I am building a project, and I need a light sensor with a digital output, i.e. an IC with a light sensor and a built in ADC.

I was told to use the ISL29001. However, after some research on the net, I still cant understand if this is the right thing I want.
Is this a single chip with a 15-bit digital output? Or does it need another chip to obtain the digital output?

Thanks beforehand for any help.

Simon

 

Have you read through the data sheet? Follow this link - http://www.intersil.com/cda/deviceinfo/0,1477,isl29001,0.html.

The output is I2C serial. At the very least, you will need a microcontroller with that I/F capability to accept the output. You'll need to be able to do some programming to make use of/display the sensor output.

Can you say some more about your project? It's possible there are other ways to do what you want. There are some quite inexpensive sensors with linear analog outputs.

 

Tnks beenthere for your interest .

Yes I read the datasheet, but I could not understand what I2C is. Now I think I understood. I2C means a serial output?

Do you think I can make use of an 8032 based MC with that chip?

I wanted a sensor with a digital output because I wanted to use a micro controller in the project. What I wanted to do in general is to sample various points, and then find the point with maximum light intensity.

Do you have any other ideas what I can use?

Thanks again.

 

You can use almost any light sensitive device for the sensor. The mechanism to scan across the sky might be a challenge. But most microprocessors have analog to digital converters built in so they can use analog inputs.

Of course, the 15 bit resolution of the ISL2900 is vastly superior, and it's easy to obtain microprocessors with the I2C interface built in.

Some links:

http://www.esacademy.com/faq/i2c/general/i2cproto.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoresistor

http://www.taosinc.com/