Adafruit VL53L0X Time of Flight Distance Sensor - ~30 to 1000mm

The VL53L0X is a time of flight distance sensor like no other you've used! The sensor contains a very tiny invisible laser source, and a matching sensor. The VL53L0X can detect the "time of flight", or how long the light has taken to bounce back to the sensor. Since it uses a very narrow light source, it is good for determining distance of only the surface directly in front of it. Unlike sonars that bounce ultrasonic waves, the 'cone' of sensing is very narrow. The sensor is small and easy to use in any robotics or interactive project. Since it needs 2.8 V power and logic, we put the little fellow on a breakout board with a regulator and level shifting. You can use it with any 3-5V power or logic microcontroller with no worries.