Voxl-camera-server only detects cameras sometimes
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We have experience this issue with several Voxl2s configured the same way. I with 3 cameras on J7L, J7U, and J8L.
We first notice the issue when the camera streams are not coming up on our GCS.
We go into the voxl2 to investigate. Sometimes you cannot adb shell or detect the voxl2 through USB. Sometimes it allows you to adb shell but voxl-camera-server does not detect all the cameras.Power cycling immediately typically results in the cameras still not being detected and/or the voxl2 not being detected as a USB device.
Power cycling and waiting ~5min or unplugging and re-plugging in all the cameras typically solves the issue.Any idea why this might be the case? Is there a capacitor on the voxl2 that may take several minutes to drain fully?
The cameras and associated cables don't have any visible damage and will work on other voxl2 boards that don't have this issue.
We have had this happen to probably 5 or 6 different sets of Voxl2 and cameras.We are at a loss for what could be causing this issue.
Any advice on how to investigate this further? -
@swickliff it is most likely a damaged connector or similar somewhere. If there is an issue with camera connectivity it can prevent the board from booting. The connectors on the flex cables are very fragile and are only designed for about 10 insertions, after that they can become unreliable. They aren't meant for moving around a bunch.
Also, if you try to daisy chain cables together there can be signal integrity issues as there is a maximum length of MIPI around 25cm
In general, everything is tested prior to shipping. You could have a bad cable in there somewhere
Can you please share a picture of your setup?
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We have a daisy chain of M0076 to M0036 to M0025
and another chain with a M0084-1 with a M0149-1 and M0107-2 on it
Thank you for mentioning the limited cycles of insertions/removals. I will keep that in mind going forward.
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Hi @swickliff
Is it possible you have a mix of M0054's, M0054-1's and M0054-2's?
For details on what that means, please see this docs post: https://docs.modalai.com/m0054-versions/ -
@Vinny It is possible that there are a few M0054-2's in the mix. Majority of the Voxl2's giving us issues at the moment are M0054-1's.
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Hi @swickliff
If this is still troubling you, are you willing to do an RMA so we can inspect and make sure things are solidly setup again for you?
You can get started by reaching out here: rma@modalai.com
