VL53L0X Distance Sensor

Raspberry Pi based Digital Measurement

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VL53L0X Distance Sensor

Connecting the VL53L0X laser-ranging module to the PhyPiDAQ measuring system, one can record and visualise the position of an object in real-time. The measured data can be saved in .csv files for further analysis. Some experiments are listed below.

Experiments with the VL53L0X Sensor

short description SD

1.Position, Displacement, Distance

2.Speed and Velocity

3. Relative Motion in One Dimension

4. Newton's Second Law

5. Motion on an Inclined Plane

6. Spring and Mass Oscillations

Sensor

Description and Specifications

The VL53L0X is a Time-of-Flight (ToF) laser-ranging module, able to measure distance up to 2m with a very high accuracy. The Vertical Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSEL) with a wavelength of 940 nm is invisible to the human eye. Additionally, it is equipped with internal physical infrared filters and it has high immunity to ambient light.

Operating voltage 2.6V - 5V DC
Very responsive (50 ms)
Range: normal mode 0-1000mm, remote mode 0-2000mm
Accuracy of 1% at distances up to 1 m (more than 10% at 2 m)

VL53L0X Connectivity and Pin Description

VL53L0X Distance Sensor on the breadboard connected to the Raspberry Pi by means of a T-Cobbler.

The VL53L0X has a I²C interface for device control and data transfer. To carry out measurements with the PhyPiDAQ measurement system the following four pins have to be connected to the Raspberry Pi:

Pin	Signal description
VIN	Supply, to be connected to 3,3V or 5V of the Raspberry Pi
GND	to be connected to the main ground
SCL	I²C serial clock input
SDA	I²C serial data

How to configure sensor and experiments with the PhyPiDAQ-Software

This video https://youtu.be/Vd5KpSkuN2w gives an insight into the procedure of configuring the experiment.

	1. On the Graphical Interface of the PhyPiDAQ Software open the Work directory where the configuration files are going to be saved.
	2. In the DAQ config: text box introduce the pre-configured file Distance.daq from the directory /home/pi/git/PhyPiDAQ/examples.
	3. The pre-configured file Distance.daq is loaded into the PhyPiDAQ interface. Click on the Configuration Button at the top of the PhyPiDAQ window to open the Distance.daq. This one is going to be edited in term of ChanLimits, ChanNams, ChanUnits, etc. Note to click on EditMode at the top of PhyPi Config window to change or modify the commands in the configuration files.
	4. The Distance.daq is going to be edited in term of ChanLimits, ChanNams, ChanUnits, etc. according to the experimental needs. For some experiments there are special .daq configurations saved as .pdf file.
	5.To activate the VL53L0x Motion Sensor make sure that the #-Sign from the command DeviceFile: config/VL53LxConfig.yaml is removed. Press the reload device config button at the bottom of the interface window. Click on the Device Config Button at the top of the window to change into the Sensor’s configuration window. Edit the .yaml configuration of the sensor according to the experimental needs. For some experiments there are .yaml configurations saved as .pdf file under Activity-Based Physics.

1. On the Graphical Interface of the PhyPiDAQ Software open the Work directory where the configuration files are going to be saved.

2. In the DAQ config: text box introduce the pre-configured file Distance.daq from the directory /home/pi/git/PhyPiDAQ/examples.

4. The Distance.daq is going to be edited in term of ChanLimits, ChanNams, ChanUnits, etc. according to the experimental needs. For some experiments there are special .daq configurations saved as .pdf file.