To know exactly what the value returned by the VL53L0X sensor means.

[JKyun.11]

Hello, I'm Jee Kyungsub, a student studying at RISE Lab at Sungkyunkwan University.

We are conducting study on mapping using VL53L0X proximity sensor to your company. But we met some problems while we were researching.

To proceed with the mapping, we need to know exactly what the value returned by the sensor means. So it's important to know what values this sensor gets and how it calculates the distance.

For example, only complete FOV covered experimental data exists in your data sheet. However, we should be able to predict how the data will come out if there are two or more objects in the sensor range, if one object is partially FOV covered, and if the sensor detects a tilted object.

So, I send email because we can't know this information just by the data sheet provided on the website. Would you be able to help me.

[John E KVAM]

I'm sorry this request got stuck somewhere and I failed to answer it.

But waiting might have worked.

There is now an VL53L5 sensor on the market that does a couple of things.

1) it does 8x8 multi-zone in one range. So you get a lot more information.

2) Internal to the chip it does histograms instead of averaging. Histograms record the number of photons detected during each clock after the laser turns on. So only the data from the first target are considered when grouping the targets. If several targets are in the zone's field of view, and they are 60 cm apart in depth, both can be returned. But the target distances are not averaged as in the case of our older sensors - like the VL53L0X.

• john