mutiple vl53l1cx or single vl53l3cx for depth map ?

[samfishy]

hi i want to confirm can i use single vl53l3cx for depth mapping, i know that i should use l5,l7 or l8 but these not available in my country? and also since vl53l0cx the cheapest can i multiple of those too for the same?

[John E KVAM]

That's going to be difficult. The VL53L3 (and the VL53L0) will return one distance representing the average distance to a target in a 27-degree field of view. 

It's not going to give a very accurate map. There would be little detail. 

I suppose you could rotate the sensor and plot the results. You would know about where something was, but with little resolution. 

Can you get your hands on a vl53L4CD. It as an 18-degree FoV, making it a touch better. And it's supposed to be our least expensive, but we have no control over what distributors charge. Range is limited to 1.3M though. 

Or, for a bit more, the VL53L1X has a Region of Interest. Because of the lens on the part, one can change the RoI to get more accuracy.  The lens does add more cost. But you could do 13 ranges over 16x16 array to get about a 2 degree resolution. But limiting the RoI also limits the max range. 

Good luck,

- john