TFMini - Micro LiDAR Module (Qwiic) Hookup Guide

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Hardware Overview

Note: This product does not use laser light for ranging. Instead it contains an LED and optics. Many such systems are being marketed under the name "LiDAR," although it may be more appropriate to think of this device as a "Time-of-Flight Infrared Rangefinder". It differs significantly from traditional IR rangefinders in that it uses ToF to determine range and not triangulation — as is performed by the Sharp GP-series devices.

The sensor works by sending a modulated near-infrared light out. The light that is reflected from the object returns to the sensor's receiver. The distance between the two can be converted using the sensor by calculating the time and phase difference. The distance measured may vary depending on the environment and the reflectivity of object.

Input Power

According to the datasheet (pg 1), the input voltage is 5V. In this tutorial, we will be using the included boost converter by applying a 3.3V input voltage from the Qwiic side to boost power to 5V on the TFMini side.

Current Draw: According to the datasheet, TFMini may pull up to ~800mA at peak current. You may want to consider providing a sufficient power supply when using the sensor in a project. Remember, a USB port can only provide up to about 500mA. Data can be observed on the serial monitor when objects are within the "intermediate distance" from the Qwiic TFMini. However, you will need an external power supply as the sensor auto ranges to detect objects after a certain distance.

⚡ Warning: Since the Qwiic system uses 3.3V for power, the Qwiic enabled TFmini with boost circuit can exceed the maximum output rating of the 3.3V voltage regulator on the RedBoard powered by Arduino. This causes 3.3V voltage regulator to enter thermal shutdown and the RedBoard to restart. As a result, you will not be able to read the TFMini's output on an Arduino serial monitor.

Insufficient 3.3V Regulator on the RedBoard for the Qwiic enabled TFMini

Make sure to use either the Beefy 3 with a 3.3V Arduino Pro Mini, RedBoard Qwiic, or the LD1117V33 3.3V voltage regulator to provide sufficient current for the TFMini. You may need to power the Qwiic TFMini with an external power supply.

Logic Levels

While the sensor can be powered at 5V, the I2C pins are only 3.3V logic. Make sure to use a logic level converter when reading the sensor with a 5V microcontroller.

Pinout

There is a marking next to the polarized connector to indicate the polarity as "J1" as indicated in the image below. This is useful when referencing sensor's pinout. As opposed to the original TFMini, the green and white wires for the Qwiic enabled TFMini uses an I²C serial. The default address of the TFMini is 0x10.

Pin Number	Wire Color	Qwiic TFMini Pinout	Wire Color
1	Green	SCL (3.3V TTL)	Yellow
2	White	SDA (3.3V TTL)	Blue
3	Red	5V	Red
4	Black	GND	Black

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Hardware Hookup

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Introduction

TFMini - Micro LiDAR Module (Qwiic) Hookup Guide

Hardware Overview

Input Power

Logic Levels

Pinout

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