Problem with connecting Nano v3 to Sharp Proximity Sensor

Question

I am trying to connect a Sharp Analog IR Distance Sensor GP2Y0E02A to a nano v3. It accepts 2.7 - 3.3 v so I have it connected to 3.3 v from the arduino but I dont get serial output, just complete blank. When I change the code to something a little similar (see code under buggy code below) I get voltage values. So I think the problem might be with the code which I am using to convert voltage to cm below.

Buggy Code (voltage to cm)

/***************************************************************
  Arduino GP2Y0E02B example code
  Gets range from GP2Y0E02B and prints it to the serial monitor.

  By James Henderson 2014
***************************************************************/

#include <Wire.h>

int distance = 0;                // Stores the calculated distance 
byte high, low = 0;              // High and low byte of distance
int shift = 0;                   // Value in shift bit register

#define ADDRESS       0x80 >> 1  // Arduino uses 7 bit addressing so we shift address right one bit
#define DISTANCE_REG  0x5E
#define SHIFT         0x35

void setup()
{
  // Start comms
  Wire.begin();
  Serial.begin(19200);

  delay(50);  // Delay so everything can power up

  // Read the sift bit register from the module, used in calculating range
  Wire.beginTransmission(ADDRESS);    
  Wire.write(SHIFT);
  Wire.endTransmission();

  Wire.requestFrom(ADDRESS, 1);
  while(Wire.available() == 0);
  shift = Wire.read();
}

void loop()
{
  // Request and read the 2 address bytes from the GP2Y0E02B
  Wire.beginTransmission(ADDRESS);
  Wire.write(DISTANCE_REG);
  Wire.endTransmission();

  Wire.requestFrom(ADDRESS, 2);

  while(Wire.available() < 2);

  high = Wire.read();
  low = Wire.read();

  distance = (high * 16 + low)/16/(int)pow(2,shift); // Calculate the range in CM

  Serial.print("Distance is ");
  Serial.print(distance);
  Serial.println("CM");

  delay(50);
}

Simple Example (works by giving voltage)

int sensorpin = 5; // analog pin used to connect the sharp sensor int val = 0; // variable to store the values from sensor(initially zero)

void setup()
{
  Serial.begin(9600);               // starts the serial monitor
}

void loop()
{
  val = analogRead(sensorpin);       // reads the value of the sharp sensor
  Serial.println(val);            // prints the value of the sensor to the serial monitor
  delay(100);                    // wait for this much time before printing next value
}

Schematic

Answer 1

The problem is you are using i2c (the protocal behind the wire libary) to communicate with an analoge device. The sensor you have chosen returns the distance to the controller as an analog voltage in the range -0.3 to +2.8V (see the datasheet linked from the store page). Therefore you cannot communicate with it via a digital protocal.

To Make this work wire it up like this:

^{simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab}

The code you need to control it should look something like this:

void setup()
{
  // Start serial connecton back to PC
  Serial.begin(19200);  
}

void loop()
{
  // Enable the sensor
  digitalWrite(15, HIGH);

  // Wait for it to turn on
  delay(100);

  // Read the analog value from the device
  value = analogRead(0);

  // power down the sensor
  digitalWrite(15, LOW);

  distance = /* do math here, see datasheet for typical values */; // Calculate the range in CM

  Serial.print("Distance is ");
  Serial.print(distance);
  Serial.println("CM");

  delay(50);
}

Also I would strongly recomend reading the datasheet of the device you have ordered carfully.

EDIT: I noticed that the code you are using is for the GP2Y0E02B not GP2Y0E02A. The GP2Y0E02B is digitally controlled over I2C, your GP2Y0E02A only outputs an analog value. Is it possible you ordered the wrong version of the sensor?