The latest-generation VL53L8CX 8×8 multizone Time-of-Flight ranging sensor delivers a range of improvements, including greater ambient-light immunity, lower power consumption, and enhanced optics.
ST’s direct-ToF sensors combine a 940 nm vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL), a multizone SPAD (single-photon avalanche diode) detector array, and an optical system comprising filters and diffractive optical elements (DOE) in an all-in-one module that outperforms conventional micro lenses typically used with similar alternative sensors. The sensor projects a wide square field of view of 45° x 45° (65° diagonal) and receives reflected light to calculate the distance of objects up to 400 cm away, across 64 independent zones, and up to 30 captures per second.
The new VL53L8CX boosts ranging performance with a new-generation VCSEL and advanced silicon-based meta-optics. Compared with the current VL53L5CX, the enhancements increase immunity to interference from ambient light, extending the sensor’s maximum range in daylight from 170 to 285 cm and reducing power consumption from 4.5mW to 1.6mW in low-power mode. By increasing performance, the new VL53L8CX now further extends the advantages of these sensors over alternatives with conventional optics, which have fewer native zones and lose sensitivity in the outer areas. Thanks to its true 8×8 multizone sensing, the VL53L8CX ensures uniform sensitivity and accurate ranging throughout the field of view, with superior range in ambient light.
When used for system activation and human presence detection, the VL53L8CX’s greater ambient-light immunity enables equipment to respond more consistently and quickly. As part of ST’s STGesture™ platform that also includes the STSW-IMG035 turnkey gesture-recognition software and Gesture EVK development tool, the new sensor delivers the precision needed for repeatable gesture-based interaction. In addition to motion gesture recognition, hand posture recognition is also possible leveraging the latest AI models available in the STM32 AI model zoo on GitHub.
In industrial applications, the VL53L8CX enhances accuracy for monitoring contents in bulk storage and warehousing, including liquid-level monitoring. It also improves the performance of beverage dispensers and coffee makers. Mobile robots, such as autonomous vacuum cleaners, benefit from the sensor's improved guidance capabilities for floor sensing, object detection, collision avoidance, and cliff detection. Also, the synchronization pin enables projectors and cameras to benefit from coordinated autofocus. There is also a motion indicator, an auto-stop feature that allows real-time actions, and the sensor is immune to cover-glass crosstalk beyond 60 cm. Now supporting SPI connectivity, in addition to the 1 MHz I2C interface, the new sensor handles host data transfers at up to 3 MHz.
Developers can easily evaluate and integrate the VL53L8CX into their projects using the X-NUCLEO-53L8A1 expansion board, SATEL-VL53L8 breakout boards, and the P-NUCLEO-53L8A1 pack, which includes a microcontroller board.
Additional resources
- VL53L8CX datasheet
- On-demand webinar: Enhance Time-of-Flight performance with new sensors based on the world’s first optical metasurface technology
First published on Dec 14, 2023
