EYE ON NPI - Vishay VEML6046X00 RGBIR Color Sensor
14This week on EYE ON NPI we're looking at a bright and sunny new product, this week it's the Vishay VEML6046X00 RGBIR Color Sensor (https://www.digikey.com/short/t3jhhdt1) an inexpensive way to add RGB + IR sensing with I2C to your next product. This sensor is the latest from Vishay, well known for their light sensing expertise, and requires no lenses or filters to get started immediately.
We've used lots of Vishay sensors in our breakout boards (https://www.adafruit.com/search?q=vishay) so we know they are experts in light sensors, in our experience their products are reliable and easy to use with I2C interfaces that hew closely to the I2C/SMBus specifications without funkiness like clock-stretching or auto-sleep modes. This is the first time we're looking at an RGBIR sensor from them. Traditionally we've leaned on them for infrared or 'clear' light sensing. As expected, the chip contains 4 diode sensors, tuned for red, green, blue and IR light. The sensors are fairly well normalized and characterized, with red at 90% and blue at 70% spectral sensitivity compared to green.
What we thought was particularly useful about the VEML6046X00 is it comes with a Lux conversion table - and the Lux ranges up to 176 klux! This is great because it means it won't saturate out even in direct sun, reflected or directed light that would normally be considered 'blinding'. This is the highest lux sensor we've seen since the discontinued MAX44009 (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/analog-devices-inc-maxim-integrated/MAX44009EDT-T/2606393) which was the previous max of 188 klux. This sensor would be a good alternative with minimal work required to 'port' the firmware over.
Speaking of firmware, the sensor communicates over I2C, much like most light sensors that don't need high speed. There's also an IRQ pin out for automatically triggering when going over or under a light level. The I2C register map is blessedly short, and there's an ID register so you can be sure you have the right sensor connected. Otherwise it's fairly similar to the other sensors we've used: you can probably whip up a library to do readings in a day or two - check Vishay's app note for integration for extra tips on how to initialize and read sensor data (https://www.vishay.com/docs/80410/designingveml6046x00.pdf) Or you can use Vishay's VEML6046X00 software library (https://www.vishay.com/docs/80546/veml6046x00_software_libraries.zip).
Intrigued? You can pick up the Vishay VEML6046X00 RGBIR Color Sensor (https://www.digikey.com/short/t3jhhdt1) from DigiKey right now! It's in stock and tariff-free which makes it a great deal for a quality RGBIR lux sensor. We're also going to be looking at turning this into a breakout board. Until then, order now for immediate delivery, so you can spend more time in the sunshine and less time adding lux and color sensing to your next product.