How can we detect a target if it doesn't cover the FoV(i.e., a target smaller than the FoV)?

[EPark.1]

If it's not doable, what is the reason for that? (why the distance cannot be measured with the VL53L1X if a target is smaller than its FoV?)

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[John E KVAM]

You can detect a target even if it does not fill the FoV. All you need is enough photons reflected to get an answer.

You can detect a hand to 75cm for instance. After that the number of photons returned is no longer enough to get an answer unless you use more time.

You can detect people to 3meters or so.

If you want a longer range, you can increase the integration time, depending on your situation you can increase the reflectivity of the object.

A small bit of reflective material on your target can make it range all the way to 4meters.

The reason the range is limited is that 940nm light will penitrate the eye. But the light is invisible - so a user will not know to blink or look away.

So to be safe the optical output is very small. And that limits the range.

The sensor only uses 20mA max, which gives you some idea of how much light we generate.