ModalAI Forum

Eric Katzfey

I'm confused by all of the new data. Can you summarize? You have tested with 2 different USB cameras: Lepton and c270. You have tested with 3 viewers: QGC, VLC, and ffplay. You have tested with 2 applications: voxl-uvc-server and voxl-streamer. Only one network connection: Microhard. Can you also try a MIPI camera instead of a USB camera? Then can you create a matrix saying which ones worked and which ones didn't?

Eric Katzfey

Ah, interesting, thanks for the update!

Eric Katzfey

There are likely 2 issues here. One was a floating point math fix that is in newer versions of PX4. Can you update to latest px4: http://voxl-packages.modalai.com/dists/qrb5165/dev/binary-arm64/voxl-px4_1.14.0-2.0.146-202607161052_arm64.deb and try again? The other issue is that sending in trajectory setpoints from your external application, even when in altitude mode, will go straight into the position controller and affect flight. So, I would only send those in when in offboard mode.

tom

Hi @Dylan-Gresham,

Starling 2 Max ships with cameras in both directions already. The C28 config is two IMX412 4K color cameras and two AR0144 tracking cameras, one of each facing forward and one of each facing downward, so you get a front and a down view at the same time without moving anything. The camera names in the config are hires_front, hires_down, tracking_front, and tracking_down: https://gitlab.com/voxl-public/voxl-sdk/services/voxl-camera-server/-/blob/master/misc_files/usr/share/modalai/voxl-camera-server/standard_configs/voxl2/platform_config_1/28 - M0173 Starling 2 Max dual IMX412 %2B dual AR0144

If you are asking about something different, can you point to the product image you are looking at and describe what you want to do? For example, physically re-mounting the front 4K camera to point down, or tilting it. That will help us give you a precise answer.

Front end board with the camera connector layout: https://docs.modalai.com/M0173/

Eric Katzfey

Those warning messages don't really signify dropped Mavlink messages, it's just a by product of two separate event numbering sequences between the DSP and the Linux processor.

tom

Hi @rozner88,

Some context first. On VOXL 2 the estimator, controllers, sensor drivers, and ESC driver run on the DSP, not the apps processor. The CPU usage you see for voxl-px4 is only the apps processor side of PX4 (MUORB bridge, MAVLink, logging), so a heavy apps-side process is not expected to throttle the rate controller directly. The DSP has its own load figure, which is recorded in the PX4 log as the cpuload topic. See https://docs.modalai.com/voxl-px4-system-architecture/#cpu-load. The MAVLink "drops" in the log are not real drops; as Eric notes below, they come from the DSP and the apps processor keeping separate event numbering sequences. The logger does run on the apps processor, so it is still worth checking whether the "throttle drops to zero" are real actuator output gaps or gaps in the log itself.

That said, I do not have a confident explanation for the control degradation yet, and I would like our PX4 and ESC folks to look at the log. To help with that, please upload the ulog to https://logs.px4.io and post the link, and answer a few questions:

Does the stack publish anything into PX4 at all, even in altitude mode, such as odometry through voxl-vision-hub, setpoints, or parameter changes? VIO is disabled in your service list, so if the stack brings its own odometry source that matters.

Does the stack open any cameras or change camera-server streams when it starts? camera-server is already the heaviest service before the stack runs.

Does the same behavior happen on the bench with props off, and does it change if you run voxl-set-cpu-mode perf before starting the stack?

Is the stack in a Docker container, and does it pin cores or set real-time priority?

Once we have the log we can check DSP load, actuator outputs, and ESC status together.

tom

Hi @alraj,

05c6:900e QUSB_BULK is not EDL (that is 9008). It is the SoC crash-dump mode, so the board is attempting to boot and failing before the OS comes up. Since Sahara/Firehose completed with the correct M0054-2 image, the flash contents are unlikely to be the problem. In past cases a board that returns to 900e after a successful QDL has not been recoverable by reflashing (https://forum.modalai.com/topic/1468 and https://forum.modalai.com/topic/3263), and a similar Sentinel case came back from RMA as a damaged main board (https://forum.modalai.com/topic/2131).

Two things worth ruling out first. Pull the VOXL 2 out of the drone and boot it bare with every camera and add-on disconnected, since a mis-seated camera connector produced this same 900e state once (https://forum.modalai.com/topic/3230). Then re-check the steps at https://docs.modalai.com/voxl2-unbricking/#if-the-device-still-shows-900e-or-boot-loops-after-a-successful-flash and repeat the flash once.

If it still comes back as 900e, an RMA is the next step: https://www.modalai.com/pages/rma. Include the serial number and QDL log. Keep the crash dump private, support can request it if needed.

tom

Hi @kristi ,

Not a known issue. error -71 on the descriptor read happens before the WiFi driver loads, and getting worse over weeks with only a power cycle recovering it points to a failing part in the USB path rather than software.

Working on a PC does not rule out the dongle, since we have seen these Alfa dongles fail in service
(https://forum.modalai.com/topic/4538).

On Starling 2 Max the dongle sits in the M0141 breakout on VOXL 2 J3, so the likely fix is replacing one of them:

Try a new AWUS036EACS or AWUS036ACS (https://docs.modalai.com/voxl-2-wifi-setup/).
If a new dongle fails the same way, open an RMA so we can inspect the board: https://www.modalai.com/rma

Posting voxl-version and dmesg | grep -i usb from a failing boot would help us confirm.

Eric Katzfey

Have you attempted any trouble shooting? What if you stream a connected camera with voxl-streamer, does it still do the same thing? Did you try streaming over WiFi or Ethernet? Does the voxl-uvc-server generate any error or diagnostic messages? Can you try a different USB camera (non-Lepton)? I'd recommend trying with a Logitech C270.

Vinny

Hi @greg We have not investigated or researched that image sensor.
I do not know of any plans for us to officially support it at this point.
Sorry if this is not what you wanted to hear.

ModalAI Forum

ModalAI Team

Posts

Member List