Anyone used the VL53L0X time of flight sensor with Propeller/Spin? Can pay for code.
varnon
Posts: 184
Hi all,
I'm looking at using ST's VL53L0X time of flight sensor with some of my projects. It looks pretty interesting. But the data sheet and documentation are not great. Before I get too deep into translating ST's api or Pololu's Arduino code, I was curious to see if any one had already gone through the process. I saw a few posts on the VL6180X, but I need a little more range than that can offer.
I'm looking at using ST's VL53L0X time of flight sensor with some of my projects. It looks pretty interesting. But the data sheet and documentation are not great. Before I get too deep into translating ST's api or Pololu's Arduino code, I was curious to see if any one had already gone through the process. I saw a few posts on the VL6180X, but I need a little more range than that can offer.
Comments
obex.parallax.com/object/852
Erlend
Also, I just discovered that the VL6180X has a range scaling factor (not described in the data sheet) that will let you increase the range from 200 mm with a 1 mm resolution, to 400 mm with a 2 mm resolution, or 600 mm with a 3 mm resolution. That would actually be fine for my purposes. So I might end up going that way.
I would appreciate if you would share the details of this scaling factor with me.
Erlend
https://www.pololu.com/product/2489
Their Arduino code contains some instructions. Looks pretty easy to execute.
ST has a description of it on a document for one of their eval boards. I haven't looked for it in their API manual yet, but I assume it is there as well.
// Set range scaling factor. The sensor uses 1x scaling by default, giving range // measurements in units of mm. Increasing the scaling to 2x or 3x makes it give // raw values in units of 2 mm or 3 mm instead. In other words, a bigger scaling // factor increases the sensor's potential maximum range but reduces its // resolution. // Implemented using ST's VL6180X API as a reference (STSW-IMG003); see // VL6180x_UpscaleSetScaling() in vl6180x_api.c. void VL6180X::setScaling(uint8_t new_scaling) { uint8_t const DefaultCrosstalkValidHeight = 20; // default value of SYSRANGE__CROSSTALK_VALID_HEIGHT // do nothing if scaling value is invalid if (new_scaling < 1 || new_scaling > 3) { return; } scaling = new_scaling; writeReg16Bit(RANGE_SCALER, ScalerValues[scaling]); // apply scaling on part-to-part offset writeReg(VL6180X::SYSRANGE__PART_TO_PART_RANGE_OFFSET, ptp_offset / scaling); // apply scaling on CrossTalkValidHeight writeReg(VL6180X::SYSRANGE__CROSSTALK_VALID_HEIGHT, DefaultCrosstalkValidHeight / scaling); // This function does not apply scaling to RANGE_IGNORE_VALID_HEIGHT. // enable early convergence estimate only at 1x scaling uint8_t rce = readReg(VL6180X::SYSRANGE__RANGE_CHECK_ENABLES); writeReg(VL6180X::SYSRANGE__RANGE_CHECK_ENABLES, (rce & 0xFE) | (scaling == 1)); }But, it looks like you can set it during the init method. The fourth register written, $97 is the range scale. The application notes tell you to write $FD, but you can write $7F for the 40 mm range, or $54 for the 60 mm range. Everything seems to work exactly as suggested if you do that. I'm just not able to change the range scaling after initialization.
Erlend