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Associate II
August 19, 2025
Solved

VL53L7CX gesture detection

  • August 19, 2025
  • 5 replies
  • 1511 views

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 the motion_indicator library provided by ST, but without much luck. What exactly does it tell you? The amount of motion within each of the 64 zones? Can it be used to detect overall motion across the whole grid, like a wave? How is it sized relative to the 4x4 or 8x8 grid?

Anything else I should know about using the sensor? Am happy to provide more info if you have questions on the application.

Thanks very much!

Best answer by labussiy

Hi @neil-viven ,

We have developed three solutions based on VL53L7/8:

  • STSW-IMG035: Motion Gesture Detection (Hand Tracking X/Y/Z, Swipes, Tap, etc.)
  • STSW-IMG050: Hand Posture (Static Gesture)
  • STSW-IMG048: Smart Presence Detection

 

For each of these solutions, you can download an all-in-one package from ST.com containing:

  • C project example for STM32F401 (application C code + compiled library)
  • Algorithm compiled libraries for different ARM cores (M4, M3, M0+, M7, M33)
  • A graphical software to display the solution outputs (fully running on the STM32 MCU)

The package includes a detailed User Guide, which I strongly recommend reviewing. It explains the package contents and how to use them.

Regarding the Hand Posture solution, it is AI-based. Everything is available: datasets, training scripts, C files, etc. You can find it on GitHub ST ModelZOO: GitHub - STMicroelectronics/stm32ai-modelzoo-services

If you are not familiar with Python and AI, we developed a graphical interface for AI model training and solution customization: Edge AI tools - STMicroelectronics

Finally, the Combined project available on ST.com shows how to integrate all three solutions together.

It's a lot of information, but with the User Guide and the links I shared, I believe you can start exploring the solutions :beaming_face_with_smiling_eyes:.

Best regards,
Yann

5 replies

Anne BIGOT
Technical Moderator
August 19, 2025

Hello 

ST published a dedicated software package to hand posture and gesture recognition since the STSW-IMG035.

Please have a look to the STSW-IMG050

There is also a dedicated page : ST gesture & hand posture recognition - STMicroelectronics

Regards

Our community relies on fruitful exchanges and good quality content. You can thank and reward helpful and positive contributions by marking them as 'Accept as Solution'. When marking a solution, make sure it answers your original question or issue that you raised. ST Employees that act as moderators have the right to accept the solution, judging by their expertise. This helps other community members identify useful discussions and refrain from raising the same question. If you notice any false behavior or abuse of the action, do not hesitate to 'Report Inappropriate Content'
Associate II
August 21, 2025

Hi @Anne BIGOT thank you for your fast response! I see there is a presentation inside the STSW-IMG050 download that advises to start with gestures_example.c in the STSW-IMG035 package. That is very helpful, thanks.

Does that mean that the gesture and hand posture recognition can be done completely on an embedded device (microcontroller) using the .c and .h files in the STSW-IMG035 and STSW-IMG050 packages? And the Windows executables are only there for a convenient application and nice GUI? Or does any of the gesture and hand posture detection get done using a PC?

Zhiyuan.Han
Technical Moderator
August 21, 2025

Hi Neil

 

Inside the STSW-IMG035 package, there are 4 sub folder, the 1st one is the GUI, which is used for quick evaluation.

The 2nd folder end with F401, this is the example based on STM32F401, this is ST 32-bit MCU, which is the solution match your request. you can refer this one as example for microcontroller.

One more thing to share, the gesture code was compiled to lib instead of source code, you can find the libs in 3rd folder. 

ZhiyuanHan_0-1755773872762.png

 

Br

Zhiyuan.Han

In order to give better visibility on the answered topics, please click on 'Accept as Solution' on the reply which solved your issue or answered your question.
Associate II
August 21, 2025

@Zhiyuan.Han thank you very much

Zhiyuan.Han
Technical Moderator
September 1, 2025

Hi 

About the hand posture, it's based on AI solution, so there is no open source for the hand posture recognition.

if you have interesting on AI method, please access below link for more detail.  

How to do camera-free hand posture recognition with stm32cube.AI - STMicroelectronics

 

Br

Zhiyuan.Han

In order to give better visibility on the answered topics, please click on 'Accept as Solution' on the reply which solved your issue or answered your question.
Associate II
September 1, 2025

Thanks @Zhiyuan.Han, and for STSW-IMG035_F401_v1.5.2\GesturesMZ is it the same? No open source for Gesture Recognition?
The open source would really help us for both Gesture Recognition and Hand Posture. Is there anyway ST would be willing to provide this? It would really help for the product we are developing.

labussiyBest answer
Technical Moderator
September 1, 2025

Hi @neil-viven ,

We have developed three solutions based on VL53L7/8:

  • STSW-IMG035: Motion Gesture Detection (Hand Tracking X/Y/Z, Swipes, Tap, etc.)
  • STSW-IMG050: Hand Posture (Static Gesture)
  • STSW-IMG048: Smart Presence Detection

 

For each of these solutions, you can download an all-in-one package from ST.com containing:

  • C project example for STM32F401 (application C code + compiled library)
  • Algorithm compiled libraries for different ARM cores (M4, M3, M0+, M7, M33)
  • A graphical software to display the solution outputs (fully running on the STM32 MCU)

The package includes a detailed User Guide, which I strongly recommend reviewing. It explains the package contents and how to use them.

Regarding the Hand Posture solution, it is AI-based. Everything is available: datasets, training scripts, C files, etc. You can find it on GitHub ST ModelZOO: GitHub - STMicroelectronics/stm32ai-modelzoo-services

If you are not familiar with Python and AI, we developed a graphical interface for AI model training and solution customization: Edge AI tools - STMicroelectronics

Finally, the Combined project available on ST.com shows how to integrate all three solutions together.

It's a lot of information, but with the User Guide and the links I shared, I believe you can start exploring the solutions :beaming_face_with_smiling_eyes:.

Best regards,
Yann