in that 20ms of integration time, there is a lot going on. About 5ms is just getting a measure of ambient light and adjusting for any temperature differences. Then there are actually two measurements. Call them A and B. The A measure has one pulse repetition interval, and the B has a different interval. This is to deal with something called radar aliasing.
But aside from that, you are getting the AVERAGE distance of your return times. So at the start of your 20ms you have one distance and at the end you have a different distance. Setting aside the 5ms of setup, you also have to consider that closer objects return more photons. So in your experiment, if the object were at 50cm at the start of the 20ms interval and 40cm at the end, you might get something like 44cm.
I suggest that you switch to the VL53L4CX. It's a bit more complex, but it's faster. What happens is that we still do the A,B trick, but we report back to you after every step. So you get the result of A and then the result of the B range. Lower latency, same accuracy.
Good news is you can try it with your existing setup. Just change the software to the VL53L4CX software. It will work in your experiment. BUT PLEASE DONT go into production like this. The L4CX sensors are guaranteed to run the more demanding software. The L4CD chips are not. But for a test. I think you will be happier.
Our community relies on fruitful exchanges and good quality content. You can thank and reward helpful and positive contributions by marking them as 'Accept as Solution'. When marking a solution, make sure it answers your original question or issue that you raised.
ST Employees that act as moderators have the right to accept the solution, judging by their expertise. This helps other community members identify useful discussions and refrain from raising the same question. If you notice any false behavior or abuse of the action, do not hesitate to 'Report Inappropriate Content'
