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Xynium
Associate III
November 30, 2023
Solved

Satel-VL53L8 which is which ?

  • November 30, 2023
  • 5 replies
  • 4625 views

Hi,

Just receive the SATEL-VL53L8 kit. It contains 2 boards but which one is the VL53L8CX or VL53L8CH.

Regards

JP

This topic has been closed for replies.
Best answer by John E KVAM

Those satellites contain the VL53L8CA.

But it does both depending on the software you download into it.

(the CX is NOT guaranteed to run the CH software however.)

 

But no worries, you can evaluate both sets of software using those chips.

  • john

5 replies

John E KVAM
John E KVAMBest answer
ST Employee
November 30, 2023

Those satellites contain the VL53L8CA.

But it does both depending on the software you download into it.

(the CX is NOT guaranteed to run the CH software however.)

 

But no worries, you can evaluate both sets of software using those chips.

  • john
MBaum.7
Associate III
January 12, 2024

Hi John

I do not understand...

In the product page of the SATEL-VL53L8 https://www.st.com/en/ecosystems/satel-vl53l8.html it's written 'The breakout boards support two products: VL53L8CX and VL53L8CH'.

Above you write, that a sensor called VL53L8CA is mounted, but this type do not exist in the selection matrix https://www.st.com/en/imaging-and-photonics-solutions/time-of-flight-sensors/products.html.

I buyed the SATEL-VL53L8 to try the historgram reading which is enabled in the VL53L8CH. I expect that the mounted VL53L8CA do not support histogram, isn't it?

Best regards, Michael

Anne BIGOT
Technical Moderator
January 12, 2024

Hello,
The VL53L8CA does support histograms as a super product covering the VL53L8CX and VL53L8CH but it is not orderable as a product that's why you can not find it in the products.html page.
Anne

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Xynium
XyniumAuthor
Associate III
December 1, 2023

Ok fine thank you.

JP

MBaum.7
Associate III
January 16, 2024

Ok, thanks.

Best regards, Michael

John E KVAM
ST Employee
March 26, 2024

Exactly! The chips on the evaluation boards can run both the CNH code and the CX code. Those parts are specially chosen to run both sets of code. 

- john

Associate
April 1, 2024

Thank you so muck! Btw can I get all raw histrograms of the 16 or 64 sensors, like each sensors with a 128 bins histogram, cause in the paper  Pixel2Pose published on Science Advance they extract raw histogram data with 144 bins from VL53L5

John E KVAM
ST Employee
April 1, 2024

IN that paper, it was stated that the max range was 3M and 144 bins. But each bin is 3.75cm. 

Those 128 bins advertised in the VL53L8CH, represent 4.80M. Due to the 2uSec the VCSEL is on we need more than bins than the 4M might suggest.  The paper is technically correct about there being 144 bins, but in effect there really are only 128 useable ones. The rest are used up in timing issues. 

Dealing with the Compressed, Normalized bins the L8CH puts out is much easier than dealing with the raw data. 

For one, the CNH starts with the logic bin 0. Something that is really tricky to find. 

We developed that CNH code specifically for extracting the bin data in a useable format. It's so you can do interesting things with the data, and not kill yourself trying to make sense of the underlying hardware issues. 

- john

 

Associate
April 2, 2024

Thats really helpful, thank you so much!