CAN bus time of flight distance sensor

Introduction

This page presents a time of flight distance sensor based on an ATmega32M1 and VL6180 with an embedded CAN bus interface. The sensor can handle about 5mm to 200mm of range distance.

Processor

The schematics is based on an ATmega32M1 that read the sensor data through I²C, and make data available for CAN bus requests. The microcontroller has the following external devices:

The first part of the schematics contains the microcontroller with external devices:

• one LED for debugging;
• an ISP connector (In System Programming);
• a CAN bus interface based on MCP2562 transceiver.

Sensor VL6180

The second part of the schematics contains sensors circuitry:

• a 5v to 2.8 V DC/DC converter (MIC5504-2.8);
• the VL6180 time of flight distance sensor manufactured by ST Microelectronics;
• a voltage translator for interfacing the VL6180 (2.8V) to the microcontroller (5V).

Download

EAGLE PCB project, Solidworks files, BOM (Bill of Material), pictures, etc. can be downloaded here:

vl6180_canbus_v2.zip

See also

• CAN bus motor controller for DC or BLDC motors
• CAN bus pressure sensor
• CAN bus shield for Raspberry Pi 3
• CAN bus ultrasonic distance sensor
• Low-cost PCB manufacturers

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