SJ-PM-TFmini Plus-T-01 A01 LiDAR Module
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Specifications
Product Name: TFmini Plus LiDAR Module
Model: TFmini Plus
Manufacturer: Benewake (Beijing) Co. Ltd.
Product Information
The TFmini Plus LiDAR Module is a specified product designed and
manufactured by Benewake (Beijing) Co. Ltd. It is a LiDAR module
that provides distance sensing capabilities for various
applications.
Product Usage Instructions
1. Attention
1.1 About this Manual
This manual contains all the essential information for using the
TFmini Plus LiDAR Module. It is important to carefully read and
understand the manual before operating the product.
1.2 Product Usage
– Maintenance of the product should be conducted by a
professional technician using factory spare parts to ensure
performance and safety.
– The product does not have polarity and over-voltage
protection, so it is crucial to connect and supply power according
to the manual instructions.
– The operating temperature range of the product is between
-20°C and 60°C. Avoid using it outside this range to prevent
malfunction.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: Can the TFmini Plus LiDAR Module be used outdoors?
A: The TFmini Plus LiDAR Module has an operating temperature
range of -20°C to 60°C, making it suitable for outdoor use within
this temperature range.
Q: Is the TFmini Plus LiDAR Module compatible with all
microcontrollers?
A: The TFmini Plus LiDAR Module can be interfaced with various
microcontrollers through its data communication protocol. Refer to
the user manual for detailed information on compatibility.
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Product Manual of TFmini Plus
TFmini Plus LiDAR Module
Specified Product
SJ-PM-TFmini Plus-T-01 A01
Benewake (Beijing) Co. Ltd.
Product model: TFmini Plus
Product name: TFmini Plus LiDAR Module
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.
Product Certification
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SJ-PM-TFmini Plus-T-01 A01
Foreword
Benewake (Beijing) Co. Ltd.
Dear users,
Thanks for choosing Benewake products, and it’s our pleasure to help you to solve any technical question.
In 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.
This operation manual covers the product operation introduction and common problem solutions, but it is really hard to covers all the problems you maybe meet. So, if you have any further questions or problems, please feel free to consult our technical support service (support@benewake.com). We will do our best to solve any problem related to the product. If you have any other good advice or suggestion, welcome to visit our official website and offer us your feedback there (http://benewake.com/en/mfeedback.html), and we are looking forwards to your participation.
We are Benewake who dedicated to making the best “Robotic Eyes” worldwide!
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SJ-PM-TFmini Plus-T-01 A01
Table of Contents
Benewake (Beijing) Co. Ltd.
1 ATTENTIONS …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………6 1.1 ABOUT THIS MANUAL…………………………………………………………………………………………………..6 1.2 USAGE OF PRODUCT …………………………………………………………………………………………………….6 1.3 CONDITIONS WITH POTENTIAL MALFUNCTION …………………………………………………………………6
2 DESCRIPTION………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..7 2.1 PRODUCT DESCRIPTION…………………………………………………………………………………………………7 2.2 PRINCIPLE OF DISTANCE MEASUREMENT…………………………………………………………………………7 2.3 KEY CHARACTERISTIC PARAMETERS ………………………………………………………………………………7 2.4 REPEATABILITY……………………………………………………………………………………………………………8 2.5 DISTANCE MEASUREMENT CHARACTERISTICS………………………………………………………………….9
3 APPEARANCE AND STRUCTURE……………………………………………………………………………….10 3.1 PRODUCT STRUCTURE ………………………………………………………………………………………………..10
4 ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS ……………………………………………………………………………11 5 LINE SEQUENCE AND DATA COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL ……………………………….. 11
5.1 DESCRIPTION ABOUT LINE SEQUENCE AND CONNECTION …………………………………………………11 5.2 DATA COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL ………………………………………………………………………………12 5.3 DATA OUTPUT FORMAT……………………………………………………………………………………………….12 5.4 DESCRIPTIONS OF DEFAULT OUTPUT DATA …………………………………………………………………….13 6 QUICK TEST…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………13 6.1 REQUIRED TOOLS OF PRODUCT TEST…………………………………………………………………………….13 6.2 TEST PROCEDURES …………………………………………………………………………………………………….13 7 DESCRIPTIONS ON USER-DEFINED PARAMETER CONFIGURATION …………………..16 7.1 FUNCTION OVERVIEW…………………………………………………………………………………………………16 7.2 COMMAND CONVENTION…………………………………………………………………………………………….16
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Benewake (Beijing) Co. Ltd.
7.3 COMMAND FRAME DEFINITION ……………………………………………………………………………………16
7.4 GENERAL PARAMETER CONFIGURATION AND DESCRIPTION………………………………………………16
8 REMOTE UPGRADING………………………………………………………………………………………………..18
9 MALFUNCTION: CAUSES AND TROUBLESHOOTING……………………………………………..18
10 Q&A ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..20
ATTACHMENT 1: INTRODUCTION OF TF SERIES PC SOFTWARE …………………………….21
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1 Attentions
SJ-PM-TFmini Plus-T-01 A01
Benewake (Beijing) Co. Ltd.
1.1 About this Manual
This manual provides all the essential information during the usage of this product.
Please carefully read this manual and make sure that you fully understand everything herein.
1.2 Usage of Product
The maintenance of this product should be done by the professional technician, and the product can only work with the factory spare part for ensuring the performance and safety.
This product itself has no polarity and over-voltage protection. Please properly connect and supply power as described in this manual.
Operating temperature of this product is between -20 and 60. Do not use it beyond this temperature range to prevent malfunction.
Storage temperature of this product is between -20 and 75. Do not store it beyond this temperature range to prevent malfunction.
For ensuring the product performance, do not open the product shell or remove the IR-pass filter.
1.3 Conditions with Potential Malfunction
Detecting object with high reflectivity, such as the mirror or the smooth floor tile, may cause a system malfunction.
The product will malfunction if there is any transparent object between it and the detecting object, such as glass or water.
The product will malfunction if its emitting or receiving IR-pass filter is covered by the dust. Please keep the IR-pass filters clean.
Please do not spread ethyl alcohol on the IR-pass filters, which are made of acrylic, IR-pass filters will be damaged.
Please do not pull the fine wire, the wire may be damaged.
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2 Description
SJ-PM-TFmini Plus-T-01 A01
Benewake (Beijing) Co. Ltd.
2.1 Product description
TFmini Plus is a milestone of Benewake in the process of promoting the cost-effective -LiDAR. Apart from low-cost, small-size and low-power-consumption, TFmini Plus also improves the frame rate, introduces IP65 enclosures and optimizes various compensation algorithms. These new characters greatly expand the application fields and scenarios of TFmini Plus.
2.2 Principle of Distance Measurement
TFmini Plus is based on TOF, namely, Time of Flight principle. To be specific, the product emits modulation wave of near infrared ray on a periodic basis, which will be reflected after contacting object. The product obtains the time of flight by measuring round-trip phase difference and then calculates relative range between the product and the detection object, as shown in Figure1.
Figure 1 Schematics of TOF Principle
2.3 Key Characteristic Parameters
Table 1 Key Characteristic Parameters of TFmini
Description Operating range
Accuracy
Measurement unit Range resolution
FOV Frame rate
Parameter value 0.1m~12m
±5cm@0.1-6m ±1%@6m-12m
cm 5mm 3.6° 1~1000Hzadjustable
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Operating range based on a standard whiteboard with reflectivity 90% in indoor condition
The distance measurement here is absolute accuracy, and the specific repeat accuracy will be described in the next section 2.4.
3.6°is the theoretical value, from which the actual value will be different. The theoretical divergence angle is 6°
Only frame rates meet the formula1000/n (n is positive integer) can be set. The default frame rate is 100Hz.
2.4 Repeatability
The TFmini Plus’s range repeat accuracy is directly related to the intensity value measured and the output frame rate (frequency). The ranging repeat accuracy is characterized by the standard deviation of ranging. The average ranging accuracy of the TFmini Plus can be estimated by the following formula:
Distance_STD cm p00 p10 x p01 y p20 x^2 p11 x y
In the formula, x is log
, y is log
constant coefficients, and the values are as follows:
, p00, p01, p10, p20 and p11 are
p00 0.9758
p01 1.175
p10 0.6072
p20 0.09501
p11 0.2904
The above formula only calculates the average reference value. There are some differences in actual results due to differences in each product.
For your convenience, add a simple statistics table for this query, as shown below:
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SJ-PM-TFmini Plus-T-01 A01
2.5 Distance Measurement Characteristics
Benewake (Beijing) Co. Ltd.
With optimization of light path and algorithm, TFmini Plus has minimized influence from external environment on distance measurement performance. Despite that, the range of distance measurement may still be affected by the environment illumination intensity and the reflectivity of detection object. As shown
Figure 2 Schematics oFf Rigaunrgee2oSf cdhisetmanactiecmdieaagsruarmemoefnstizaendofElfifgehcttisvpeontess of the Product
in Figure 2: Represents the detection blind zone of TFmini Plus, 0-10cm, within which the output data is unreliable.
Represents the operating range of TFmini Plus detecting black target with 10% reflectivity, 0.1-5m.
Represents the operating range of TFmini Plus detecting white target with 90% reflectivity, 0.1-12m.
Vertical Coordinates: Represents the radius of light spot for TFmini Plus at the different distances. The
diameter of light spot depends on the FOV of TFmini Plus (the term of FOV generally refers to the smaller
value between the receiving angle and the transmitting angle), which is calculated as follows: d D tan
In the formula above, d is the diameter of light spot; D is detecting range; is the the value of the
receiving angle of TFmini Plus, 3.6°. Correspondence between the diameter of light spot and detecting
range is given in Table 2.
Detecting range
Minimum side length
Table 2 the Minimum side length of effective detection corresponding to Detecting Range
1m
2m
3m
4m
5m
6m
7m
8m
9m 10m 11m
6cm 12cm 18cm 24cm 30cm 36cm 42cm 48cm 54cm 60cm 66cm
12m 72cm
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If the light spot reaches two objects with different distances, as shown in Figure 3, the output distance value will be a value between the actual distance values of the two objects. For a high accuracy requirement in practice, the above situation should be noticed to avoid the measurement error.
Dist1
Dist2 Dist
Dist2 > Dist > Dist1
Figure 3 Distance Measurement in the case of Two Objects of Different Distances
3 Appearance and Structure
3.1 Product Structure
Figure 4: Constructional Drawing of TFmini Plus
M2 positioning screw was recommended, and please choose an appropriate length according to installation requirements.
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4 Electrical Characteristics
Benewake (Beijing) Co. Ltd.
Table 3: Major Electrical Parameters of TFmini Plus
Description Supply voltage Average current Peak current Average power Communication level
Parameter value 5V±0.5V 110mA 500mA 500mW
LVTTL3.3V
This product has no overvoltage nor polarity protection, so please make sure that connection and power supply are normal. The fluctuation of the power supply voltage in a range of ±0.5V is allowable.
Average current varies along with the operating modes of the product in two patterns, more specifically, its current is around 50mA under short distance mode and it is around 180mA under long distance mode. Please make sure that the power supply current meets the peak current of 500mA. In case of insufficient power supply current, the product maybe can’t work properly.
5 Line Sequence and Data Communication Protocol
5.1 Description about Line Sequence and Connection
PIN-1
PIN-4
Table 4: The Function and Connection Description of each pin
No.
Color
Pin
Function
Corresponding PIN
Red
+5V
Power supply
PIN-1
White
RXD
Receiving
PIN-2
Blue
TXD
Transmitting
PIN-3
Black
GND
Ground
PIN-4
TFmini Plus has a 30cm long connecting wire with a GH1.25-4P (Molex51021-0400) connector. The connecting wire can be extended as needs. To ensure effective data transmission, the length of connecting wire should be short than 1m.
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5.2 Data Communication Protocol
Benewake (Beijing) Co. Ltd.
TFmini Plus adopts the serial port data communication protocol, as given in Table 5.
Table 5 Data Communication Protocol of TFmini Plus
Communication interface Default baud rate Data bit Stop bit Parity check
UART 115200
8 1 None
5.3 Data Output Format
TFmini Plus is available with two formats of data output, namely, the standard data output format and the Pixhawk data format, both of which are switchable with command.
Standard data output format (default): Data structure: each data frame contains 9 bytes, including the distance value, signal strength, temperature of chip and data check byte (Checksum), etc. Data format is hexadecimal (HEX). Data codes are detailed in Table 6
Table 6 Data Format and Code Explanation
Byte0 -1 0x59 59
Byte0 Byte1 Byte2 Byte3 Byte4 Byte5 Byte6 Byte7 Byte8
Byte2
Byte3
Byte4
Byte5
Dist_L
Dist_H Strength_L Strength_H
Data code explanation
0x59, frame header, same for each frame
0x59, frame header, same for each frame
Dist_L distance value lower by 8 bits
Dist_L distance value higher by 8 bits
Strength_L low 8 bits
Strength_L high 8 bits Temp_L low 8 bits (suit for version later than V1.3.0)
Temp_H high 8 bits (suit for version later than V1.3.0)
Byte6 Temp_L
Byte7 Temp_H
Checksum is the lower 8 bits of the cumulative sum of the numbers of the first 8 bytes.
Byte8 Checksum
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SJ-PM-TFmini Plus-T-01 A01
Benewake (Beijing) Co. Ltd.
Serial port Pixhawk data format The data output is in the format of character string and its unit is m(meter). For example, if the measurement distance is 1.21m, the string 1.21 will be output, followed by the escape character rn.
5.4 Descriptions of default Output Data
Dist(Distance): Represents the output of the distance value detected by TFmini Plus, with the unit in cm by default. This value is interpreted into the decimal value in the range of 0-1200. When the signal strength is lower than 100 or equal to 65535, the detection is unreliable, TFmini Plus will set distance value to 0.
StrengthRepresents the signal strength with the default value in the range of 0-65535. After the distance mode is set, the longer the measurement distance is, the lower the signal strength will be; the lower the reflectivity is, the lower the signal strength will be. When the signal strength is lower than 100 or equal to 65535, the detection is unreliable, TFmini Plus will set distance value to 0.
Temp(Temperature): Represents the chip temperature of TFmini Plus. Degree centigrade = Temp / 8 -256
6 Quick Test
6.1 Required Tools of Product Test
TFmini Plus
TTL – USB converter
USB cable
PC
Test software
6.2 Test Procedures
Download the Test software
Please download the Test software of TFmini Plus at our official website (http://www.benewake.com/en/down.html).
Caution: please shut down any anti-virus software before uncompressing the PC software. Otherwise, maybe the software is deleted as virus. The software is only runnable under Windows environment for the time being. Please refer to Attachment 1 – Product manual of TF Test software.
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Connection of the hardware
SJ-PM-TFmini Plus-T-01 A01
Benewake (Beijing) Co. Ltd.
Connect “TFmini Plus”, “TTL – USB board” and “USB cable” as shown in Figure 6. Make sure there is no
loose connection. Then connect “USB cable” with “PC”.
Figure 5 Schematic Diagram of Correct Connection
Connection to the Test software and data output
Open the PC software and select ” TFmini Plus” and select automatically recognized occupied serial port (here it is ” COM57″), as shown in Figure 6.
Then click “CONNECT”. Upon successful connection, The continuous images of the output data will be displayed in area ” TIME LINE CHART” on the right. Besides, the real-time data of the Current measure distance (Dist), effective data points per second (Effective Points) and signal strength (Strength) will be displayed in area ” REAL TIME DATA” below.
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Benewake (Beijing) Co. Ltd.
Figure 6 PC software Interface and Display
Notes: a)
b)
c)
If no data is available in area “TIME LINE CHART”, please check the line connection and line sequence. When TFmini Plus is successfully powered on, there will be a red indicator light inside transmitting lens viewing from the front. If the user want the TFmini Plus output in the Pixhawk format, please select “Pix Mode” at first, otherwise area “TIME LINE CHART” will not output the right data image normally. After Pix Mode is checked, the unit of distance will be changed into m automatically. The value of distance output Dist may vary with the output unit, which is cm by default. If the unit of distance is changed to the unit-mm with specific command, and the PC software will be unable to identify it, and so the unit of “TIME LINE CHART” will still be cm. For example, the actual TFmini Plus measurement is 1m, the distance value of TFmini Plus is 1000 in mm, the value read by the PC software also is 1000, but the unit will not change and still display cm.
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7 Descriptions on User-defined Parameter Configuration
7.1 Function Overview
The function of user-defined configuration of product parameters is hereby enabled for more flexible settlement of your problems by TFmini Plus. User may modify original parameters by sending relevant commands, such as output data format and frame rate, etc. Upon successful configuration, the configured parameters will be saved in Flash without the need of reconfiguration for reboot in the event of power failure.
Please modify product configuration depending upon your actual demands. Do not frequently try irrelevant commands to prevent incorrect sending of command which many cause unnecessary loss. Please make sure to make the configuration as the commands listed herein. Do not send unstated command.
7.2 Command Convention Multi-bytes data or command frame is transmitted in little endian format.
For example, decimal number 1000 can be transferred to 0x03E8 in hexadecimal. Then it will be saved in the data or command frame as:
0x5A 0x06 0x03 0xE8 0x03 0x4E
7.3 Command Frame Definition
Caution: All configuration commands are sent as hexadecimal digits (HEX).
Table 7 Command frame definition
Byte0
Byte1
Byte2
Byte3 ~ ByteN-2
Head
Len
ID
Payload
Remarks
Byte0 Head: frame header0x5A
Byte1 Len: the total length of the frameinclude Head and Checksumunit: byte
Byte2 ID: identifier code of command
Byte3-N-2 Data: data segment. Little endian format
ByteN-1 Checksum: sum of all bytes from Head to payload. Lower 8 bits
ByteN-1 Checksum
7.4 General Parameter Configuration and Description
Before setting the relevant parameters of TFmini Plus, user needs to establish the connection between TFmini Plus and PC at first. About the connection details, refer to the test connection given in 6.2. User
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can send the relevant configuration-related instructions to the product via TFmini Plus PC software or other serial port debugging software. Important: After setting parameters, the `Save setting’ command needs to be sent.
Table 8 General Parameter Configuration and Description
Parameters Obtain firmware version System reset Frame rate
Trigger detection
Output format
Baud rate Enable/Disabl e output Restore factory settings Save settings
Command 5A 04 01 5F
5A 04 02 60 5A 06 03 LL HH SU
5A 04 04 62
5A 05 05 01 65 5A 05 05 02 66 5A 05 05 06 6A 5A 08 06 H1 H2 H3 H4 SU 5A 05 07 00 66 5A 05 07 01 67
5A 04 10 6E
5A 04 11 6F
Response
5A 07 01 V1 V2 V3 SU
5A 05 02 00 60 5A 05 02 01 61 5A 06 03 LL HH SU
Data frame
5A 05 05 01 65 5A 05 05 02 66 5A 05 05 06 6A 5A 08 06 H1 H2 H3 H4 SU 5A 05 07 00 66 5A 05 07 01 67 5A 05 10 00 6E 5A 05 10 01 6F 5A 05 11 00 6F 5A 05 11 01 70
Remark
Version V3.V2.V1
Succeeded Failed 1-1000Hz After setting the frame rate to 0detection can be triggered with this command Standard 9 bytes(cm) Pixhawk Standard 9 bytes(mm) Set baud rate Disable data output Enable data output Succeeded
Failed
Succeeded Failed
Default setting
100Hz
/ / 115200 /
Note:Bytes with yellow undertone represents checksum. Bytes with blue undertone represents data segment.
The default update rate is 100Hz. The customized update rate should be calculated by the formula: 1000/n (n is positive integer). Increasing frame rate will decrease the data stability.
In Pixhawk mode, the default output data is decimal string.
Only standard baud rates are supported. When setting a high update rate, a high baud rate is recommended to ensure data security.
Please always send the command of save settings when try to modify parameters of TFmini Plus, otherwise the settings will not take effect.
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8 Remote Upgrading
SJ-PM-TFmini Plus-T-01 A01
Benewake (Beijing) Co. Ltd.
TFmini Plus supports the remote upgrade. When the user’s product cannot satisfy the current application requirements and Benewake official website has relevant firmware upgrades, the user may upgrade the product firmware via remotely upgrading the PC software. Please contact us to get the Updater
Figure 7 Firmware Upgrade PC software of TFmini Plus
The tools for the firmware upgrade of TFmini Plus are mostly the same as the Quick Test, which requires one TTL-USB board to connect the TFmini Plus with PC.
Upon successful connection, open the Updater.exe. Select right port, here is “COM8″. Input the right baud rate in ” 115200″ and click ” CONNECT” to connect the TFmini Plus with the Updater. Click ” Open Bin” to choose the updating firmware, whose directory will be showed in the textbox above. Then click ” Download Bin” to start upgrading. The information of upgrading will be showed in “”.
Caution: please confirm that the communication bit rate of this product is 115200 before the firmware upgrade, as TFmini will be unable to upgrade at other bit rates.
9 Malfunction: Causes and Troubleshooting
(1) Distance value occasionally will abruptly change into 0 beyond the range during normal operation.
Cause: The different test environments (reflectivity of detected object, disturbance of ambient light, etc.) will affect the signal strength of TFmini Plus. For a reliable and stable measurement data, the algorithm elimination is internally used for TFmini Plus. In case of the insufficient signal strength, TFmini Plus will output 0. This value is not measurement data of TFmini Plus, which is only used to remind the user that such data is unreliable.
Troubleshooting: please use such value as the trigger signal of some unreliable data, and it will ensure that your system can use other reliable data for further assessment and decision-making if there are some unreliable data.
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(2) Significant error between the output distant value of LiDAR and actual distance
Cause : Incorrect interpretation of the data communication protocol of TFmini Plus.
Troubleshooting: check data communication interpretation means. In case of such error, please check the data format to adjust interpretation means.
Cause Due to the physical principles of TFmini Plus, the above phenomenon is likely to occur if the detection object is the material with high reflectivity (such as mirror, smooth floor tile, etc.) or transparent substance (such as glass and water, etc.)
Troubleshooting: Please avoid use of this product under such circumstance in practice.
Cause : The IR-pass filters are blocked.
Troubleshooting: please use dry dust-free cloth to gently remove the foreign matter
(3) No data output
Cause: The product will be strictly inspected before leaving our factory, ensuring that all the shipped products can work normally. However, some abnormal working matters maybe still occur because of incidents during the transportation or use.
Troubleshooting: Check whether the power supply is normal; check whether the voltage is within rated voltage range. If power supply is normal, there will be a red light inside the transmitting lens of TFmini Plus.
Check TFmini Plus with correct connection sequence and reliable connection.
Check whether the data interpretation is correct. Please carry out the interpretation as per the data format specified herein.
If the problem persists, please contact our technical support.
(4) There is no data output when LiDAR is connected to PC software.
Cause : The PC software only supports the Windows operation system for the time being
Troubleshooting: Use the PC supporting Windows operation system.
Cause : TTL – USB board is poorly connected.
Troubleshooting: Check the TTL -USB board with the correct and reliable connection with TFmini and PC.
Cause : Driver of serial port is not correctly installed.
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Troubleshooting: Plug and unplug USB cable again. Try to reinstall the driver or directly download and install a driver from the internet.
If the PC software still work abnormally, please contact our technical support.
10 Q&A
Q1: Is TFmini Plus available with 3.3V or other power supply voltage?
A1: Sorry, it is not available for the time being. The Standard power supply of TFmini Plus is 5V±0.5V. If you have any further requirement, please contact our sales person to consult a customization design matter.
Q2: TFmini Plus will heat up after operating for a while. Is it broken?
A2: This is the normal operating condition of the product. The temperature of the chip and circuit board will slightly up after a continuous operation, which is a normal case.
Q3: Can TFmini Plus be connected with Arduino or Raspberry Pi for use?
A3: Yes, it can. TFmini Plus adopts serial communication protocol so that it can connect to any control board supporting serial port communication.
Contact
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Headquarters:
0086-010-57456983 bw@benewake.com
Sales cooperation:
sales@benewake.com
Technical support:
support@benewake.com
SJ-PM-TFmini Plus-T-01 A01
Benewake (Beijing) Co. Ltd.
Attachment 1: Introduction of TF Series PC software
This PC software only supports the Windows operating system. It is suitable for any products of TF series, but the output of those products is limited to the serial port communication protocol. Detailed operations are as below.
Figure 1: Interface of TF Series PC software
1 Product Type/Serial Port Control Zone [SETTINGS] Product Type: connect the LiDAR via TTL-USB board to the PC. As shown in the figure, select `TFmini Plus’. Serial port (COM): select the right serial port number corresponding to the LiDAR. Baud rate is set to 115200 as default. CONNECT/DISCONNECT: Click [CONNECT] button to establish the connection with LiDAR. Click [DISCONNECT] button to terminate the connection. 2 Function Zone [FUNCTION] Pix Mode: check the checkbox to enable Pix mode. Uncheck the checkbox will set TFmini Plus to default output format. In Pix mode, the frame rate (Effective Points) calculated by test software is unreliable. FREEZE/CLEAR: After clicking [FREEZE], time-line chart in zone [4] will stop updating. On clicking
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[CLEAR], the plotted curve in [4] will be cleared.
Benewake (Beijing) Co. Ltd.
Frame Rate: choose frame rate from the drop box, setting will be made immediately.
Drawing/Pt: upon receipt of every N frames, the PC software will draw one point on the chart [4] the average of the N data. N can be modified depending upon the actual requirement (the value is preferable to be 10 to prevent the PC software from lagging). After entering the value, press “Enter” key on the keyboard to enable the setting.
Command: Input the commands in hexadecimal format in the text box and click the [SEND] button above to send the command.
3 Data Recording Zone [DATA RECORDING]
Input the name of data file in the textbox. Press [RECORD] button to start recording data and click the [FINISHED] button to stop recording. Click [FOLDER] button to open the folder where the data file is saved.
Note: when the frame rate of LiDAR is too high, like 1000Hz, the time stamp will be asymmetric due to the massive data stream.
4 Time Line Chart Zone [TIME LINE CHART]
The PC software will draw the continuous distance measurement curves based on the received data, where y-coordinates represent the current distance data while x-coordinates represent effective data.
5 Real-time Data Display Zone [REAL-TIME DATA]
Dist: Distance, cm by default.
Dist(Echo): parameter of TF03. With TFmini Plus, the default value is 0.
Effective Points (per sec): indicates effective points refreshed by TF per second (equals to frame rate).
Strength (Signal strength): in pix mode, TFmini Plus will not output strength value, so the Strength is 0 by default.
6 Operating Environment and Precautions
Operating Environment: this software can only run on Windows system, Win7 and above. The .Net Framework 4.5.2 is needed to use this software.
Precautions: Please do not directly connect the product with frame rate more than 500Hz to test software, which will make the UI unresponsive.
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Documents / Resources
 |
Benewake SJ-PM-TFmini Plus-T-01 A01 LiDAR Module [pdf] Instruction Manual SJ-PM-TFmini Plus-T-01 A01, SJ-PM-TFmini Plus-T-01 A01 LiDAR Module, LiDAR Module, Module |
