Over on RAREblog is a fun Pomodoro timer using an Adafruit Feather M0 and a VL53L0X Time of Flight sensor.

Like many of my friends I use Pomodoro time management when I’m writing or coding. The Pomodoro technique uses a timer to you to get up and take a five minute break after 25 minutes at the keyboard. This helps you focus during the 25 minutes of work and the break keeps you healthy and fresh. The original Italian creator used a kitchen timer shaped like a tomato – hence the name.

A while ago I came up with the idea of automating the Pomodoro.

Recently Richard Kirby started experimenting with an inexpensive VL53L0X Time of Flight sensor which measures distance quickly and accurately. Richard runs the Raspberry Pint MeetUp in London, and you can see his project (and many others) on the MeetUp’s Facebook page.

I thought I’d try and see if I could detect my presence at my keyboard using the sensor.

My Adafruit sensor arrived a few days ago and I wired it up to an Adafruit Feather M0 Express I had in my parts box. I used the VL53L0X demonstration code in the Adafruit tutorial and it worked well.

I’ve been writing the CircuitPython software using Nicholas Tollervey’s Mu editor. This supports Adafruit boards as well as the micro:bit and it’s very easy to install on Windows, Linux and OS/X.