VL53L0x ambient light sensitivity

[Soren Karlsen]

Posted on August 03, 2017 at 10:30

Hi

I am testing the VL53L0X time-of-flight sensor, in order to find out how resistant it is to ambient light and it turns out that if you point a light source with a high IR content (like a halogen light bulb) towards the sensor it cannot measure the distance. Even if the illuminance is very low. It simply says 'No Target'.

The problem gets worse the steeper the angle is with respect to the optical axis. Has anyone had this problem and found a solution?Best regardsSoren

#light-intensity #light #vl53l0x #vl53l0 #tof #ir #time-of-flight #ambient-light #halogen

[John E KVAM]

Posted on January 02, 2018 at 20:05

The sensor emits light at 940nm which is just above what you can see. The light is relatively dim, due the requirement that it be completely eye safe. The lack of intensity does get it into trouble when faced with too much ambient light.

It's sort of like shinning a pen-light flashlight in broad daylight. Unfortunately Halogen lights have a huge amount of 940nm, which is your problem.

Normally the interference limits the distance which the senor can range. The sensor does well up to 2M indoors, but is limited to 50cm in bright sunlight.

Clearly looking directly into a 940nm light source would completely blind the sensor.

So testing in your environment is required.

- john