Two sensors are combined on this senseBox component.

The light intensity is measured with the TSL45315 sensor from AMS-TAOS. This sensor detects the lighting conditions similar to the human eye and outputs the brightness values directly in lux, with a wide dynamic range (3 lux to 220k lux).

The second sensor is a Vishay VEML6070 ultraviolet (UV) light sensor. It converts the intensity of the sun’s UV light into digital data. The sensor has excellent UV sensitivity and linearity via Filtron™ technology. It has a good UV radiation measurement even during long solar UV exposure and can compensate excellent temperature fluctuations.

Technical details

Exposure sensor

• 3.3V - 5V tolerant I2C/TWI interface
• Input voltage range: 3.3V - 5V
• on-board 2.5V voltage regulator
• on-board level converter

UV sensor

• Operating voltage: 2.7V - 5.5V I2C Interface
• Supports acknowledge function (Active Acknowledge function)
• Temperature compensation: -40°C to +85°C
• Software shutdown control for immunity to flickering fluorescent lamps

Dimensions

• 25mm x 25mm x 9mm
• Weight: 2.5 g

Programming (Arduino)

#include "SenseBoxMCU.h"
#include <SPI.h>

TSL45315 tsl;
VEML6070 veml;

void setup() {
    Serial.begin(9600);
    tsl.begin();
    veml.begin();
}

void loop() {
    Serial.print("Illuminance: ");
    Serial.println(tsl.getIlluminance());
    Serial.print("UV-Intensity: ");
    Serial.println(veml.getUvIntesity());
}

Programming (Blockly)

In Blockly the sensor can be read out via the following block:

In the block you can choose between the different parameters of the brightness/UV sensor:

• Brightness in LUX
• UV exposure in µW/m^2