TeraBee TeraRanger Evo User manual

Copyright © Terabee 2017
User Manual for
TeraRanger Evo with:
USB and I2C/UART
backboard

Hardware revision 1.0
Firmware revision 1.0.0
 

Terabee Website:
90 Rue Henri Fabre Technical support:
01630, Saint-Genis-Pouilly Commercial:

www.teraranger.com
[email protected]
[email protected]
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Table of contents:

1 Introduction 3
2 Mechanical integration 3
2.1 Mechanical design 4
2.2 Sensor handling during system assembly 4
3 USB backboard use 4
3.1 Connecting the TeraRanger Evo to a Host Computer 4
3.2 Graphical User Interface 6
3.2.1 Prerequisites 6
3.2.2 Basic Operation 6
3.2.3 Firmware Upgrade 7
4 I2C/UART backboard use 7
4.2 I2C/UART interface 7
4.2.1 Backboard LEDs 8
4.2.2 Electrical characteristics 9
4.3 I2C protocol information 9
4.3.1 I2C commands 10
4.4 UART Communication 11
4.4.1 UART protocol information 11
4.4.2 Commands 11
4.4.3 UART output format 12
5 Declaration of Conformity 13
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Terabee Website:
90 Rue Henri Fabre Technical support:
01630, Saint-Genis-Pouilly Commercial:

www.teraranger.com
[email protected]
[email protected]
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1Introduction
The purpose of this document is to give guidelines for use and integration of the TeraRanger
Evo distance sensor with (a) UART/I2C backboard, and/or (b) USB backboard using these
standard communication interfaces.
2Mechanical integration
The mechanical design of the main sensor module (black) allows easy assembly to its
backboard (yellow) using a simple ‘clip-in’ technique. (When you clip the two together,
ensure there is no visible gap between the black and yellow parts.) The yellow backboard
has two mounting holes for final installation.
When choosing a place for mounting, please consider the following recommendations:
● Choose a place which is in accordance with the optical constraints listed in below
● Mounting close to sources of heat or strong electromagnetic fields can decrease the
sensing performance
● Do not mount anything directly in front of the sensor or in a cone of approximately
+/-15° around the central optical axis of the sensor
● Within the first metre of the sensor, avoid objects with high surface reflectivity in a
cone of approximately +/-45° around the central optical axis of the sensor
● It is better to avoid having other sources of Continuous Wave or modulated IR light
close to the sensor
● Please consider that dust, dirt and condensation can affect the sensor performance
● It is not advised to add an additional cover in front of the sensor
● Drone rotor blades, or other environments with flickering (‘chopped’) ambient light in
the field of view can affect sensors’ readings

Terabee Website:
90 Rue Henri Fabre Technical support:
01630, Saint-Genis-Pouilly Commercial:

www.teraranger.com
[email protected]
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2.1Mechanical design
2.2Sensor handling during system assembly
During assembly and integration, please observe all common ESD precautions. All optical
surfaces (sensor front) should be kept clean and free from contact with chemicals.
3USB backboard use
The USB backboard comes with a standard Micro-USB connector.
3.1Connecting the TeraRanger Evo to a Host Computer
TeraRanger Evo can interact as a virtual COM port using the following configuration: 115200
bit/s, 8 data bits, no parity bit and one stop bit.

Terabee Website:
90 Rue Henri Fabre Technical support:
01630, Saint-Genis-Pouilly Commercial:
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www.teraranger.com
[email protected]
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In Windows you can also use any terminal emulation software of your choosing, however we
suggest you use HTerm (http://www.der-hammer.info/terminal/). Extract the downloaded zip
file to the folder of your choice, open it and double click on the “HTerm.exe” document.
Connect the TeraRanger Evo to your computer and select the corresponding USB port (click
“R” button to refresh the port list). Select values for the following fields: (1) Baudrate, (2)
Data Bits, (3) Parity, (4) Stop Bits. For easier readings, select the “LF” option for “Newline at”
tab. See Figure below for visual instructions.
Once you have selected the USB port and required values, click on the “Connect” button.
The data will now appear in the “Received data” box (Figure below).
To communicate with the terminal emulation software, you need to send a command in
hexadecimal via the “Type” box. First check the “Hex” checkbox and choose the “HEX” Type.
The figure above shows an example of the command which allows data to be shown in
TEXT mode.

Terabee Website:
90 Rue Henri Fabre Technical support:
01630, Saint-Genis-Pouilly Commercial:

www.teraranger.com
[email protected]
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3.2Graphical User Interface
A free graphical user interface is available for Windows, providing an easy way to visualize
the data from your TeraRanger Evo. This is useful for demonstration, testing purposes and
checking some of the basic parameters of the sensor. It also provides a way to easily
upgrade the firmware running on the device.
 3.2.1  Prerequisites
For usage on Windows (7, 8, 10) operating system, please download the driver from
http://www.st.com/en/development-tools/stsw-stm32102.html and follow the ”ReadMe file”
instructions given by the installer. After successful installation, unplug the interface for a
few seconds, and plug it back in. The virtual COM port should now be available on your PC.
 3.2.2  Basic Operation
Make sure your TeraRanger Evo is connected to a USB port on your computer. Select File >
Connect. You should immediately see a distance reading in millimetres and the status
should change to ‘Connected’.

Terabee Website:
90 Rue Henri Fabre Technical support:
01630, Saint-Genis-Pouilly Commercial:

www.teraranger.com
[email protected]
[email protected]
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 3.2.3  Firmware Upgrade
The current firmware version on your TeraRanger Evo can be found by selecting Help >
About  in the graphical user interface. It is possible to upgrade the firmware running on your
device if a new firmware version is made available on the TeraRanger website.
Please note the Upgrade Firmware feature is only supported on Windows 7, 8 and 10.
Please carefully follow the steps outlined below to avoid permanently disabling your device.
● Select File > Upgrade  Firmware
● You will be presented with a dialog window asking you to confirm your choice
Beyond this point, if you press ‘Yes’ it will not be possible to revert to the firmware
currently running on your TeraRanger Evo. Press ‘No’ to cancel and keep the current
firmware or ‘Yes’ to continue
● Read the instructions in the dialog window that opens
● Press ‘Select FW’ and select the new firmware file with Windows File Explorer
● Press ‘Upgrade’ and wait until the operation finishes
● Close the Upgrade dialog box
4I2C/UART backboard use

4.2I2C/UART interface
The TeraRanger Evo can be controlled through I2C or  UART interfaces. It uses a single 9
pin Hirose DF13 connector for interfacing to the host system. The mating connector is a
Hirose DF13-9S-1.25C with crimping contacts DF13-2630SCF (tin) or DF13-2630SCFA
(gold). Please consider the mechanical stability of the mated connectors and avoid any kind
of excess force on the connector (during installation and once integrated) and follow the
recommendations in the Hirose DF13 series datasheet (available here:
https://www.hirose.com/product/en/products/DF13) to ensure a reliable connection.

Terabee Website:
90 Rue Henri Fabre Technical support:
01630, Saint-Genis-Pouilly Commercial:

www.teraranger.com
[email protected]
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The table below provides an overview of the pin out of the DF13 connector:
Pin out and description (According to DF13 datasheet)
Pin
Designator
Description
1
Tx
UART transmit output. 3.3V logic
2
Rx
UART receive input. 3.3V logic
3
GND
Power supply and interface ground
4
SDA
I2C serial data line. 3.3V logic
5
SCL
I2C serial clock line. 3.3V logic
6
rfu
RESERVED FOR FUTURE USE
7
5V
+5V supply input
8
GND
Power supply and interface ground
9
rfu
RESERVED FOR FUTURE USE
 4.2.1  Backboard LEDs
Five LEDs are mounted to give visual feedback on the sensor. Table 2 lists the functionality
of each LED:
LED
Description
PWR (orange)
Power indicator, on when 5V connected
Rx/Tx (red/green)
UART receive and transmit indicators
LED 0 / LED 1
For internal use only

Terabee Website:
90 Rue Henri Fabre Technical support:
01630, Saint-Genis-Pouilly Commercial:

www.teraranger.com
[email protected]
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 4.2.2  Electrical characteristics
DC electrical characteristics
Parameter
Minimum
Typical
Maximum
Power supply
Voltage input (V)
Current consumption (mA)
4.8
25
5
*200
5.2
350
Interface logic levels
(referenced to +3V3)
LOW
HIGH
-
2.3
-
-
1
-
* Depending on ambient conditions, distance and target reflectivity
4.3I2C protocol information
The communication parameters are:
Frequency: 400kHz
Primary Address Length: 7-bit
Primary Slave Address: 0x31
Built-in pull-up resistors: 10kOhms on SDA and SCL
The TeraRanger Evo is ‘free running’. This means that it will restart a new measurement as
soon as the last one is finished. The displayed data via I2C protocol is always updated at the
end of a measurement. Nevertheless, it can always be read at any time.
Reading the distance is done by first writing a Trigger Reading command to the sensor -
send 0x62 (this is the 7 bit address 0x31 followed by the write bit ‘0’) and then reading from
the sensor by sending 0x63 (the base address with the Read bit ‘1’) followed by three byte
read operations. The first two bytes you receive are a 16 bit word containing the latest
measurement in mm**, the third byte is the CRC8 checksum.
**The TeraRanger Evo will output 01CRC (first distance byte set to zero and the second to
one) as an error message if the sensor is unable to measure a distance.If the target is
too close (below the minimum distance), the TeraRanger Evo will output 00CRC (both
distance bytes set to zero). If the target is too far away (above the maximum distance), the
TeraRanger Evo will output XXCRC with XX = FFFFhex (both distance bytes set to 0xFF)
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Terabee Website:
90 Rue Henri Fabre Technical support:
01630, Saint-Genis-Pouilly Commercial:
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Writing commands to the TeraRanger Evo:
1. Send the address byte consisting of a 7 bit base address and the last bit indicating
write (‘0’), e.g. 0x62 for base address 0x31. All commands listed in the table below
are ‘write operations’. The answer will be in the next read operation for which you
have to send the 7 bit address with the read bit set
2. Send the desired command listed in the table below (see table below in the next
paragraph)
3. In case the command creates an answer, read it back immediately
Reading data from the TeraRanger Evo:
1. Send the address byte consisting of 7 bit base address and the last bit indicating
read (‘1’), e.g. 0x63 for base address 0x31
2. Read back the the number of bytes imposed by the command, e.g. three bytes for a
distance reading
 4.3.1  I2C commands
Command
Name
Description
0x00
TRIGGER READING
Write this command to the TeraRanger
Evo and after a wait of approximately
500us read the 3 byte distance response
0x01
WHO_AM_I
Write this value to TeraRanger Evo via
I2C and the device responds with 0xA1
0xA2
CHANGE_BASE_ADDR[1]
Write this value followed by the new
address to set [2], eg. send 0x42 if you
want the Evo’s base address to change
to 0x42, ignore Read/Write bits.
Wait at least 1 second for the
TeraRanger Evo to rejoin the I2C bus
with the new address.
1] This command assigns a base address that will be memorised by the TerRanger Evo ie. power cycling the Evo will not
restore the default I2C address.
[2] Valid addresses accepted by the TeraRanger Evo are in the range 0x02 to 0x7F. Assignment of addresses within a local
system is up to the system architect. For example, the I2C standard defines reserved addresses but if it is known that the

Terabee Website:
90 Rue Henri Fabre Technical support:
01630, Saint-Genis-Pouilly Commercial:

www.teraranger.com
[email protected]
[email protected]
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