" (Library Manager)

#include <Wire.h>
#include <SparkFun_APDS9960.h>

SparkFun_APDS9960 apds = SparkFun_APDS9960();

uint8_t proximity = 0;
uint16_t ambient = 0, red = 0, green = 0, blue = 0;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Wire.begin(21, 22);  // SDA = GPIO 21, SCL = GPIO 22

  if (apds.init()) {
    Serial.println("APDS-9960 initialized");
  } else {
    Serial.println("Init failed! Check wiring and 3V3 power.");
  }

  // Start the proximity engine (false = no interrupts, we poll instead)
  if (!apds.enableProximitySensor(false)) {
    Serial.println("Could not start proximity sensor");
  }

  // Start the ambient light / RGB color engine
  if (!apds.enableLightSensor(false)) {
    Serial.println("Could not start light sensor");
  }

  delay(500);  // Give the sensor time to settle
}

void loop() {
  apds.readProximity(proximity);      // 0 (nothing near) to 255 (very close)
  apds.readAmbientLight(ambient);     // 16-bit clear channel
  apds.readRedLight(red);
  apds.readGreenLight(green);
  apds.readBlueLight(blue);

  Serial.print("Proximity: ");
  Serial.print(proximity);
  Serial.print(" | Ambient: ");
  Serial.print(ambient);
  Serial.print(" | R: ");
  Serial.print(red);
  Serial.print(" G: ");
  Serial.print(green);
  Serial.print(" B: ");
  Serial.println(blue);

  delay(500);
}

#!/usr/bin/env python3
# APDS-9960 Gesture Sensor - Raspberry Pi Example
# SDA: Pin 3 (GPIO 2), SCL: Pin 5 (GPIO 3), VCC: Pin 1 (3.3V)
#
# Setup:
#   sudo raspi-config          (Interface Options - enable I2C)
#   pip3 install adafruit-circuitpython-apds9960

import time
import board
import busio
from adafruit_apds9960.apds9960 import APDS9960

# Create the I2C bus and the sensor object (address 0x39)
i2c = busio.I2C(board.SCL, board.SDA)
sensor = APDS9960(i2c)

# The gesture engine needs the proximity engine running as well
sensor.enable_proximity = True
sensor.enable_gesture = True

# gesture() returns 0 = none, 1 = up, 2 = down, 3 = left, 4 = right
names = {1: "UP", 2: "DOWN", 3: "LEFT", 4: "RIGHT"}

print("Swipe a hand 5-15 cm over the sensor (Ctrl+C to stop)...")

try:
    while True:
        gesture = sensor.gesture()
        if gesture:
            print("Gesture:", names.get(gesture, "UNKNOWN"))
        time.sleep(0.05)
except KeyboardInterrupt:
    print("Stopped by user")

# APDS-9960 Proximity Reading - Raspberry Pi Pico MicroPython Example
# SDA: GP0, SCL: GP1 (I2C0), VCC: 3V3 OUT (pin 36)
# No external library needed - reads the sensor registers directly.

from machine import Pin, I2C
import time

APDS_ADDR  = 0x39   # Fixed I2C address of the APDS-9960
REG_ENABLE = 0x80   # Power / feature enable register
REG_PPULSE = 0x8E   # Proximity IR pulse configuration
REG_ID     = 0x92   # Device ID register
REG_PDATA  = 0x9C   # Proximity data register

i2c = I2C(0, sda=Pin(0), scl=Pin(1), freq=400000)

# Sanity check: the sensor should answer at 0x39
if APDS_ADDR not in i2c.scan():
    raise RuntimeError("APDS-9960 not found at 0x39 - check wiring")

chip_id = i2c.readfrom_mem(APDS_ADDR, REG_ID, 1)[0]
print("Device ID: 0x{:02X}".format(chip_id))

# 8 IR pulses of 16 us each (same default the SparkFun library uses)
i2c.writeto_mem(APDS_ADDR, REG_PPULSE, b'\x87')

# ENABLE register: PON (bit 0) powers the chip, PEN (bit 2)
# starts the proximity engine -> 0b00000101 = 0x05
i2c.writeto_mem(APDS_ADDR, REG_ENABLE, b'\x05')
time.sleep_ms(10)

while True:
    # PDATA: 0 (nothing in range) up to 255 (object right at the lens)
    prox = i2c.readfrom_mem(APDS_ADDR, REG_PDATA, 1)[0]
    print("Proximity:", prox)
    time.sleep_ms(200)