Example Code for Arduino-Distance Measurement

Hardware Preparation

• DFRduino UNO R3 (or similar) x 1
• TOF Sense Laser Ranging Sensor (5m) x 1
• M-M/F-M/F-F Jumper wires

Software Preparation

• Arduino IDE

Wiring Diagram

Use the PC-side serial port software to display the distance detected and to power the entire system.

Other Preparation Work

Since TOF Sense is a serial port device, while the average Arduino has only one hardware serial port. So, it is recommended to use a soft serial port to work with sensors, and users can also use multiple serial devices, such as Arduino Leonardo, Arduino Mega2560, etc. The most common one--Arduino UNO is used here as a controller, defining D10 and D11 as soft string ports.

Sample Code

PC serial tool is required, and the data read will be displayed in the serial tool interface

/*!
 * @file  DFRobot_TFmini_test.ino
 * @brief This example use TFmini to measure distance
 * @n With initialization completed, we can get distance value and signal strength
 * @copyright  Copyright (c) 2010 DFRobot Co.Ltd (http://www.dfrobot.com)
 * @license  The MIT License (MIT)
 * @author  DFRobot
 * @version  V1.0
 * @date  2018-01-10
 */
#include <SoftwareSerial.h>

int i;
int dat[32] = { 0 };
unsigned long a, p, q, z;
SoftwareSerial mySerial(11, 10); // RX, TX

void setup()
{
  Serial.begin(9600);
  mySerial.begin(115200);
}

void loop()
{
  if (mySerial.available() >= 32) {
    if (millis() - a > 500) {
      a = millis();
      for (i = 0;i < 32;i++) {
        dat[i] = mySerial.read();
      }
      for (i = 0;i < 16;i++) {
        if (dat[i] == 0x57 && dat[i + 1] == 0 && dat[i + 2] == 0xff && dat[i + 3] == 0) {
          if (dat[i + 12] + dat[i + 13] * 255 == 0) {
            Serial.println("Out of range!");
          } else {
            z = dat[i + 11];
            Serial.print("Status = ");
            Serial.print(z);
            p = dat[i + 12] + dat[i + 13] * 255;
            Serial.print("  Strength = ");
            Serial.print(p);
            q = dat[i + 8] + dat[i + 9] * 255;
            Serial.print("  Distance = ");
            Serial.print(q);
            Serial.println("mm");
          }
          break;
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Result