Benewake TFmini Plus Laser Level Distance Sensor Waterproof IP65 Lidar Range Finder UART Anti-dust 12m 1000Hz UART for Arduino Raspberry Pi STM32

I learned a lot on these LiDAR units from Benewake.The TF Mini Plus is a 4 pin interface, capable of Serial or I2C communication.Default is Serial, but if you want to switch to I2C, follow these steps:1. download the GUI program from Benewake. This works on PC only2. connect the TF Mini Plus to a TTL to USB converter3. Plug into USB port of computer4. run the GUI program and select the COM port/BAUD5. So I switched to I2C using @snoozer sequence:6. Send command 5A 05 0A 01 6A7. Send command 5A 04 11 6F (however not sure this step did anything)Now it will be in I2C mode, but the access to the GUI program is unavailable until you switch it back to Serial mode.

Great value, works well, I put on a moving vehicle which was rattling around and it worked okay. The only thing I would mention to be aware of is that there are sometimes noisy values generated in the readings, so you need to filter the noisy values which are obviously outside of the normal range of values that it produces. Simple if statement less than huge noisy value, in C or python.

Using as altitude range finder on autonomous model airplane during landings. Good product.

Connected to an ESP32, I find it takes ~20seconds from change in distance to target until the change is reported in the output! This is unacceptably slow, making it unusable!!I submitted a request at the Benewake website. Hope to get an answer to reduce the response time.10.17.2024. Ibrahim from Benewake contacted me the same evening following this review. Very much appreciated the attention!I have since found, reading the sensor far more frequently than really needed makes the output settle to correct value quicker. Ibrahim shared my observation could be 'cuz of the filtering algorithm within the sensor. I like this package, therefore will continue exploring some more to find a solution that works for my application

Works well but would have been better with additional mounting points.