VL53L3CX – Time of Flight Sensor with Better Accuracy and Low Power Consumption

STMicroelectronics has introduced the VL53L3CX that allows measuring distances to multiple objects with increased accuracy. The new device is an extension to the company’s Flightsense ToF ranging sensors and it can measure objects ranges from 2.5cm to 3m without getting affected by the target color or reflectance. This helps the designers to implement new features to their products such as enabling occupancy detectors to provide error-free sensing by ignoring unwanted background or foreground objects, or reporting the exact distances to multiple targets within the sensor’s field-of-view.

The VL53L3CX has better linearity to increase short-distance measurement accuracy enhancing wall tracking, faster cliff detection, and obstacle avoidance in equipment such as service robots and vacuum cleaners, markets. The device features a compact all-in-one package design for easy integration in customer devices with low power consumption for extended battery runtime.

The histogram algorithms increase cover glass crosstalk immunity and allow real-time smudge compensation, which eventually prevents external contamination from adversely affecting the ranging accuracy of, for example, vacuum cleaners or equipment that may be used in a dusty industrial environment. Ranging under ambient lighting is also improved.

Features of VL53L3CX

• Histogram based technology
• Up to 300 cm+ detections with a full field of view (FoV)
• Immune to cover glass cross-talk and fingerprint smudge at long distance with patented algorithms (direct ToF)
• Dynamic fingerprint smudge compensation
• Short distance, high accuracy linearity
• Multi-target detection and distance measurement
• Typical full FoV: 25 °

Note: More technical information can be found in the datasheet linked at the bottom of this page and on the VL53L3CX product page.

The ToF sensors are suitable to be used in a wide variety of applications including more reliable occupancy detection in building automation and lighting controllers, smarter proximity sensing in IoT endpoints, more convenient auto-wakeup in portable devices, and more robust user detection in automatic sanitary equipment. The high accuracy and fast response times of ToF sensors improve the performance of devices that require precise movement control like robotics and indoor drones.