External Trigger

[trisha-2]

Dear altruist, I need urgent help. Can I apply hardware-based external triggering in the VL53L8CX sensor by STM32 Nucleo F401RE? Will the sensor work for external triggering? Thank you

[AScha.3]

Hi,

i dont understand : > Will the sensor work for external triggering? <

->

The host customer application controls the VL53L8CX
using an application programming interface (API). The API implementation is delivered to the customer as a driver
(C code and reference Linux® driver). The driver provides the customer application with a set of high level
functions that allow control of the VL53L8CX firmware. This includes control of items such as device initialization,
ranging start/stop, and mode select.

So...you use the API ? or what then ?

connection to cpu:

>Can I apply hardware-based external triggering

sync IN ?  Why not ?

[Chris21 · Accepted solution]

According to UM3109, A guide for using the VL53L8CX, low-power, high-performance Time-of-Flight multizone ranging sensor - User manual an external trigger source can be used to synchronize the Time-of-Flight (ToF) ranging acquisition: 

External synchronization pin
An external trigger source can be used to synchronize the ToF ranging acquisitions for applications where there may be interference concerns. Such interferences include multiple VL53L8CX devices or IR image sensors within close proximity, or any other electronics emitting 940 nm IR light. When the external synchronization is enabled, the SYNC pin is configured as an input and the VL53L8CX waits for a rising edge on the SYNC pin to start the next single ranging acquisition. To use this feature, the SYNC pin (B1) must be connected to an external trigger source as described in the product datasheet.

External synchronization is only available in autonomous mode. There are no specific timing requirements for using the external synchronization. However, the VL53L8CX ranging frequency should be set higher than the external trigger signal frequency to ensure that each ranging acquisition has completed prior to the next external trigger event. The timing of the synchronized single ranging acquisition period follows the integration time in autonomous mode, as defined by the user... 

[Anne BIGOT]

Indeed you can apply an external trigger source on the SYNC pin