This function tells the distance sensor to send out an ultrasonic wave form, measures the time it takes to bounce back to the sensor, and then calculates the distance based on the speed of sound. code example

Example: ultrasonic sensor

/*
* Ultrasonic Sensor HC-SR04 and Arduino Tutorial
*
* by Dejan Nedelkovski,
* www.HowToMechatronics.com
*
*/
// defines pins numbers

const int trigPin = 9;
const int echoPin = 10;

// defines variables
long duration;
int distance;

void setup() {
pinMode(trigPin, OUTPUT); // Sets the trigPin as an Output
pinMode(echoPin, INPUT); // Sets the echoPin as an Input
Serial.begin(9600); // Starts the serial communication
}

void loop() {
// Clears the trigPin
digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);
delayMicroseconds(2);

// Sets the trigPin on HIGH state for 10 micro seconds
digitalWrite(trigPin, HIGH);
delayMicroseconds(10);
digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);

// Reads the echoPin, returns the sound wave travel time in microseconds
duration = pulseIn(echoPin, HIGH);
// Calculating the distance
distance= duration*0.034/2;
// Prints the distance on the Serial Monitor
Serial.print("Distance: ");
Serial.println(distance);
}