The VL53L0X Time-of-Flight distance sensor is a very small SMD device that requires surface mount soldering before it can be used. If you look closer at it, you can see there are two small holes in the package to let light through. In order to prevent soldering chemicals from damaging the sensor, a piece of yellow polyimide (high temperature) tape is used on top of this sensor. After reflow SMD soldering, the tape should be removed before using the sensor. In fact, the high soldering temperatures also change parameters inside the sensor and this results in a random offset distance that must be calibrated out before using it for any accurate distance sensing application.
That is what we do here before shipping the tinyLiDAR modules.
The offset calibration is done per ST spec in a shielded chamber at exactly 100mm distance in “high accuracy” mode. We then test it for other items and normally leave it in the “tinyLiDAR” mode which is not as accurate but has a very quick response. This “factory” offset calibration we perform is stored in non-volatile storage on board tinyLiDAR‘s 32bit micro and is therefore accessible whenever you type “reset” on the GUI Terminal. If desired, you can perform your own custom offset calibration but the factory version is never erased so you can get back to it with “reset” whenever you like.