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  3. VOXL Mini 4in1 ESC conflicts with Power Module v3

VOXL Mini 4in1 ESC conflicts with Power Module v3

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  • H Offline
    H Offline
    hmlow
    Regular
    wrote on last edited by
    #1

    Hi devs

    Im using the VOXL Mini 4in1 ESC and the Power Module with the VOXL2. The latter is used because the ESC does not output 5V.
    The current sensor reading on VOXL2 and QGC is alternating between near 0 and some valid value.

    Im guessing this is because the same batt voltage/current message is sent to the VOXL2 by both the power module and the 4in1 ESC, causing the alternating readings.

    Are there any solutions/workarounds to this? Can i stop the VOXL Mini 4in1 ESC from sending the overall voltage/current measurements?

    Thanks

    Eric KatzfeyE 1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • H hmlow

      Hi devs

      Im using the VOXL Mini 4in1 ESC and the Power Module with the VOXL2. The latter is used because the ESC does not output 5V.
      The current sensor reading on VOXL2 and QGC is alternating between near 0 and some valid value.

      Im guessing this is because the same batt voltage/current message is sent to the VOXL2 by both the power module and the 4in1 ESC, causing the alternating readings.

      Are there any solutions/workarounds to this? Can i stop the VOXL Mini 4in1 ESC from sending the overall voltage/current measurements?

      Thanks

      Eric KatzfeyE Offline
      Eric KatzfeyE Offline
      Eric Katzfey
      ModalAI Team
      wrote on last edited by
      #2

      @hmlow Okay, yes, that's exactly what must be happening. We'll have to add a parameter to the mini ESC driver to configure whether or not to publish the battery status.

      H 1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • Eric KatzfeyE Eric Katzfey

        @hmlow Okay, yes, that's exactly what must be happening. We'll have to add a parameter to the mini ESC driver to configure whether or not to publish the battery status.

        H Offline
        H Offline
        hmlow
        Regular
        wrote on last edited by
        #3

        @Eric-Katzfey is there such a version of the driver available?

        Eric KatzfeyE 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • H hmlow

          @Eric-Katzfey is there such a version of the driver available?

          Eric KatzfeyE Offline
          Eric KatzfeyE Offline
          Eric Katzfey
          ModalAI Team
          wrote on last edited by
          #4

          @hmlow No, we will need to create that. If you are comfortable with px4 software you can make the change yourself to try it out.

          H 1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • Eric KatzfeyE Eric Katzfey

            @hmlow No, we will need to create that. If you are comfortable with px4 software you can make the change yourself to try it out.

            H Offline
            H Offline
            hmlow
            Regular
            wrote on last edited by
            #5

            @Eric-Katzfey The driver resides on PX4 and not the ESC itself (firmware)?

            Eric KatzfeyE 1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • H hmlow

              @Eric-Katzfey The driver resides on PX4 and not the ESC itself (firmware)?

              Eric KatzfeyE Offline
              Eric KatzfeyE Offline
              Eric Katzfey
              ModalAI Team
              wrote on last edited by
              #6

              @hmlow Yes. The ESC firmware will send a message with battery information to the modal_io esc driver in PX4. The modal_io driver decodes that message and creates the PX4 battery_status uorb topic from it.

              H 1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • Eric KatzfeyE Eric Katzfey

                @hmlow Yes. The ESC firmware will send a message with battery information to the modal_io esc driver in PX4. The modal_io driver decodes that message and creates the PX4 battery_status uorb topic from it.

                H Offline
                H Offline
                hmlow
                Regular
                wrote on last edited by
                #7

                @Eric-Katzfey said in VOXL Mini 4in1 ESC conflicts with Power Module v3:

                @hmlow No, we will need to create that. If you are comfortable with px4 software you can make the change yourself to try it out.

                @Eric-Katzfey looks like i'll have to wait for that new feature instead

                Alex KushleyevA 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • H hmlow

                  @Eric-Katzfey said in VOXL Mini 4in1 ESC conflicts with Power Module v3:

                  @hmlow No, we will need to create that. If you are comfortable with px4 software you can make the change yourself to try it out.

                  @Eric-Katzfey looks like i'll have to wait for that new feature instead

                  Alex KushleyevA Offline
                  Alex KushleyevA Offline
                  Alex Kushleyev
                  ModalAI Team
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #8

                  @hmlow , sorry for the inconvenience. I will add a parameter to disable the publishing of battery status by the ESC driver. Can you please confirm which version of PX4 you are currently using?

                  H 1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • Alex KushleyevA Alex Kushleyev

                    @hmlow , sorry for the inconvenience. I will add a parameter to disable the publishing of battery status by the ESC driver. Can you please confirm which version of PX4 you are currently using?

                    H Offline
                    H Offline
                    hmlow
                    Regular
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #9

                    @Alex-Kushleyev

                    im running the version of the px4 that came with SDK 1.0.
                    On QGC, it says 1.14.0dev, custom fw ver 2.0.34

                    Alex KushleyevA 1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • H hmlow

                      @Alex-Kushleyev

                      im running the version of the px4 that came with SDK 1.0.
                      On QGC, it says 1.14.0dev, custom fw ver 2.0.34

                      Alex KushleyevA Offline
                      Alex KushleyevA Offline
                      Alex Kushleyev
                      ModalAI Team
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #10

                      @hmlow , thanks. we should have an update very soon, hopefully by tomorrow.

                      H 1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • Alex KushleyevA Alex Kushleyev

                        @hmlow , thanks. we should have an update very soon, hopefully by tomorrow.

                        H Offline
                        H Offline
                        hmlow
                        Regular
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #11

                        @Alex-Kushleyev thanks for the assistance as always

                        Eric KatzfeyE 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • H hmlow

                          @Alex-Kushleyev thanks for the assistance as always

                          Eric KatzfeyE Offline
                          Eric KatzfeyE Offline
                          Eric Katzfey
                          ModalAI Team
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #12

                          @hmlow The new version is available here: http://voxl-packages.modalai.com/dists/qrb5165/staging/binary-arm64/voxl-px4_1.14.0-2.0.43_arm64.deb. This version has a new parameter MODAL_IO_PUB_BST that defaults to the value of 1 meaning it will send out battery_status messages. If you change that parameter to 0 it will stop sending out the battery_status messages.

                          H 2 Replies Last reply
                          0
                          • Eric KatzfeyE Eric Katzfey

                            @hmlow The new version is available here: http://voxl-packages.modalai.com/dists/qrb5165/staging/binary-arm64/voxl-px4_1.14.0-2.0.43_arm64.deb. This version has a new parameter MODAL_IO_PUB_BST that defaults to the value of 1 meaning it will send out battery_status messages. If you change that parameter to 0 it will stop sending out the battery_status messages.

                            H Offline
                            H Offline
                            hmlow
                            Regular
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #13

                            @Eric-Katzfey thanks for the 2 fixes in a single package! Will try it out and report back tmr

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • Eric KatzfeyE Eric Katzfey

                              @hmlow The new version is available here: http://voxl-packages.modalai.com/dists/qrb5165/staging/binary-arm64/voxl-px4_1.14.0-2.0.43_arm64.deb. This version has a new parameter MODAL_IO_PUB_BST that defaults to the value of 1 meaning it will send out battery_status messages. If you change that parameter to 0 it will stop sending out the battery_status messages.

                              H Offline
                              H Offline
                              hmlow
                              Regular
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #14

                              @Eric-Katzfey It work! Thank you!

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