Benewake TF03 User manual

TF03 RS485/RS232 Product Manual V1.3.2
Benewake(Beijing)Co., Ltd
Page1
TF03 Long-Distance LiDAR
Rs485/RS232
Product Manual V1.3.2

TF03 RS485/RS232 Product Manual V1.3.2
Benewake(Beijing)Co., Ltd
Page2
Specified Product
Product model: TF03 UART/CAN
Product Name: Long-Distance LiDAR
Manufacturer
Company name: Benewake (Beijing) Co., Ltd.
Address: NO.28 Xinxi Road, Haidian District, Beijing, PRC
Copyright
The Copyright of this document is protected. All the rights involved herein belong to Benewake
(Beijing) Co., Ltd. Any copy activity of this document, no matter in whole or in part, should be in
conformity of the Copyright Law. The actives of modification, omission or translation of this
document are not allowed unless a written permission from Benewake (Beijing) Co., Ltd.
All rights reserved © Benewake (Beijing) Co., Ltd.

TF03 RS485/RS232 Product Manual V1.3.2
Benewake(Beijing)Co., Ltd
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Foreword
Dear users:
Thanks for choosing Benewake products, and it’s our pleasure to help you to solve any technical
question.
For the purpose of offering a better operation experience to you, we hereby write this manual for
an easier and simpler operation of our product, hoping to better solve the common problems you
maybe meet. Please contact us if you have any questions.( [email protected])
This operation manual covers the product operation introduction and common problem solutions,
but it is really hard to cover all the problems you maybe meet. So if you have any further questions
or problems, please feel free to consult our technical support service ([email protected]).
We will do our best to solve any problem related to the product. If you have any other good advice
or suggestions, welcome to visit our official website and offer us your feedback there
(http://en.benewake.com/support), and we are looking forwards to your participation.
We are Benewake who dedicated to making the best “Robotic Eyes” worldwide!

TF03 RS485/RS232 Product Manual V1.3.2
Benewake(Beijing)Co., Ltd
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Catalog
1ATTENTIONS ............................................................................................................................................ 6
1.1 ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT............................................................................................................................. 6
1.2 INSTALLATION AND MAINTENANCE................................................................................................................ 6
1.3 CONDITIONS WITH POTENTIAL PRODUCT FAILURE............................................................................................ 6
2INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 7
2.1 APPEARANCE OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................................ 7
2.2 DIMENSIONS ............................................................................................................................................ 7
2.3 PRINCIPLE OF MEASUREMENT...................................................................................................................... 7
2.4 DETECTION ANGLE DESCRIPTIONS ................................................................................................................. 8
3PHYSICAL INTERFACE ............................................................................................................................... 9
3.1 WIRING................................................................................................................................................... 9
3.2 ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS.................................................................................................................... 10
4HARDWARE AND COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL ................................................................................... 11
4.1 HARDWARE PROTOCOL............................................................................................................................. 11
4.2 COMMUNICATION INTERFACE..................................................................................................................... 11
5CUSTOM CONFIGURATION..................................................................................................................... 12
5.1 PROTOCOL DESCRIPTION........................................................................................................................... 12
5.2 INSTRUCTION PROTOCOLS ......................................................................................................................... 13
5.3 INSTRUCTIONS OF COMMAND EDITING......................................................................................................... 15
6MODBUS DESCRIPTION.......................................................................................................................... 15
6.1 PROTOCOL DESCRIPTION........................................................................................................................... 15
6.2 FUNCTION CODE...................................................................................................................................... 16

TF03 RS485/RS232 Product Manual V1.3.2
Benewake(Beijing)Co., Ltd
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6.3 REGISTER ADDRESS DESCRIPTION ................................................................................................................ 16
6.4 INSTRUCTION PROTOCOLS ......................................................................................................................... 17
7QUICK TEST PROCEDURE........................................................................................................................ 18
7.1 REQUIRED TOOLS OF PRODUCT TEST........................................................................................................... 18
7.2 TEST PROCEDURE..................................................................................................................................... 18
7.3 TEST EXAMPLE........................................................................................................................................ 20
7.3.1 TEST RANGE WITH DIFFERENT REFLECTIVITY................................................................................................ 20
7.3.2 ACCURACY OF DIFFERENT MATERIALS........................................................................................................ 20
8CONFIGURATION SOFTWARE OF TF03.................................................................................................... 21
9FAILURE REASONS AND TROUBLESHOOTING......................................................................................... 22
10 FAQ ...................................................................................................................................................... 23
ATTACHMENT 1: REFLECTIVITY OF DIFFERENT MATERIALS .......................................................................... 24

TF03 RS485/RS232 Product Manual V1.3.2
Benewake(Beijing)Co., Ltd
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1Attentions
1.1 About this Document
This Manual provides information necessary for the use of this product.
Please read this Manual carefully before using this product and make sure that you have fully
understood its contents.
1.2 Installation and maintenance
This product can only be maintained by qualified professionals and only the original spare
parts can be used to ensure its performance and safety.
The working temperature of the product is -25°C~60°C; please do not use it beyond this
temperature range, so as to avoid risks.
The storage temperature of the product is -40°C~85°C; please do not store it beyond this
temperature range, so as to avoid risks.
Do not open its enclosure for assembly or maintenance beyond this Manual; otherwise, it will
affect the product performance.
Do not twist the cable forcefully, so as to avoid damage to product.
The product can’t be aimed directly to the sun or another TF03, so as to avoid damage the
detector by strong light. If there is such an application, please contact our technician.
1.3 Conditions with Potential Product Failure
When the product transmitter and receiver lens are covered by dirt, there will be a risk of
failures. Please keep the lens clean.
The product will have a risk of failure when immersed completely in water. Do not use it
underwater.
When detecting objects with high reflectivity, such as mirrors and smooth tiles, the product
may have a high risk of failures.

TF03 RS485/RS232 Product Manual V1.3.2
Benewake(Beijing)Co., Ltd
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2 Introduction
2.1 Appearance Overview
Figure 1 Appearance
2.2 Dimensions
The LiDAR mounting holes are applicable to M3 screws.
Figure 2 Dimension (Left 1: top; Left 2: bottom; Left 3: front; Unit: mm)
Note: The length of the screw entering the enclosure shall be no more than 3.5mm.
2.3 Principle of Measurement
TF03 is a single point LiDAR, which is based on Pulse Time of Flight (PTOF). It adopts an
incoherent energy receiving mode, and the detection is mainly based on Pulse counting.
TF03 emits a narrow pulse laser, which is collimated by the transmitting lens to form a collimated

TF03 RS485/RS232 Product Manual V1.3.2
Benewake(Beijing)Co., Ltd
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light, which enters the receiving system after being reflected by the measured target and is
focused on the APD detector by the receiving lens. The time between the transmitted signal and
the received signal is calculated through the circuit amplification and filtering, and the distance
between TF03 and the measured target can be calculated through the speed of light.
Figure 3 Principle of measurement
2.4 Detection angle descriptions
TF03 has a 0.5-degree detection angle and rectangular light spot, see Figure 4 for simulated
diagrams of the light spot. Therefore, at different distances, the spot size, namely detecting range,
is different as shown in Table 1.
Note: The side length of common objects detected should be greater than that of the detection
range of TF03; When the side length of the detected object is less than that of the detection range,
the LiDAR effective range will be reduced
Figure 4 Detection angle of TF03
Laser
Pulse timing
Module

TF03 RS485/RS232 Product Manual V1.3.2
Benewake(Beijing)Co., Ltd
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Table 1 Spot simulated diagrams and sizes at different distances
Spot 20m away
Size：20cm*6cm
Spot 50m away
Size：50cm*14cm
Spot 100m away
Size：100cm*28cm
Spot 150m away
Size：150cm*42cm
Note: In these pictures, color represents the light intensity distribution, the red is the strongest,
the green is weak, the blue is the background. The spot size is the length and width of the green
in the picture.
3 Physical Interface
New version of TF03-100/180 is released since August 2020, the physical interface is adjusted
as follows:
⚫Bold cable, the size of single wire is changed from AWG30 to AWG 26
⚫Remove a wire, the amount of wire is 6 now, color is shown in Figure 5
⚫Add overvoltage and polarity protection, shown as Table 3
3.1 Wiring
Terminal model: MH1.25-7P-W/B, size of single wire is AWG26, diameter of single wire is

TF03 RS485/RS232 Product Manual V1.3.2
Benewake(Beijing)Co., Ltd
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0.404mm, cross-sectional area is 0.129mm2.
Figure 5 New Line Sequence of TF03
Table 2 Pin functions and connection instructions of TF03
No.
Color
Pin
Function
1
Red
VCC
Power supply
2
White
RS485-B/RS232-RX
RS485-B/RS232 receive
3
Green
RS485-A/RS232-TX
RS485-A/RS232 transport
4
N/A
N/A
N/A
5
Blue
UART_RX
UART receive(debug1)
6
Brown
UART_TX
UART transport(debug)
7
Black
GND
Ground
Note: If UART is used, the TTL_RXD and TTL_TXD must be connected and not allowed to be left
floating, so as not to be affected by electromagnetic interference.
3.2 Electrical Characteristics
New version has overvoltage and polarity protection.
Table 3 Main electrical parameters
Parameter
Typical value
Supply voltage
5V~24V
Average current
≤150mA
1
The UART interface of TF03-100 RS485 version is debugging interface. It cannot be used to read detection data.