Sensor supplier ams has unveiled a small integrated module for direct time-of-flight (ToF) distance measurement from 2 cm to 2.5 m. The TMF8801 comes in a 2.2 x 3.6 x 1.0-mm package that is reportedly more than 30% smaller than competing ToF sensors, suiting it for space-constrained designs.
The module integrates a VCSEL infrared emitter, multiple SPAD (single photon avalanche photo-diode) light detectors, time-to-digital converter, and on-chip microcontroller for processing histograms. Compared to distance averaging employed with an indirect ToF system, the direct ToF time measurement methodology used in the TMF8801 delivers higher accuracy true-distance measurements, said the company.
When used to support LDAF, high accuracy distance measurements deliver improved camera performance, including sharper, in-focused images under any ambient lighting conditions and accurate adjustment of the camera flash brightness to improve picture quality.
RELATED: Report says future iPhones will include time-of-flight 3D sensors
The module’s small size and low power consumption suits it for fast-ranging collision avoidance detection used in autonomous vacuum cleaners and industrial robotics. For display-based products such as mobile computing, the TMF8801 can be used for user presence detection to automatically wake up or put the system into a low-power sleep mode.
The TMF8801 is priced from $2.89 in quantities of 5,000 pieces.