Break beam sensor using VL53L0X for Home Assistant using ESPHome

distance-sensor-0.yaml

##
## A standard "break beam sensor" uses a laser or LED with a device on both
## sides of an opening and is triggered when something breaks the beam
## (such as a customer walking through the beam). Some garage doors use them.
## Stores often use them at the entrace to ring a chime when a customer enters
## or leaves.
##
## This is my attempt at using a VL53L0X i2c Time of Flight sensor 
## as a break beam sensor in Home Assistant using ESPHome.
##
## The binary sensor 'breakbeam_sensor' is
## * A synthetic break beam that is controlled by changes 
##   to 'breakbeam_sensor_dist'.
## * Should only send changes when the 'beam is broken':
##   * 'breakbeam_sensor_dist' becomes < 'minTripDistance' (or)
##   *  'breakbeam_sensor_dist' becomes to greater than 'minTripDistance'
##
## The sensor 'breakbeam_sensor_dist' is the actual VL53L0X sensor. 
## * The maximum reliable "open" distance seems to be to about 1.5 meters.
## * This sensor is marked intnernal as to not send distance data to HA.
## * When distance first falls less that 'minTripDistance', 
##   'breakbeam_sensor' will turned on.
## * When the distance is first greater than 'minTripDistance', the
##   'breakbeam_sensor' will be turned off.
## * This will poll at 0.1s. This seems fast enough, but 1s was not.
## 

esphome:
  name: distance-sensor-0

esp8266:
  board: esp01_1m

# Logging (DEBUG is the standard level)
logger:
  level: INFO

# Enable Home Assistant API
api:

ota:
  password: "XXXXX"

wifi:
  ssid: !secret wifi_ssid
  password: !secret wifi_password
  fast_connect: true

  # Enable fallback hotspot (captive portal) in case wifi connection fails
  ap:
    ssid: "Distance-Sensor-0"
    password: "XXXXX"

captive_portal:

# the vl53l0x is i2c
i2c:
  scan: true

##
## The virutal break beam sensor.
## The state of this will be controlled 
## by breakbeam_sensor_dist's lambda as necessary.
##
binary_sensor:
  - name: "Breakbeam Sensor"
    id: breakbeam_sensor
    platform: template
    device_class: motion

##
## The actual sensor. 
## This sensor's lambda will control the state of our 
## virtual break beam sensor, breakbeam_sensor.
##
sensor:
  - name: "Breakbeam Sensor Dist"
    id: breakbeam_sensor_dist
    platform: vl53l0x
    address: 0x29
    update_interval: 0.1s
    long_range: true
    internal: true
    #
    # Only send a value back if breakbeam_sensor changes.
    #
    filters:
      - lambda: !lambda |-
          /**
           * YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONFIGURE THIS.
           * Distance below which to trip the virtual break beam sensor.
           * '0.5' meters is about 20  inches.
           */
          static double minTripDistance = 0.5;

          if (x <= minTripDistance) {
            if (id(breakbeam_sensor).state == true) {
              // Beam was already broken
              return {};
            }
            // Beam was just broken
            id(breakbeam_sensor).publish_state(true);
            ESP_LOGI("breakbeam_sensor_dist", "Set breakbeam_sensor to Detected");
            return {};
          }
          else {
            if (id(breakbeam_sensor).state == false) {
              // Beam was already un-broken
              return {};
            }
            // Beam was just un-broken
            id(breakbeam_sensor).publish_state(false);
            ESP_LOGI("breakbeam_sensor_dist", "Set breakbeam_sensor to Cleared");
            return {};
          }

@wizardnl AWESOME! I'm glad you got it all running! Thanks for the heads up about changing address - very useful! I don't think the ESPHome driver did that when I first implemented this (or I missed it). I would have loved to have used just one.

Had to try it to see if it would work with 14 sensors. ;-) In theory, I can now control every step on my stairs individually. I still need to do some intensive testing, but for now, it works. Thanks again for sharing your code.

Hey @wizardnl , have you managed to actually implement this? What is the maximum cable length you have used?
In my experience vl53l0x will not work for long cables. I think i2c isn’t meant to be used that way :|

Hi @kdorff ,
First, thank you for your code. I've been struggling with occupancy sensing due to the complications that having a cat throws into the mix. I just ordered a bunch of D1 Minis and some vl53l0x, and noticed that it's possible to add more than one sensor to each board. This would save some of us a little work and money. Since it looks like wizardnl just came here to tease us and disappear, do you think there would be any chance you could provide us with an updated code example that includes 2 or three sensors? I struggle with YAML, but I could probably figure it out if I had a template to look at and experiment with.
Thanks in advance

@wizardnl AWESOME! I'm glad you got it all running! Thanks for the heads up about changing address - very useful! I don't think the ESPHome driver did that when I first implemented this (or I missed it). I would have loved to have used just one.

Had to try it to see if it would work with 14 sensors. ;-) In theory, I can now control every step on my stairs individually. I still need to do some intensive testing, but for now, it works. Thanks again for sharing your code.

Isn't there a limit on the length of the I2C bus ? (see https://knowledge.ni.com/KnowledgeArticleDetails?id=kA03q000001EAc6CAG&l=en-US) - or is that handled by lowering the I2C bus frequency ?