Introduction¶

A CircuitPython/Python library for Benewake’s TF mini distance sensor

Dependencies¶

This driver depends on:

Adafruit CircuitPython

Please ensure all dependencies are available on the CircuitPython filesystem. This is easily achieved by downloading the Adafruit library and driver bundle.

Installing from PyPI¶

On supported GNU/Linux systems like the Raspberry Pi, you can install the driver locally from PyPI. To install for current user:

pip3 install adafruit-circuitpython-tfmini

To install system-wide (this may be required in some cases):

sudo pip3 install adafruit-circuitpython-tfmini

To install in a virtual environment in your current project:

mkdir project-name && cd project-name
python3 -m venv .env
source .env/bin/activate
pip3 install adafruit-circuitpython-tfmini

Usage Example¶

import time
import board  # comment this out if using pyserial
import busio  # comment this out if using pyserial
import adafruit_tfmini

# Use hardware uart
uart = busio.UART(board.TX, board.RX)

# Or, you can use pyserial on any computer
#import serial
#uart = serial.Serial("/dev/ttyS2", timeout=1)

# Simplest use, connect with the uart bus object
tfmini = adafruit_tfmini.TFmini(uart)

# You can put in 'short' or 'long' distance mode
tfmini.mode = adafruit_tfmini.MODE_SHORT
print("Now in mode", tfmini.mode)

while True:
    print("Distance: %d cm (strength %d, mode %x)" %
          (tfmini.distance, tfmini.strength, tfmini.mode))
    time.sleep(0.1)

Contributing¶

Contributions are welcome! Please read our Code of Conduct before contributing to help this project stay welcoming.

Documentation¶

For information on building library documentation, please check out this guide.

Table of Contents¶

Simple test¶

Ensure your device works with this simple test.

examples/tfmini_simpletest.py¶

# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2021 ladyada for Adafruit Industries
# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT

import time
import board  # comment this out if using pyserial
import busio  # comment this out if using pyserial
import adafruit_tfmini

# Use hardware uart
uart = busio.UART(board.TX, board.RX)

# Or, you can use pyserial on any computer
# import serial
# uart = serial.Serial("/dev/ttyS2", timeout=1)

# Simplest use, connect with the uart bus object
tfmini = adafruit_tfmini.TFmini(uart)

# You can put in 'short' or 'long' distance mode
tfmini.mode = adafruit_tfmini.MODE_SHORT
print("Now in mode", tfmini.mode)

while True:
    print(
        "Distance: %d cm (strength %d, mode %x)"
        % (tfmini.distance, tfmini.strength, tfmini.mode)
    )
    time.sleep(0.1)

`adafruit_tfmini`¶

A CircuitPython/Python library for Benewake’s TF mini distance sensor

Author(s): ladyada

Implementation Notes¶

Hardware:

Software and Dependencies:

Adafruit CircuitPython firmware for the supported boards: https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/releases

class adafruit_tfmini.TFmini(uart, *, timeout=1)¶

TF mini communication module, use with just RX or TX+RX for advanced command & control. :param uart: the pyseral or busio.uart compatible uart device :param timeout: how long we’ll wait for valid data or response, in seconds. Default is 1

distance¶: The most recent distance measurement in centimeters

mode¶: The measurement mode can be MODE_SHORT (2) or MODE_LONG (7)

strength¶: The signal validity, higher value means better measurement