This is a modified version of the ResinChem Tech's garage parking sensor. He used the TF-Mini for his sensor, but I decided to try the TF-Luna since it was ~$20 cheaper. It works perfectly (I don't mind the shorter range). The wife loves it, and I can walk in front of the vehicles once they are parked. TF-Luna LiDAR Range Sensor - Waveshare Wiki
I did not print or even download his case. I made one from scratch that I can attach the TF-Luna directly to.
His video: A New Parking Assistant using ESP8266 and WS2812b LEDs
His website for build: Resinchem Tech: A New Parking Assistant using ESP8266 and WS2812b LEDs
His Github for software: GitHub - Resinchem/ESP-Parking-Assistant: A simplified garage parking assistant using ESP8266 and WS2812b LEDs
He has very useful videos and is a wealth of information. I'm very thankful for his build!
My modification:
- The TF-Luna is much cheaper than the TF-Mini, but it has a shorter range. My furthest “wake-up” distance sensed in testing was about 140 inches, which is just fine for my garage. I set it to 135".
- The TF-Luna has 6 wires; do not use or connect wires 5 or 6. Only use the first 4 wires (5v power, RX, TX, Ground). Remember, the Luna RX wire goes to ESP TX pin, and the Luna TX wire goes to the ESP RX pin (it's counter-intuitive). If you can't get it to work, you might have swapped these.
- I didn't use a 5v “under board, jumper wire” in my setup. I just soldered the power supply right next to the LED wires. It works fine with 36 LEDs.
- I used a threaded barrel jack instead of the standard wired jack.
- Note that if the garage door is open and the Luna doesn't sense anything, the parking lights flash red (backup signal) but reacts normally once it senses the vehicle. I believe this is an issue with the coding as I've seen this happen when testing the sonic parking sensor. I'm not a programmer so I'm not going to try to fix it right now.
Parts used:
- Elegoo PLA Plus
- (4) M3 x 5 panhead screws for securing the ElectroCookie board inside the box and securing the lid/cover.
- (2) M2 x 4 panhead screws for mounting the TF-Luna. (laptop M2 screws might have heads that are too large)
- (3) 1 ¼" gold/sheetrock screws for mounting the box to the wall. (or whatever mounting screws you want)
Orcaslicer Settings:
- 0.2 layer height (0.25 first layer)
- 3 bottom layers
- 4 top layers
- 3 wall loops
- 20% infill - Cubic
- Support enabled - Tree, everywhere ("on build plate only" NOT selected)
- might be able to get by without support, but the trees are easily removed; it really only needs support for the large hole where the TF-Luna sits.