About using the VL53L8CH

[Jsc]

I have already purchased P-NUCLEO-53L8A1 and VL53L8CH. How should I join them together and read out the histogram data. Can you provide a detailed guideline or experiment video for me?

[Jsc]

In addition, I want to know the integration time for a single frame. Because, the device will transmit and receive optical signals N times within a single frame measurement time.

[John E KVAM]

The P-Nucleo board comes in two parts. Place the blue board (sometimes called the expansion board) on top of the white STM32 board. The bit above the dashed line on the STM32 board is the ST-Link debugger. The STM32 is the big chip on the board. (The ST-Link is also run with an STM32, but you don't need to know about that one. 

The blue board fits on the white board with the sensor hanging off the edge of the white board. 

Attach the USB at the top and you are all set.

Download the software from the web site. Go to:

VL53L8CH - Artificial intelligence enabler, high performance 8x8 multizone Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensor - STMicroelectronics

And click on 'tools and software'

The download:

STSW-IMG043

ACTIVE

Software package for the VL53L7CH and VL53L8CH artificial intelligence enabler multizone Time-of-Flight sensors

It has everything you need - and it includes the manual. 

But there are several bits:

STSW-IMG043_EVK

Is the evaluation kit sofware. With this you can contol the sensor and view the data graphically. You can also strore the data into a spreadsheet - A very big spreadsheet.

STSW-IMG043_F401

Contains a project that you can compile and build with the STM32_CubeIDE compiler. (Download it as well from ST.com - it's also free.)

Both software packages have good manuals. Good luck

- john

[John E KVAM]

The speed at which one can run is fully discussed in the manual which one downloads with the software. 

The sensor is limited to 15 frames per second at 8x8 or 60 frames per second at 4x4. But the sensor is further limited by how much data you ask for and the speed of your interface. SPI is really fast. I2C limited to 1Mbit. 

There is a LOT more data in the chip that the interface can hold. So there are memory limitations, as well as interface speed limitations. 

The trick is to configure the compression and bandwidth to get what you need. 

Give the manuals a shot and see if it answers your question.

- john

[Jsc]

Hi John,

Thanks for your kind reply. I still have a question. I noticed that the sensor on the blue board is VL53L8CA. What should I do to replace the VL53L8CA with the VL53L8CH? 

Thanks.

[John E KVAM]

The CA chip on that board was specifically chosen to run both the CA and the CH software. Don' t do anything special. Just run the CH software. 

Try not to run the CH software on the CA chips in production. Lots of them will work, but they are not guaranteed to all work. 

- john

[Jsc]

I understand. But I bought the VL53L8CH sensor. How can I use it? It seems that the blue board or extension breatout board both are VL53L8CA. How should I modify the hardware? Thanks.

[John E KVAM · Accepted solution]

Just run it. The CA chip on that board will run the CH software. (It's really a CH chip.) All CH chips will run the CA software. CH chips are CA chips selected and guaranteed to run the more complex software. 

[Jsc]

Will do. Thanks John.