{"product_id":"ascend-8tof-360-time-of-flight-sensor","title":"Ascend-8ToF | 360° Time-of-Flight Sensor","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAscend-8ToF\u003c\/strong\u003e is a compact 360° time-of-flight obstacle-sensing board that gives any drone a full ring of awareness of what's around it — front, back, and every side. It reads up to eight multizone ToF sensors and streams a live \u003cstrong\u003e512-point distance cloud\u003c\/strong\u003e over a single wire, so your aircraft can map, avoid, and fly safely indoors, in the dark, and in GPS-denied spaces where cameras and satellites fall short.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e360° obstacle avoidance for any flight controller\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnlike a single forward-facing sensor, the Ascend-8ToF wraps the entire aircraft in a continuous sensing ring. Eight VL53L8CX sensors each measure an 8×8 grid of zones, combining into a 512-point cloud that refreshes 15 times a second — over \u003cstrong\u003e7,600 distance measurements per second\u003c\/strong\u003e. Because each point is its own true-depth reading, the board senses the \u003cem\u003eshape\u003c\/em\u003e of the space around the drone, not just a single distance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eKey specifications\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCoverage:\u003c\/strong\u003e continuous 360° horizontal ring\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePoint cloud:\u003c\/strong\u003e 512 points per sweep (8 sensors × 8×8 zones)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eUpdate rate:\u003c\/strong\u003e 15 Hz (~7,680 measurements\/second)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRange:\u003c\/strong\u003e ~4 m reliable · ~45° field of view per sensor\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eInterface:\u003c\/strong\u003e plain ASCII 8×8 distance matrices over UART (~921,600 baud, 8N1)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eProcessor:\u003c\/strong\u003e STM32H5-family MCU with onboard sensor multiplexing\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePower:\u003c\/strong\u003e single DC input, 5 V up to a 6S LiPo (or 5 V USB-C), \u0026lt;500 mA typical\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCompatibility:\u003c\/strong\u003e any flight controller or companion computer (ModalAI VOXL2 worked example)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eTwo firmware modes\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSensor stream (stable):\u003c\/strong\u003e human-readable distance matrices over UART, ready to feed your own mapping, SLAM, or avoidance stack on PX4, ArduPilot, ROS, or custom code.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eACO onboard collision avoidance (beta):\u003c\/strong\u003e avoidance runs on the board itself and speaks MAVLink v2 straight to your flight controller — steering the drone around obstacles in Position and Mission modes with no companion computer required.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eBuilt for GPS-denied and low-light flight\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eActive infrared time-of-flight sensing works in total darkness, dust, and enclosed environments where vision and GNSS fail — making the Ascend-8ToF ideal for indoor inspection, tunnels and confined spaces, warehouse and stockpile scanning, close-proximity and BVLOS operations, and multi-drone research and swarm work.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eEngineered by drone people\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAscend Engineering builds production autonomy hardware and are upstream contributors to PX4 and QGroundControl. The 8ToF is designed to drop into a real airframe — a simple, host-agnostic distance stream with no proprietary ecosystem to buy into.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGive your drone eyes on every side.\u003c\/strong\u003e Add the Ascend-8ToF to your platform, or contact us about volume and fleet integration.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRead the 8TOF documentation \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/ascend-engineering.gitbook.io\/8tof\" title=\"here\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ascend Engineering","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49617930485988,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0798\/4165\/7060\/files\/Ascend-8TOF-v1.png?v=1786334990","url":"https:\/\/ascendengineer.com\/products\/ascend-8tof-360-time-of-flight-sensor","provider":"Ascend Engineering","version":"1.0","type":"link"}