STMicroelectronics Releases 8x8 Area Ranging Time-of-Flight Sensor, Enabling Application Innovation

     STMicroelectronics announces the universal multi-zone ranging FlightSense time-of-flight sensor, bringing sophisticated ranging solutions to a wide range of consumer electronics and industrial products. The VL53L5CX sensor provides up to 64 ranging zones for multi-target detection applications, each with a maximum measurement distance of 4 meters, and a wide rectangular field of view with a 63° diagonal field of view. The new sensor is suitable for gesture recognition, complex scene analysis (3D scanning and imaging of the robot in the room), storage tank level monitoring to improve inventory management efficiency, liquid level monitoring and intelligent trash can overflow monitoring to improve collection efficiency.

     In public equipment such as self-service payment terminals, consumer electronics and household appliances, by supporting gesture recognition and automatic detection of human presence, the VL53L5CX can realize a touch-free safe wake-up system and help devices save power significantly. Using ST's market-proven histogram processing technology, the new sensor greatly reduces the effects of cover-panel crosstalk and can be easily integrated and hidden behind a variety of panels. The new motion-indicating innovation also allows sensors to detect if an object has moved.

     The number of sensor arrays can be set, and in 16-area (4x4) mode, the sensor ranging speed is up to 60 frames per second, enabling fast ranging mode. Achieving 8x8 zone high resolution with simple software configuration, the VL53L5CX also helps correct video projector keystone distortion and provides an accurate miniature depth map solution for augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) applications .

     VL53L5CX integrates a low-power microcontroller, which can intelligently measure distance and save power. It integrates all components required for distance measurement in a 6.4mm x 3.0mm x 1.5mm module, including VCSEL (Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser) infrared transmitter and receiver The receiver has built-in SPAD (Single Photon Avalanche Diode) and histogram-based ToF processing engine.

     There are a large number of development tool chains on the market that support the VL53L5CX, developers can quickly develop prototypes with easy-to-use evaluation and calibration tools, and can also buy development boards that easily integrate the VL53L5CX into larger prototype systems. In addition, the P-NUCLEO-53L5A1 evaluation kit and X-CUBE-TOF1 software extension package enable developers to develop time-of-flight applications using the STM32 ecosystem.