VOXL ESC Mini 4-in-1 not detected issue

mkriesel

Hello,
I have a drone using a 5v VOXL ESC Mini 4-in-1 with Built-in Power Module with the voxl2 and I have run into an issue where after some use the ESC are not detected anymore by the voxl2. Sometimes, the I can run the commands described in https://gitlab.com/voxl-public/voxl-sdk/utilities/voxl-esc/-/blob/master/voxl-esc-tools/calibration.md to manually spin but I can no longer fly through QGC and the blue status light does not blink anymore. After some time though I could not even run the commands on the voxl either and I get a notice that no ESC is detected. The blue light still comes on and the voxl is powered through it so power is for sure going through. Anything to try or test to diagnose or get these working? Nothing should have changed in between them working and not working

Alex Kushleyev

@mkriesel , you should try to communicate with the ESC from a linux PC using a serial to usb adapter and voxl-esc tools. This will remove VOXL2 from the loop and allow you to test the ESC independently.

It seems there may be some intermittent issue, since you are saying that sometimes you are able to manually spin. what about voxl-esc-scan.py ? Check UART cable?

Alex

Vinny

@mkriesel This cable will help if you do not already have one: https://docs.modalai.com/cable-datasheets/#mcbl-00091
Quick Edit/add: I just noticed our team never had these listed on our shopify site, so they are adding them soon! Thanks!

mkriesel

@Vinny Part of the issue is it doesn't see to be detected/work on boot but when I use the commands it does work, sometimes it doesn't work at all even with the commands but at the moment it doesn't work on boot at all. Is this an issue with the cable do you think? I ask because there will be no difference between the scenarios and trying the same setup (cables and voxl) with a different ESC seems to work so to me it seems like I somehow broke the esc, but I'm not sure how.

Vinny

Hi @mkriesel
My comment was in regards to Alex's suggestion such that if you use an independent UART cable, you can ascertain whether the issue is with the ESC or the VOXL 2. MCBL-00091 will allow you to do that from a host PC as Alex mentioned.
It is live now on our shopify site if that will help.
https://www.modalai.com/products/mcbl-00091-1?_pos=1&_sid=b6335d3d1&_ss=r

Alex Kushleyev

@mkriesel , we do not have enough information to be able to pinpoint the root cause, so please try to perform the following test:

on voxl2

systemctl stop voxl-px4
cd /usr/share/modalai/voxl-esc-tools
./voxl-esc-scan.py

The output should look similar to this . Run this scan back to back several times and check if all 4 ESCs are detected each time.

If the esc scan result on voxl2 is not consistently detecting all 4 ESCs, please repeat the same test on a linux PC (you will need the aforementioned UART cable). You can download voxl-esc tools from the git repository here and run the same test, the output should look like this -- almost identical to what is expected when scanning on voxl2.

Thank you

Alex

mkriesel

@Alex-Kushleyev
I am able to see and detect the ESC with one voxl but on another it seems to not work at all, they are both flashed with the same version and settings (voxl2 SDK 1.4.1) and the only difference is the voxl2, all esc and cables are the same.

voxl2:/usr/share/modalai/voxl-esc-tools$ ./voxl-esc-scan.py
Detected Python version : 3.6.9 (default, Mar 10 2023, 16:46:00)
[GCC 8.4.0]
Found voxl-esc tools bin version: 1.9
VOXL Platform: M0054
Detected RB5 Flight, VOXL2 M0054 or M0104!
INFO: Scanning for ESC firmware: /dev/slpi-uart-2, baud: 2000000
Sending library name request: libslpi_qrb5165_io.so
Sending initialization request
INFO: Scanning for ESC bootloader: /dev/slpi-uart-2, baud: 230400
Updated baud rate to 230400
WARNING: No ESC(s) detected
VOXL Platform: M0054
Detected RB5 Flight, VOXL2 M0054 or M0104!
INFO: Scanning for ESC firmware: /dev/slpi-uart-2, baud: 250000
INFO: Scanning for ESC bootloader: /dev/slpi-uart-2, baud: 230400
Updated baud rate to 230400
WARNING: No ESC(s) detected
VOXL Platform: M0054
Detected RB5 Flight, VOXL2 M0054 or M0104!
INFO: Scanning for ESC firmware: /dev/slpi-uart-2, baud: 921600
INFO: Scanning for ESC bootloader: /dev/slpi-uart-2, baud: 230400
ERROR: voxl_uart_read_bytes: Bus '12' is not initialized
Updated baud rate to 230400
WARNING: No ESC(s) detected
VOXL Platform: M0054
Detected RB5 Flight, VOXL2 M0054 or M0104!
INFO: Scanning for ESC firmware: /dev/slpi-uart-2, baud: 57600
INFO: Scanning for ESC bootloader: /dev/slpi-uart-2, baud: 230400
Updated baud rate to 230400
WARNING: No ESC(s) detected

ERROR: not all ESCs found
voxl2:/usr/share/modalai/voxl-esc-tools$ voxl-esc

What do you want to do?

scan 3) spin 5) upload_params
detect 4) upgrade_firmware
#? 2
enabling bridge
bridge enabled
ERROR: voxl_uart_read_bytes: Bus '12' is not initialized
[ERROR] No ESCs detected
disabling bridge
Sending kill slpi command!
bridge disabled
EXITING VOXL-ESC WITH ERROR
voxl2:/usr/share/modalai/voxl-esc-tools$

Alex Kushleyev

@mkriesel , I would suggest doing a UART loop-back test of the ESC connector on your VOXL2 board. You would need to make a connector which connects UART TX and RX on VOXL2 side (ESC disconnected). We have a SW tool for doing a loopback test of DSP UARTs : qrb5165io-slpi-uart-test

Source code: https://gitlab.com/voxl-public/voxl-sdk/core-libs/libqrb5165-io/-/blob/master/apps/examples/qrb5165io-slpi-uart-test.c

You can test the ESC UART on J18 and also two additional UARTS (also mapped to the DSP) on J19. If the test fails only on J18 UART, then this may be some HW issue. If none of the UARTS on J18 and J19 pass the loopback test, then issue is probably in SW.

Please try and we can go from there.

Alex