The VL6180 is based on patented FlightSense technology. This is a ground-breaking technology allowing absolute distance to be measured independent of target reflectance. Instead of estimating the distance by measuring the amount of light reflected back from the object (which is significantly influenced by color and surface), the VL6180 precisely measures the time the light takes to travel to the nearest object and reflect back to the sensor (Time-of-Flight).
It is compatible with the STM32 Nucleo board family, and with the Arduino UNO R3 connector layout.
Several ST expansion boards can be superposed through the Arduino connectors, which allows for the development of VL6180 applications with Bluetooth or WiFi interface (for example).