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Japan, Tokyo
1 Level
730 Review
53 Karma

Review on Highly Accurate Laser Distance Module- ACEIRMC 2Pcs VL53L0X ToF Ranging Sensor Breakout by Simon Nugroho

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Wow! Exceeds expectations.

Using for a 275V oil tank level sensor in BEST_ACCURACY_MODE in python on an RPi. Getting about +/-1 gal at half full. I wish the seller offered a glass cover option.UPDATE: Given the above success with a quick try, dangling the breakout board into the tank on the end of four wires, and I sat down to make a more permanent design. I purchased IR transmitting, crosstalk blocking, covers from a french company (google "Gilsymo") that cost me 10x what these breakouts did. I measured them up and cut a mount plate out of 3mm black acrylic and glued that into a 2" PVC tube to NPT adapter that screws into the tank. I sprayed the inside of the male NPT end of the PVC fitting flat black to minimize (visible) internal reflections (I have no idea what the reflectivity of the paint is at 940nm but it looks cool).I am getting measurements on an almost empty tank (i.e. measuring at the long end of the specified max range of the device) of what looks like +/- 0.5mm with averaging 100 readings in software. Note that there is an offset calibration required on these which, in this application, is easily handled when you do the math to calculate the remaining oil depth from the headspace you are measuring.Next step is to get the tank filled and hopefully this design survives and works at the short measurement end.If you decide to go down this road, DO NOT forget to remove the protective film that the mfgr puts on over the device, apertures before you put them into service. If all your measurements are 300mm, you forgot to do this (;-o).Update2: Tank was filled. Truck meter said 185gal delivered and my system said 188 gal delivered over the range of empty to full. I calibrated the system at near empty and I will keep it there. Accuracy is more important at the low end than the high. Also learned is that the cabling is critical. Keep it as short as possible. If you use ribbon cable put the SCL and SDA line as far from each other as you can to minimize cross-talk. Red line on the attached chart is this second gen design. Purple line is the first gen, in another tank and the blue and brown are throw in-pressure sensors which are actually ok if you want tank level combined with atmospheric pressure.The slope of the trend line is correct (6.2 mm/day (1.5-2gal/day) with the current weather here is about right) but after cleaning up the wiring the R^^2 is showing as 0.9805. Not bad at all.Now the issue to watch is longevity. I will update if any of them die prematurely.

img 1 attached to Highly Accurate Laser Distance Module- ACEIRMC 2Pcs VL53L0X ToF Ranging Sensor Breakout review by Simon Nugroho



Pros
  • 0.79 x 0.39 x 0.39 inches
Cons
  • Costly: The module comes with a high price tag, making it less accessible for budget-conscious customers