Questions on Starling 2 Max

[jk]

Hardware:

• Device: Starling 2 Max (MRB-D0012)
• Hardware platform: M0054
• Machine variant: 1.2.1
• SKU: MRB-D0012-4-V3-C28-T8-M36-X0

Software:

• System image: 1.8.06-M0054-14.1a-perf
• Kernel: #1 SMP PREEMPT Wed Oct 22 04:29:38 UTC 2025 4.19.125
• VOXL Suite: 1.6.4~alpha2

I am new to drones, the ModalAI interface, and PX4. I encountered several issues while working through the VOXL Developer Bootcamp and would appreciate guidance on the following questions.

Questions:

• In the ModalAI VOXL Portal, I repeatedly receive one of the following errors: "Preflight Fail: High Accelerometer Bias" or "Preflight Fail: Yaw Estimate Error". To address these errors, I have restarted the drone while it was stationary and level on a table, and also recalibrated the gyroscope, accelerometer, level horizon, and magnetometer. However, the errors continue to appear. What additional troubleshooting steps should I follow to resolve these preflight failures?

• While the drone is powered on and idle on a table, the reported CPU temperature rises to approximately 104°C. Pointing a desk fan at the drone reduces the temperature to approximately 80°C. Is this temperature expected during normal development? If not, what are the recommended practices for keeping the system cool while writing, compiling, or testing code? The log is shown below:

Name MHz Temp Util	Jul 20 2026 20:46:05
cpu0 979 104.7 99.0	Uptime: 0:15:36
cpu1 979 103.5 90.0
cpu2 979 102.4 91.4	Mem Use (MB)
cpu3 979 104.3 89.5	6244.8/7671
cpu4 710 103.9 100.0	Mem Allocation
cpu5 710 104.7 99.0	6.4 MB/s
cpu6 710 103.5 100.0
cpu7 844 104.7 100.0	Governor: Cool
Total 104.0 96.1	Pitmode: Active
10s avg 91.4	Auto Pitmode: ON
-------------------------	CPU OVERLOAD WARN
GPU 305 98.1 15.0	CPU OVERHEAT CRIT
GPU 10s avg 18.6	MEM LEAK WARNING
PID Top CPU Consumers CPU% Core Pri
1429 voxl-camera-server 184.3 4 80
2867 voxl-qvio-server 96.2 6 80
1931 px4 89.7 3 0
2219 voxl-mavlink-server 12.3 3 0
1266 voxl-cpu-monitor 5.3 3 0
1425 voxl-vision-hub 5.0 3 0
1714 voxl-imu-server 5.0 3 80
2889 voxl-portal 4.3 6 0
527 systemd-journald 3.4 7 0
1364 voxl-rangefinder-server 1.9 2 0
-----------------------------------------------
PID Top Memory Consumers Mem (MB) uptime
1931 px4 167.8 15:29
1429 voxl-camera-server 137.2 15:31
2867 voxl-qvio-server 12.9 14:22
2889 voxl-portal 10.4 14:04
2219 voxl-mavlink-server 7.6 15:27
2274 voxl-streamer 6.6 15:26
1364 voxl-rangefinder-server 5.9 15:31
1714 voxl-imu-server 5.7 15:30
1277 sensors.qti 5.3 15:31
1425 voxl-vision-hub 4.6 15:31
-----------------------------------------------

• A red light on the top portion of the drone flashes continuously. I initially thought this indicated that the drone was not connected to the controller. However, the light continues flashing even after the Commando 8 controller is connected and the drone can be controlled successfully. What does this flashing red light indicate, and what steps should I take to diagnose or resolve it? A picture is attached below:

[Eric Katzfey]

Can you provide a px4 log to help diagnose the "High Accelerometer Bias" and "Yaw Estimate Error" issues? Normally a log file is only generated after the drone is armed but you can force a log to start by issuing the command px4-logger on at the command prompt on voxl2. Then after a few seconds issue px4-logger off to close the log file. The high temperatures may be causing the high accelerometer bias error. It's definitely best to have a fan blowing on the VOXL2 board if it will just be sitting on the desktop during development. For the yaw error perhaps you can take the drone outside and let it acquire a GPS lock and see if that resolves the error.