VOXL2 with M0172 Add-On: M0166 & M0178 Cameras Not Detected (SDK 1.4.5)

[yardy]

Hi All,

I'm currently working with the VOXL2 and trying to use the M0172 camera add-on board to connect two image sensors:

M0166 (Tracking camera)

M0178 (PMD camera)

I'm running VOXL SDK 1.4.5, and I'm encountering an issue where neither camera is detected or functioning.

Since there is no explicit configuration option for the M0172 in voxl-configure-cameras, I attempted to configure the system as if I were using the M0173, which seemed closest in terms of setup.

However, this approach doesn’t seem to work — no camera streams are active, and voxl-inspect-cam shows no data from either camera.

Here are some additional details:

The M0172 board is securely connected to VOXL2's J7 or J6 port.

Both cameras are connected correctly to their respective connectors on the M0172.

I’ve rebooted the system after configuration.

Both cameras work when connected to M0173, so they are not faulty.



Is M0172 supported in SDK 1.4.5?

If not, is there a recommended workaround or manual config file approach to get this setup working?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Alex Kushleyev]

@yardy ,

I believe the issue is that when using M0173, you need to use the .1 kernel variant (mach.var: 1.0.1) because M0173 uses different GPIO for camera resets, including some other changes specific to signal routing on M0173,

When using M0172, the adapter acts similar to M0135 dual sensor expander, so you would need to switch to kernel variant 1.0.0. You can select the kernel variant when you install the SDK but there is also a way to just install the kernel variant directly (let me know if you need more info).

My suggestion is to switch to kernel variant 1.0.0 and use J7. On M0172 J1L should map to slot id 2 and J2U would map to the upper slot id 3 (when connected to J7). You would need AR0144 sernsormodule id 3 and irs2975c sensormodule id 2.

The reason why you should not use J6 or J8 is because in the 1.0.0 kernel variant, the J6U and J8U camera slots (slots 1 and 5) are configured for a OV7251 stereo set up with lane merging using a single CSI port (combo mode with slots 0 and 4 respectively), so you technically cannot use 6 independent cameras with 1.0.0 kernel variant.

Please try and let me know if it works or if you have more questions. I will double check this myself as well.

Alex

[yardy]

@Alex-Kushleyev
Thanks for replying

When using M0172, the adapter acts similar to M0135 dual sensor expander, so you would need to switch to kernel variant 1.0.0. You can select the kernel variant when you install the SDK but there is also a way to just install the kernel variant directly (let me know if you need more info).

yes please

[Alex Kushleyev]

@yardy In order to update the kernel variant without re-installing the whole SDK, please follow these instructions:

cd <voxl-sdk-release>/system-image

# reboot voxl2 into fastboot mode
adb reboot bootloader

# flash VOXL2 kernel variant 0
fastboot flash boot_a m0054-1-var00.0-kernel.img
fastboot flash boot_b m0054-1-var00.0-kernel.img
fastboot reboot

# OR flash VOXL2 kernel variant 1
fastboot flash boot_a m0054-1-var00.1-kernel.img
fastboot flash boot_b m0054-1-var00.1-kernel.img
fastboot reboot

You can also test the kernel without overwriting it (the original kernel will be retained after voxl2 reboot:

adb reboot bootloader
fastboot boot m0054-1-var00.0-kernel.img

# OR
fastboot boot m0054-1-var00.1-kernel.img

The latter method is useful when you are not sure if the kernel you are about to try actually works (when you are experimenting with building your own kernel) - you can try the new kernel without the risk of temporarily bricking your board.

Alex