STSW-IMG035

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Turnkey gesture recognition solution based on VL53L7CX and VL53L8CX multizone Time-of-Flight ranging sensors

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Product overview

Description

Have you ever dreamed of controlling a machine using only hand gestures and postures? It is now possible with the help of ST’s gesture and hand posture recognition software with ToF sensors as the hardware to run the program on.

The gesture software includes a complete development ecosystem with ready-to-use example code and an intuitive GUI for reduced design times.

The gesture recognition algorithms can detect multiple motions. They include single and double tap, swiping in four directions (left, right, up, and down), circular hand motion, and level control.

Thanks to the libraries available in the package, the application can run on microcontrollers that are based on Cortex® M0+, M3, M33, M4, and M7. The package includes: the GUI executable, example code for the NUCLEO-F401RE board, libraries for supported Cortex® cores, and an easy-to-read user manual.

To run the GUI, a Nucleo expansion board (X-NUCLEO-53L7A1 or X-NUCLEO-53L8A1) is required, with a NUCLEO-F401RE Nucleo board. In addition, you can use the breakout boards (SATEL-VL53L7CX or SATEL-VL53L8) connected to the STM32 Nucleo board.

One major advantage of this gesture solution is that it provides full privacy, thanks to the multizone computing distance information of STMicroelectronics' ToF sensors (no image, no camera module). The performances are independent of target reflectance. The solution works even with gloves, or in low light conditions, unlike camera-based solutions. The small size of the sensors makes them easy to integrate, and they can be hidden behind a dark cover glass.

Gesture recognition can be used to enhance numerous applications and end-products. It fits perfectly on home appliance devices like coffee machines, cooking plates, or ovens. In public places, it could control vending machines, elevator call buttons, and more. Personal electronics can also benefit from gesture recognition: especially in smart speakers, laptops, tablets, or AR/VR headsets.

  • All features

    • The same, unique solution supports the:
      • VL53L7CX, ToF, 8x8 multizone range sensor, with 90-degree field of view (FoV)
      • VL53L8CX, low-power high-performance 8x8 multizone ToF sensor with a 65-degree FoV
    • Gesture recognition, based on STMicroelectronics' ToF technology:
      • Hand-tracking: accurate real-time position of the user's hand in the cartesian coordinate system (X, Y, and Z)
      • Tap: single and double
      • Swipe: left, right, up, and down
      • Level control
      • Circular hand motion
    • Ready-to-use solution allowing easy integration:
      • Complete application example for the STM32F401 microcontroller, showing the library integration in an MCU project, sensor configuration, and crosstalk calibration example
      • Turnkey gesture library on several Arm® Cortex® microcontroller units
    • Intuitive GUI to discover the gesture recognition:
      • This solution is 100% compatible with the two products
      • Multiple graphical widgets (gesture recognition, hand tracker, photo viewer, slide show control, and more)
      • Data logging function to replay and debug
    • Benefits of gesture recognition, based on FlightSense technology:
      • Full privacy, no image, no camera
      • Independent of target reflectance. Gesture recognition performs well, even when wearing gloves
      • "All-in-one sensor" easy to integrate, and can be hidden behind a dark cover glass
      • Low-power consumption and ease of integration in any architecture
    • Additionally, a hand posture recognition software is enabled via AI algorithms. These algorithms run on the STM32 microcontroller, with a low processing complexity and requiring low-power consumption. For more information, refer to Hand posture recognition without camera module.
    • To learn more about smart presence detection, refer to the STSW-IMG048 documentation.
    • Smart presence detection features include:To learn more about smart presence detection, refer to the STSW-IMG048 documentation.
      • Wake on approach: Analyzes scene changes and starts the system.
      • Walk-away lock: Turns the system off automatically when the user leaves.
      • Passing-by filtering: Does not start the system when a user is only passing-by.
      • Wake on stop: Starts the system when a user stops in front.
      • Multihuman tracking: Provides exact human position and speed. Allows multihuman motion detection.
    • This combined software platform simplifies the integration of three use cases into your product. Depending on your application need, you can choose to use either the standalone or combined software.
    • Both VL53L7CX and VL53L8CX ToF sensors are compatible with the standalone software (gesture recognition, hand posture recognition or smart presence detection) or combined software application. The combined software can be found in the “get software” part of this page.

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