ST Microelectronics’ VL53L1X time-of-flight sensor offers distance ranging up to 4 meters, along with a fast ranging frequency of up to 50 Hz. Based on the company’ FlightSense technology, the VL53L1X directly measures the distance to the target based on the time for emitted photons to be reflected, enabling accurate distance measurement regardless of the target’s color or reflectance. Conventional infrared sensors only measure signal strength and can be affected by the object’s reflectivity.

Low power consumption and fast ranging make the VL53L1X useful for mobile robotics, drones, and unmanned aerial vehicles. A power-saving presence-detection mode allows auto-sleep/wake-on-approach use cases for PCs, notebooks, and IoT devices, in addition to camera auto-focus assist and gesture recognition.