ST X-NUCLEO-53L8A1 User manual

Quick Start Guide
Low-power high-performance 8x8 multizone Time-
of-Flight sensor VL53L8CX expansion board for
STM32 Nucleo
May 2023

Quick Start Guide Contents
Hardware Overview
Setup & Demo Examples
Documents & Related Resources
STM32 Open Development Environment: Overview
2

VL53L8CX
X-NUCLEO-53L8A1 Hardware Description
•The X-NUCLEO-53L8A1 is low-power high-
performance 8x8 multizone Time-of-Flight sensor
and development board designed around the
VL53L8CX sensor based on ST FlightSense™
patented technology
•The VL53L8CX communicates with the STM32
Nucleo developer board host microcontroller
through an I2C or SPI link available on the
Arduino UNO R3 connector.
VL53L8CX - Low-power high-performance 8x8 multizone Time-of-Flight
sensor
Hardware Overview (1/2)
3
Order Code: X-NUCLEO-53L8A1
Key Products on board
VL53L8CX Low-power high-performance 8x8 multizone
Time-of-Flight sensor
0.25, 0.5 and 1mm spacers to simulate air gaps, with
the cover glasses
Latest info available at www.st.com
X-NUCLEO-53L8A1
Arduino UNO
R3 connectors
Spacers
Cover glass
Breakout boards
connectors
Breakout boards
SATEL-VL53L8 breakout boards can be purchased
separately

•X-NUCLEO-53L8A1 expansion board
•VL53L8CX devices in custom applications can be integrated with
expansion board, or external VL53L8CX breakout.
•The breakout boards are delivered separately.
•X-NUCLEO-53L8A1 is also available as a NUCLEO Pack
(P-NUCLEO-53L8A1)
•The X-NUCLEO-53L8A1 expansion board can also be ordered
on www.st.com as part of a NUCLEO Pack with expansion board
and STM32 NUCLEO board.
•Order code: P-NUCLEO-53L8A1:
X-NUCLEO-53L8A1 expansion board and NUCLEO-F401RE full
features board.
•VL53L8CX breakout boards can be ordered separately
•Order code: SATEL-VL53L8
•The pack carry two breakout boards
VL53L8CX - Low-power high-performance 8x8 multizone Time-of-Flight
sensor
Hardware Overview (2/2)
4

•The X-CUBE-TOF1 software package is a STM32Cube
expansion for the expansion boards of the Time-of-
Flight product family (including the X-NUCLEO-53L8A1)
for STM32. The source code is based on STM32Cube
to ease portability and code sharing across different
STM32 MCU families. A sample implementation is
available for the STM32 Nucleo ranging sensor
expansion board (X-NUCLEO-53L8A1) plugged on top
of an STM32 Nucleo development board (NUCLEO-
F401RE or NUCLEO-L476RG).
Time-of-Flight sensors Software Environment
STM32Cube Software Overview
5
X-CUBE-TOF1
Latest SW available at www.st.com
Key features
X-CUBE-TOF1 software description
•Driver layer (VL53L8CX ULD) for complete
management of the VL53L8CX sensor integrated in the
X-NUCLEO-53L8A1 expansion board.
•Easy portability across different MCU families,
thanks to STM32Cube.
•Free, user-friendly license terms.
•Sample code for ranging measurement.
Ranging measurement example
Application
STM32Cube Hardware Abstraction Layer
(HAL)
Hardware
Abstraction
Hardware
STM32 Nucleo development board
STM32 Nucleo expansion board
X-NUCLEO-53L1A2 (sense)
X-NUCLEO-53L3A2 (sense)
X-NUCLEO-53L4A1 (sense)
X-NUCLEO-53L4A2 (sense
X-NUCLEO-53L5A1 (sense)
X-NUCLEO-53L8A1 (sense)
X-NUCLEO-53L8A1 (sense)

Quick Start Guide Contents
Hardware Overview
Setup & Demo Examples
Documents & Related Resources
STM32 Open Development Environment: Overview
6

•1x High accuracy ToF sensor expansion board
based on VL53L8CX (X-NUCLEO-53L8A1).
•1x STM32 Nucleo development board
(NUCLEO-F401RE for example)
•1x Laptop/PC with Windows
•1x USB type A to Mini-B USB cable
• If you don’t have an STM32 Nucleo development board,
you can order a Nucleo pack (P-NUCLEO-53L8A1):
•X-NUCLEO-53L8A1 expansion board and NUCLEO-F401RE
full features board delivered together.
Setup & Demo Examples
HW prerequisites
7
X-NUCLEO-53L8A1
NUCLEO-F401RE
P-NUCLEO-53L8A1

•STSW-IMG040: Ultra Lite Driver (ULD) for VL53L8CX
•STSW-IMG041: Graphical User Interface (GUI) on Windows 7 and 10
•STSW-IMG042: Linux driver for VL53L8CX
•X-CUBE-TOF1: Time-of-Flight sensors software expansion for STM32Cube.
•When you install the X-CUBE-TOF1 the installer install also the directory containing the example projects here for instance :
•C:\Users\<user_name>\STM32Cube\Repository\Packs\STMicroelectronics\X-CUBE-TOF1\<version of the X-Cube-TOF1>\Projects\NUCLEO-
F401RE\Examples\53L8A1\53L8A1_SimpleRanging.
Setup & Demo Examples
SW prerequisites
8

Setup & Demo Examples
NUCLEO Kit driver installation
1. Connect the P-NUCLEO to the PC through USB
•Wait for the board to be recognized;
the drivers are installed automatically)
•If Windows cannot install automatically the
STLINK driver, please follow step 2
2. Install the PC USB port driver to detect the Nucleo board
•Download STSW-LINK009 from www.st.com
• Unzip and double click on “stlink_winusb_install.bat” to install the driver
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Setup & Demo Examples
VL53L8CX GUI software installation
•Perform the offset and Xtalk calibration and visualize calibration data
•Change key parameters of VL53L8CX
•Display real time the data (distance, signal, ambient rate)
•Get data logging and replay a datalog (.csv file)
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•Perform HW installation and connect the X-NUCLEO-53L8A1 expansion board + Nucleo F401RE to the PC
•Install the GUI SW for VL53L8CX Demo and configuration settings
•STSW-IMG041, downloaded from www.st.com
•Run the installer with Admin privileges
GUI is generally the first and easy tool to evaluate the device
The Graphical User Interface can: