SparkFun Qwiic ToF Imager – VL53L5CX

The SparkFun Qwiic ToF Imager is a state of the art, 64 pixel Time-of-Flight (ToF) 4 meter ranging sensor built around the VL53L5CX from ST. This chip integrates a SPAD array, physical infrared filters, and diffractive optical elements (DOE) to achieve the best ranging performance in various ambient lighting conditions with a range of cover glass materials. Utilizing our handy Qwiic system, no soldering is required to connect it to the rest of your system. However, we still have broken out 0.1′-spaced pins in case you prefer to use a breadboard.

Multizone distance measurements up to 4000mm are possible across all 64 zones with a wide 63° diagonal field-of-view which can be read up to 15Hz. Thanks to ST Histogram patented algorithms, the VL53L5CX is able to detect different objects within the FoV. The Histogram also provides immunity to cover glass crosstalk beyond 60 cm.

Ideal for 3D room mapping, obstacle detection for robotics, gesture recognition, IoT, laser-assisted autofocus, and AR/VR enhancement, the Qwiic connector on this sensor makes integration easy.

Note: The VL53L5CX is unique in that it requires its firmware to be loaded at power-on over the I2C bus. Because this firmware is ~90k bytes, we recommend a microcontroller with enough flash to store VL53L5CX’s firmware as well as your program code. We recommend choosing either an Artemis Thing Plus or an ESP32 Thing Plus board as your development board.

Get Started with the VL53L5CX Qwiic TOF Imager Hookup Guide

• Multizone ranging output with either 4×4 or 8×8 separate zones
• Autonomous Low-power mode with interrupt programmable threshold to wake up the host
• Up to 400 cm ranging
• 60 Hz frame rate capability
• Emitter: 940 nm invisible light vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) and integrated analog driver
• 63 ° diagonal square FoV using diffractive optical elements (DOE) on both transmitter and receiver
• Operating Voltage: 3.3V
• I²C Address: 0x52
• 2x Qwiic Connectors

• Schematic
• Eagle Files
• Board Dimensions
• Hookup Guide
• Datasheet (VL53L5CX)
• Qwiic Info Page
• Arduino Library
• GitHub Hardware Repo