This Arduino compatible TCS230 colour sensor can detect a wide range of colours based on their wavelength. It is very useful for colour recognition projects such as colour matching, colour sorting, and more. It uses a TCS230 RGB chip to detect colour and contains four white LEDs that light up the object in front of it.

The TCS230 has a set of photodiodes (a semiconductor device that converts light into current) divided into 4 different filters.

• 16 photodiodes with a red filter - sensitive to red wavelength
• 16 photodiodes with green filter - sensitive to green wavelength
• 16 photodiodes with a blue filter - sensitive to blue wavelength
• 16 photodiodes without a filter

With the TCS230 colour sensor, you'll be able to detect the intensity of the different colours by selectively choosing the photodiode filter's reading. The sensor has a current-to-frequency converter that converts the photodiodes' reading into a square wave with a frequency equal to the light intensity of the chosen colour.

Two control pins, S2 and S3 are used to dynamically select the desired filter or colour read by the photodiode.

Pins S0 and S1 are used for scaling the output frequency. The typical output frequency range of the sensor is from 2 Hz ~ 500 kHz. Users can also choose two programmable pins to 100%, 20%, or 2% of the output scale factor, or power-off mode. Scaling the output frequency is useful to optimize the sensor readings for various frequency counters or microcontrollers.