TCS3530 Colour Sensor Breakout Board

When I started making robots 7 years ago, the most popular reflected colour sensor was the TCS34725 colour sensor from Adafruit. Today, that sensor has been discontinued (with no clear successor), but TCS34725 clones are still the most common colour sensors I see around.

And they're terrible! They're awfully sensitive to background lighting unless you build a shroud, have trouble distinguishing certain colours and are slow for certain use cases.

This board is a response to that. The TCS3530 is a modern I2C colour sensor from AMS-osram with high data rates and tristimulus XYZ readings, which can be converted into CIELAB data for excellent colour detection. It also has additional clear and IR channels, as well as an in-package diffuser which should provide controlled, consistent angular sensitivity.

To measure reflected light, this board adds 4 bright white LEDs, controlled by an onboard LP5816 IC - this chip can be controlled over I2C and supports analog dimming, allowing for fine-grained brightness control without introducing flicker into the readings.

Notice: If this board is out of stock, please email tengyi.maker@gmail.com if you are interested in pre-ordering!