Imaging (sensors)

Hello, I have started working with the VL53L5CX ToF sensor, for 3d scanning. I have successfully interfaced the sensor with MCU and am able to read the data from it. I have read the datasheet and um2884 user manual as well which explains the different available features of the sensor. A few things I am still confused about -1. If I want to develop my own firmware for the sensor, I am not able to find the I2C protocol register addressing in the datasheet. I found a library from ST micro for interfacing. How can I make my own library if needed?2. For a 4x4 or 8x8 resolution, what is the size of the smallest block in the grid at a particular distance x (in mm). I am asking about both the size of the whole grid and the size of the smallest block in the gird. This will make me understand what is the least count of the point cloud in my scanning.3. What is the minimum thickness of a material that the sensor can detect. 4. I am not able to understand the option called "Target o

Hello,I'm currently working with the VL53L5CX sensor and I came across the following definition in the header files of the API provided by ST : #define VL53L5CX_STATUS_CRC_CSUM_FAILED ((uint8_t) 3U)However, this constant doesn’t seem to be used anywhere in the API or referenced in error handling functions.I would like to know:What exactly does this constant represent? Is it related to an internal CRC or checksum mechanism?Does the VL53L5CX sensor implement any internal CRC checking ?Are there other ST Time-of-Flight sensors that implement CRC or similar integrity checks in their communication protocols?Thanks in advance for your insights!Best regards,

Hi,is there a way to distinguish both mentioned sensors other than by complex optical measurements (they have different FOVs)? We have built devices with both types of sensors and our firmware calculates x/y/z coordinates from the reported distances and so has to choose the correct pitch matrix.Thx Peter

Hi All,I see two order codes for the VL53L5CX: VL53L5CXV0GC/1 (with liner) VL53L5CXV9GC/1 (without liner) The datasheet says the liner must be removed before mounting the cover glass, but it’s not clear when the liner version is required.Could anyone of you clarify the purpose of the liner and when to choose the with liner version instead of without liner for standard PCB assembly? Thanks.

Hi,We are trying to mount the VL537CX ToF(Pololu) sensor on roof of a car and map a certain area of the cabin. The sensor is pointed downwards.But we are observing the a pattern flashing (appearing for a single frame of ToF data) at an interval varying from 0.2 to 5 seconds. The pattern is not constant, there will be slight changes each time.There are textured hard plastic surfaces (black color & white color) in the locations corresponding to  the zones where flashing occurs. The windshield is close to the sensor, but is out of its FoV.­­­­­­What could be the reason for this behavior? What can be done to avoid this flashing behavior?Attached the images of normal zone values and zone values during flashing for reference.

Hello,I have already use VL53L0X sensor provided by AZ-Delivery.My main problem is that I2C address can be changed but NOT permanently.I am looking to "Adafruit VL53L4CX Time of Flight Sensor". But I don't want to discover the same problem, that is I2C address can not be change permanently. Does the base-component VL53L4CX have the same "disability" ?Is there a TOF component allowing to set and fix this important behavior ?Best regards.

Does the ambient value affect the distance measurements in the VL53L8CX, or are both parameters independent of each other?

Dear ST,The VL53L8CH's example codes have demonstrated how the sensor can be controlled through set of APIs. However I am still not very sure about how can I switch between different working modes on-the-fly during runtime.For example, assume I have set the sensor to work under CNH output mode, by using API from cnh_pluginvl53lmz_cnh_init_config () and then vl53lmz_start_ranging ().Then I need to change the mode back to basic ranging mode, i.e., I do not need CNH data output anymore, just want default data output. What should I do to cancel it? Do I just have to vl53lmz_stop_ranging (), and vl53lmz_start_ranging () again? Similar question exists for other modes like when working under motion indicator mode, and then again I need to switch to basic ranging mode (without CNH data or other plugins, etc.).I did not find a clear answer from the examples provided. Your hints will be appreciated./Roland    

Hello Everyone ! I would like to know if it is possible to measure ambient light levels  either directly or indirectly , using the VL53L8CX sensor. Thank you in advance

I am currently working with the P-NUCLEO53L1A1 evaluation kit for the VL53L1X sensor and have encountered some technical questions. I would appreciate your insights.From the official documentation, I understand that SignalRateRtnMegaCps represents the target reflectivity, while AmbientRateRtnMegaCps indicates ambient light intensity. I plan to use these parameters for imaging purposes but have been unable to find detailed information on their acquisition principles in the API documentation or related materials.I have reviewed the datasheet, application notes, and online resources, but most available content only covers basic introductions and simple use cases rather than in-depth explanations of the internal signal processing methods.My current understanding is that the sensor emits laser pulses and measures the returned signal. SignalRateRtnMegaCps likely corresponds to the strength of the reflected signal, while AmbientRateRtnMegaCps may represent ambient light detection. However, I

I am trying to use VL53L8CX with stm32f4 discovery but had no success.  Implementing the preexisitting API has been tough.  Is there a register map for this sensor whcih can be used to create a minimalistic driver and interface sensor using I2C or SPI.If anyobne knows what is register 0x7FFF . Please let me know.

I am trying to use VL53L4CD to detect whether there is a car on top of the sensor or not...I am placing my sensor on the ground and trying to detect if a car is parked on top of the sensor. But it is not able to detect the cars bottom surface. However if I place any other object it is able to detect that....Is this the right sensor for this application?

    I want to try the VL53L7CH, I purchased the SATEL-VL53L7 and the x-nucleo-53l7A1. When I look at the boards on the SATEL-VL53L7 they look identical. But the description says it supports both the CX and CH models. Can someone clear this up?

According to the UM2829 manual stating that it supports "SLAVE_I2C STREAMING on I²C pulses", I would like to ask whether this means that image data can be obtained via I2C like the VD55G1, or if it only refers to synchronization signals between image data, with image transmission being possible only through MIPI CSI. Additionally, is there any code for obtaining images via I2C, such as starting to read from which address?

Hi we are looking for optical flow sensor and try to configure VD56G3 camera for this purpose which is connected to rasberry pi 4.I came across research artice which states that it does support optical flow using  MIPI CSI-2 interface.https://arxiv.org/pdf/2305.13087 However just looking at the user manual its not so clear how I can configure camera to output optical flow or displacement of  consecutive frames.Are there any additional materials I can look at or maybe software tools, SDKs that will give any examples of how to do it?

Hi, I am trying to use the VL53L7CX to do gesture detection for a household product. A few questions:Do these software downloads only run on a Windows PC? https://www.st.com/en/embedded-software/stsw-img035.html ? I am trying to do embedded development and gesture recognition on a microcontroller.Are the "gestures" recognized only static signs, like a thumbs up, heart, etc? Or does ST have software or firmware written to recognize dynamic gestures, like a wave left, wave right, etc?I am trying to write my own gesture recognition code to run directly on an embedded microcontroller. There seems to be a lot of spurious or incorrect distance data. Currently I am filtering for 1) distances not too close or too far 2) signal_per_spad must be sufficiently high and range_sigma_mm must be sufficiently low and 3) target_status = 5. Still I get bad or fake distance data.What environmental variables could cause spurious or fake distances measurements? Reflected or ambient light?I have tried using

 Hi all,  it's me again.   Close readers of this forum may remember I have a cluster of 5 VL53L4CX sensors that are attempting to range humans at an ideal distance of about 1.5-2m.   I think I've successfully managed to avoid interference between the 5 sensors. I expect the data to be bit noisy from ambient light and moving humans, but I'm also trying to optimize, and starting to play with the huge number of Tuning Parameters available.  I'm ok trading off latency for accuracy, especially at this long range.A specifc question though:some of my sensors are reporting a fair number of RangeStatus 4, 7, and sometimes 12.4: VL53LX_RANGESTATUS_OUTOFBOUNDS_FAILRaised when range result is out of bounds 7: VL53LX_RANGESTATUS_WRAP_TARGET_FAILWraparound occurred 12: VL53LX_RANGESTATUS_TARGET_PRESENT_LACK_OF_SIGNALIndicate that there is a target, but signal is too low to report ranging  I've finally got a setup that I can use to test tuni

Hello ST team, as mentioned in the title, I found that the power consumption when using the ULP library to drive TOF L1 is inconsistent with the manual. I'm using the official evaluation board vl53l1-satel. Below is my test code and power consumption data. In my code, you'll see both ULD and ULP libraries, but I'm actually only using the ULP library; the ULD library is commented out.int main(void) { /* USER CODE BEGIN 1 */ uint16_t dev=0x52; int status=0; volatile int IntCount; uint8_t byteData, sensorState=0; uint16_t wordData; uint8_t measurement_status; uint16_t estimated_distance_mm; uint16_t sigma_mm; uint16_t signal_kcps; uint16_t ambient_kcps; /* USER CODE END 1 */ /* MCU Configuration--------------------------------------------------------*/ /* Reset of all peripherals, Initializes the Flash interface and the Systick. */ HAL_Init(); /* USER CODE BEGIN Init */ /* USER CODE END Init */ /* Configure the system clock */ SystemClock_Config(); /* USER C

Hello everyone out there,I hope one of you can help me because I'm a bit confused about the additional information the sensor provides.I need to measure the fill level of a salt container. I noticed that the measured values deviate by about 6 cm compared to a smooth surface. This seems to be because the light is scattered and reflected multiple times within the salt.With the ST GUI (VL53L4CX Rev. 1.0.0.12289), when the additional information is enabled, I see a distance of 27 cm. The minimum is 25 cm and the maximum is 182 cm. However, the lower diagram shows a blue bar that ranges from 0 to approximately 107 cm. The signal strength is 18 Mcps.Can someone explain to me how this information is determined?Does the lower diagram represent the so-called histogram?Why are the limits in the diagram not the same as the minimum and maximum?I haven't really figured out how to use the histogram function yet. Perhaps that would help me correct the measured values.

Hello Everyone, I'm using the VL53L4CD with the STM32WL55JC1, The following is the Power Profile of the cycle:1- XSHUT GPIO is normally pulled low.2- XSHUT Pulled up + delay ( sensor wakes up).3- VL53L4CD Initiliazation.4- Measurements (20 Samples).5- XSHUT Pulled Low again. Just after the initializing of the VL53L4CD, the current consumption was 4.45uA, then after HW-Standby, I can't get less than 332uA!?    Why this high amount of consumption even if the XSHUT is Pulled Low? The used board is the Sparkfun board(the LED on the board is removed).I posted this question inside another topic but I think it's better to be alone(since the sensor is different).  Thank youAmir

Hi All,I am trying to implement VD6281 readout layer and I do struggle with quite random '0' return value with relatively intense light exposure.The implemented script automatically adjust sensor gain. For relatively high register values [15..12] what correspond to gain equal to 1 and lower (basically attenuation) - used for intense light exposure - sensor returns 0 and trigger script gain increase what causes algorithm latch.For instance, readouts with the same light exposure:Ch: 0 gain: 13 value: 2649333 calc value: 2649333Ch: 1 gain: 13 value: 0 calc value: 0  (ought to be :value 1097992 and  calc value: 1097992)Ch: 2 gain: 13 value: 1139807 calc value: 1139807Ch: 3 gain: 13 value: 3132285 calc value: 3132285Ch: 4 gain: 13 value: 7223551 calc value: 7223551Ch: 5 gain: 13 value: 7223551 calc value: 7223551And the different gain:Ch: 0 gain: 12 value: 3211258 calc value: 2569006Ch: 1 gain: 12 value: 1372490 calc value: 1097992Ch: 2 gain: 12 value: 1323700 calc value

VL53L1CB必须配置其 ROI（感兴趣区域）以定义要读取的“单元格”网格。如果不设置 ROI，则只能获得一个合并的距离值，该值将来自所有 SPAD 的信号求和，并且您将无法获取每个子区域的解析数据。上述说法正确吗？Please note that the official forum language it English - see the Community Terms & Conditions.Google Translate:The VL53L1CB must have its ROI (Region of Interest) configured to define the grid of "cells" to be read. Without setting the ROI, you will only get a single combined distance value that sums the signals from all SPADs, and you will not be able to obtain resolved data for each sub-region. Is this correct?

We plan to implement a VL53L1X driver based on this API for our Open Source Real-Time OS (community project) and would have to publish the API source code (content of directory STSW-IMG009_v3.5.4/API only) either as part of the GitHub repository of the OS or as a separate GitHub repository to use it as a package.I had to accept the PLLA (SLA0081) to get the VL53L1X ULD API (STSW-IMG009) which restricts the use and the distribution of the code a lot. On the other hand this PLLA (SLA0081) also says that some portions of the licensed materials might contain Open Source Software subject to Open Source Terms.The files in the API itself tell * This software is licensed under terms that can be found in the LICENSE file * in the root directory of this software component. * If no LICENSE file comes with this software, it is provided AS-IS.And the `License.txt` in directory `STSW-IMG009_v3.5.4/API` saysThis software component is provided to you as part of a software package and appli

Hi, Could someone please point me to where I can find the API or programming guide (which i2c reg to read the range data, which reg to set mode etc.) document for the VL53L7CH. I have looked everywhere and the only thing I can find is the ULD examples from ST. For me, these aren't very straightforward to convert into a C/C++ library :( I would like to write a library for ESP32/Arduino to use VL53L7CH, I found a repo for VL53L8CX but I am hoping to find a bit more documentation specifically for the L7CH so I can extend the library to read the histogram on the CH version. Any help would be appreciated :) Thanks,Calvin

I've been trying to get two Adafruit VL53L4CD's to work without a multiplexer on my Arduino R4 WiFi, and am getting stuck after getting one reading. I'm largely drawing on the code discussed here, and have also changed up the bits that nh1628 discussed at the end of the thread so that it matched. I am not sure why it seemed to work for them, but not in my case: #include <Arduino.h> #include <Wire.h> #include <vl53l4cd_class.h> #include <string.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <stdio.h> #include <stdint.h> #include <assert.h> #include <stdlib.h> // Define I2C bus #define DEV_I2C Wire // Define Serial Port #define SerialPort Serial // Define Built-IN LED #ifndef LED_BUILTIN #define LED_BUILTIN 13 #endif #define ledPin LED_BUILTIN // set the pins to shut down the sensors so we can assign addresses one by one #define gpio_pin_1 4 #define xshut_pin_1 5 #define gpio_pin_2 6 #define xshut_pin_2 7 #define GFX_BL DF_GFX_BL // Addres