Proximity sensor

Posted by: @silvio97

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currently working with the VL53LOX distance sensor and am having trouble because of the plastic housing I’m using. Does anyone know of a better proximity sensor that is more precise and only has a range of about 6ft and can work with esp 32

Depends on your other constraints... cost, size, etc.  The VL53... series of sensors don't use a laser like you commonly see as in a single ray going out to infinity.  That is why it has such a limited distance of 2m.  It is more like a flashlight and thus dims with distance by the inverse square.  The FoV for the 'L0X is 25°.  I found using the 'L5CX that I needed to be outside almost twice the FoV as stated in the specification or I'd get horrible results. 

Because of this if your housing has any surfaces that are within the huge cone they get reflected back and screw things up.  In my bot, I wanted to put the sensor dead-center on a turret type head so I didn't have to account for the radial offset.  Didn't work... I finally had to put it on the outer radius to get good results.

As long as you're using sensors using the same concept, I don't think your going to find one measurably better or worse.  You'd have to go to something like where the light is optically focused to a far tighter beam: