Adafruit Feather M0 and TSL2591 light-to-digital converter circuitpython example

In this example we connect a TSL2591 light-to-digital converter to an Adafruit Feather M0 running Circuitpython

The TSL2591 is a very high sensitivity light-to-digital converter that transforms light intensity into a digital signal output capable of direct I2C interface. The device combines one broadband photodiode (visible plus infrared) and one infrared-responding photodiode on a single CMOS integrated circuit. Two integrating ADCs convert the photodiode currents into a digital output that represents the irradiance measured on each channel.

This digital output can be input to a microprocessor where illuminance (ambient light level) in lux is derived using an empirical formula to approximate the human eye response. The TSL2591 supports a traditional level style interrupt that remains asserted until the firmware clears it.

Features

• Highest sensitivity to 188µLux
• Patented dual-diode architecture
• 600M:1 dynamic range
• Programmable interrupt function
• UV-rejection package

Product parameters

This is the sensor I purchased, link below

Parts List

Name	Link
Adafruit Feather M0 Express	Adafruit (PID 3403) Feather M0 Express – Designed for CircuitPython – ATSAMD21 Cortex M0
TSL2591	TSL2591 Optical Light Sensor Development Board
Connecting cables	Free shipping Dupont line 120pcs 20cm male to male + male to female and female to female jumper wire

Connection

feather and tsl2591

Code

I used Mu for development as per Adafruit’s advice

The following is based on a library , I copied the TSL2591 library to the lib folder to my Feather M0 Express – https://circuitpython.org/libraries

Source code

# Simple demo of the TSL2591 sensor.  Will print the detected light value
# every second.
import time
 
import board
import busio
 
import adafruit_tsl2591
 
# Initialize the I2C bus.
i2c = busio.I2C(board.SCL, board.SDA)
 
# Initialize the sensor.
sensor = adafruit_tsl2591.TSL2591(i2c)
 
# Read the total lux, IR, and visible light levels and print it every second.
while True:
    # Read and calculate the light level in lux.
    lux = sensor.lux
    print("Total light: {0}lux".format(lux))
    # You can also read the raw infrared and visible light levels.
    # These are unsigned, the higher the number the more light of that type.
    # There are no units like lux.
    # Infrared levels range from 0-65535 (16-bit)
    infrared = sensor.infrared
    print("Infrared light: {0}".format(infrared))
    # Visible-only levels range from 0-2147483647 (32-bit)
    visible = sensor.visible
    print("Visible light: {0}".format(visible))
    # Full spectrum (visible + IR) also range from 0-2147483647 (32-bit)
    full_spectrum = sensor.full_spectrum
    print("Full spectrum (IR + visible) light: {0}".format(full_spectrum))
    time.sleep(1.0)

Testing

Here is what I saw in Mu REPL window

Total light: 1.18157lux

Infrared light: 9

Visible light: 589837

Full spectrum (IR + visible) light: 589846

Total light: 1.01837lux

Infrared light: 9

Visible light: 589836

Full spectrum (IR + visible) light: 589845

Links

Datasheet