The SparkFun Qwiic VEML6030 and VEML7700 Ambient Light Sensors provide a high accuracy and cost effective solution for adding light sensing to your project. Implementing a SparkFun Qwiic I2C interface, these sensors can be rapidly added to any project with boards that are part of the SparkFun Qwiic ecosystem.

This repository implements a Python package for the SparkFun Qwiic VEML6030 and SparkFun VEML7700. This package works with Python, MicroPython and CircuitPython.

• About
• Installation
• Supported Platforms
• Documentation
• Examples

This python package enables the user to access the features of the VEML6030 and VEML7700 via a single Qwiic cable. This includes reading ambient light in lux, setting gain, setting integration time and more. The capabilities of the VEML6030/VEML7700 are each demonstrated in the included examples.

New to qwiic? Take a look at the entire SparkFun qwiic ecosystem.

This Python package supports the following SparkFun qwiic products on Python, MicroPython and Circuit python.

• SparkFun Ambient Light Sensor Breakout - VEML6030
• SparkFun Ambient Light Sensor Breakout - VEML7700

The first step to using this package is installing it on your system. The install method depends on the python platform. The following sections outline installation on Python, MicroPython and CircuitPython.

The package is primarily installed using the pip3 command, downloading the package from the Python Index - "PyPi".

Note - the below instructions outline installation an Linux-based (Raspberry Pi) system.

First, setup a virtual environment from a specific directory using venv:

python3 -m venv path/to/venv

You can pass any path as path/to/venv, just make sure you use the same one for all future steps. For more information on venv click here.

Next, install the qwiic package with:

path/to/venv/bin/pip3 install sparkfun-qwiic-veml

Now you should be able to run any example or custom python scripts that have import qwiic_veml by running e.g.:

path/to/venv/bin/python3 example_script.py

If not already installed, follow the instructions here to install mpremote on your computer.

Connect a device with MicroPython installed to your computer and then install the package directly to your device with mpremote mip.

mpremote mip install github:sparkfun/qwiic_veml_py

If you would also like to install the examples for this repository, issue the following mip command as well:

mpremote mip install --target "" github:sparkfun/qwiic_veml_py@examples

If not already installed, follow the instructions here to install CircUp on your computer.

Ensure that you have the latest version of the SparkFun Qwiic CircuitPython bundle.

circup bundle-add sparkfun/Qwiic_Py

Finally, connect a device with CircuitPython installed to your computer and then install the package directly to your device with circup.

circup install --py qwiic_veml

If you would like to install any of the examples from this repository, issue the corresponding circup command from below. (NOTE: The below syntax assumes you are using CircUp on Windows. Linux and Mac will have different path seperators (i.e. "/" vs. ""). See the CircUp "example" command documentation for more information)

circup example qwiic_veml\qwiic_veml_ex1_basic_readings circup example qwiic_veml\qwiic_veml_ex2_settings circup example qwiic_veml\qwiic_veml_ex3_threshold_interrupts circup example qwiic_veml\qwiic_veml_ex4_power_saving

Below is a quickstart program to print ambient light measurements in lux.

See the examples directory for more detailed use examples and examples/README.md for a summary of the available examples.

import qwiic_veml import time import sys def runExample(): print("\nQwiic Ambient Light Sensor Example 1 - Basic Readings\n") # Create instance of device light_sensor = qwiic_veml.QwiicVEML() # Check if it's connected if light_sensor.is_connected() == False: print("The device isn't connected to the system. Please check your connection", \ file=sys.stderr) return # Initialize the device light_sensor.begin() # Loop forever while True: # Give some delay between prints time.sleep(1) # Get light measured by sensor in lux ambient_light = light_sensor.read_light() # Print measurement print("Lux:\t%.1f" % ambient_light)