VL53L0X on OLED: Laser Time-of-Flight Distance
Overview & Wiring
What it is: The VL53L0X measures distance with a tiny invisible laser, timing how long light takes to bounce back (time-of-flight). It's accurate from ~3 cm to ~1.2 m and, unlike an ultrasonic sensor, has a narrow beam and doesn't care about soft surfaces.
How it works: I2C device at address 0x29. The ST/Adafruit library fires the laser and returns the range in millimetres. Shares SDA/SCL with the OLED.
Wiring (shared I2C bus with the OLED):
VL53L0X SDA -> GPIO4
VL53L0X SCL -> GPIO5
VL53L0X VIN -> 3V3
VL53L0X GND -> GND
OLED VCC=3V3, GND=GND, SDA=GPIO4, SCL=GPIO5
Libraries: "Adafruit VL53L0X" (installs "Adafruit BusIO"), plus "Adafruit SSD1306" and "Adafruit GFX Library".
On screen / Serial: distance in mm, or "out of range" when nothing is in view. Move your hand toward and away from it.
Gotchas: Keep the small window clean and unobstructed. Bright sunlight and shiny/mirror surfaces reduce range. Address is 0x29; to use several, you toggle each one's XSHUT pin and reassign addresses (advanced).
Circuit Diagram
Parts You Need
Source Code (Arduino / ESP32)
#include <Wire.h>
#include <Adafruit_GFX.h>
#include <Adafruit_SSD1306.h>
#include <Adafruit_VL53L0X.h>
Adafruit_SSD1306 display(128, 64, &Wire, -1);
Adafruit_VL53L0X lox = Adafruit_VL53L0X();
void setup() {
Serial.begin(115200);
Wire.begin(4, 5);
display.begin(SSD1306_SWITCHCAPVCC, 0x3C);
if (!lox.begin()) {
Serial.println("VL53L0X not found");
display.setTextColor(SSD1306_WHITE);
display.setCursor(0, 28); display.println("VL53L0X not found");
display.display();
while (1) delay(10);
}
}
void loop() {
VL53L0X_RangingMeasurementData_t measure;
lox.rangingTest(&measure, false);
display.clearDisplay();
display.setTextColor(SSD1306_WHITE);
display.setTextSize(1);
display.setCursor(0, 0);
display.println("VL53L0X Laser");
if (measure.RangeStatus != 4) { // 4 = out of range
int mm = measure.RangeMilliMeter;
display.setTextSize(3);
display.setCursor(0, 22);
display.printf("%d", mm);
display.setTextSize(1);
display.setCursor(0, 54); display.print("mm");
Serial.printf("Distance: %d mm\n", mm);
} else {
display.setTextSize(2);
display.setCursor(0, 28); display.println("out of range");
Serial.println("out of range");
}
display.display();
delay(150);
}