Fermion: TCS3200 RGB Color Sensor Breakout - Light to Frequency (Breakout)

The Fermion TCS3200 RGB Color Sensor Breakout provides high-resolution light-to-frequency conversion for accurate visible colour detection. Equipped with a TAOS TCS3200 sensor chip and four white illumination LEDs, it is well suited for makers, educators, and engineers building robotic sorting systems, optical diagnostic tools, and ambient light monitors.

Uniform photodetector filter array

The sensor features an evenly distributed grid of photodetectors with red, green, blue, and clear filters designed to eliminate location bias. An integrated oscillator converts detected light intensity into a digital square-wave output frequency proportional to the selected colour.

Programmable output frequency scaling

Dedicated S0 and S1 control pins allow users to scale the full-scale output frequency down to 20% or 2%. This reduces processing overhead and avoids timer interrupt bottlenecks on slower microcontrollers while maintaining measurement accuracy.

Clear channel ambient calibration

Reading the unfiltered clear channel alongside red, green, and blue data provides a reliable reference for ambient light subtraction. This helps maintain consistent colour balancing and measurement fidelity across varying lighting environments.

Wide voltage and power management

The breakout operates across a 2.7V to 5.5V digital TTL logic range, ensuring compatibility with standard microcontrollers. A built-in power-down mode can be enabled in firmware to minimise current draw between readings on battery-powered devices.

Versatile automation and diagnostic uses

Measuring 28.4 x 28.4 mm, this compact breakout is suitable for conveyor-based industrial sorting, educational robotics, and colourimetric test strip analysis.

Downloads & documentation

• Product wiki (DFRobot)