Hi @Alex-Kushleyev
That's correct, since we have not supported it or tried it, there is no elegant HW solution.
We've recently completed the M0172 adapter which breaks out a uCOAX on the upper group + 40-pin Molex (for ToF) on the lower group from a single camera group.
We have not made this product available yet for purchase, but looks like this:
dcbe9724-d90a-4f0e-a4cf-4db422d1c75e-image.png
643ad978-4ebe-4a43-8a8e-2d7ef498abfa-image.png

If this is something that interests you, I encourage you to ask our sales team using the contact page about it (we should have a bunch in stock it just has not been a priority for us): https://www.modalai.com/pages/contact-us

and also a simple example here : https://gitlab.com/voxl-public/voxl-sdk/utilities/voxl-mpa-tools/-/blob/master/tools/voxl-inspect-tof.c?ref_type=heads

@jameskuesel , thank you for letting me know about the focus issue. It seems we had a few cameras shipped out without being properly focused - we will make sure to take care of it in the future. Sorry about that.

Regarding the image quality, after adjusting the lens focus, are you satisfied with the image resolution / quality? Also i believe the color balance outdoors should look better under natural light.

Alex

I just made a fix on a branch, but did not test it:

https://gitlab.com/voxl-public/voxl-sdk/services/voxl-camera-server/-/commit/43aa51a43c339e008b86d637b87cb22d9c369588

If you are able to test the fix, please give it a try and let me know if it works!

Thanks!

Alex

@eric , thanks again for your input on this, i have posted a complete tutorial how to enable OpenCL in Docker on VOXL2 : https://docs.modalai.com/voxl-2-opencl-in-docker/

Alex

@Jetson-Nano The updated voxl-io-server version is here: http://voxl-packages.modalai.com/dists/qrb5165/dev/binary-arm64/voxl-io-server_0.0.5-202502191136_arm64.deb. The updated FC v2 image is here: http://voxl-packages.modalai.com/dists/fc-v2/dev/modalai_fc-v2_1.14.0-2.0.95.px4. I have only tested with PX4 running on VOXL 2 but it should also work with external FC v2.

@Thasindu-Wickrama No, we use TOF for depth in indoor environments. In outdoor environments we have used stereo cameras. And we have used single point lidar for distance (height) sensing. How did you want to integrate a LiDAR? Would it be a PX4 driver?

Hey @Andrew-Martin thanks for reporting, I also saw the gitlab issue. Have you tried increasing that buffer size and rebuilding ? We could try to provide you a test deb.

We just got the MVP of remote ID in place and kept this open source so we can fix as needed...

@Eric-Katzfey
We reflashed to SDK 1.3.5 and did the installation of Ardupilot again. (Build : https://firmware.ardupilot.org/Copter/latest/QURT/voxl-ardupilot_ArduCopter_4.7.0-76aed8f8_arm64.deb)

Output of voxl-version:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- system-image: 1.7.10-M0054-14.1a-perf kernel: #1 SMP PREEMPT Fri Sep 27 21:59:02 UTC 2024 4.19.125 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- hw platform: M0054 mach.var: 1.0.1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- voxl-suite: 1.3.5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Packages: Repo: http://voxl-packages.modalai.com/ ./dists/qrb5165/sdk-1.3/binary-arm64/ Last Updated: 2023-03-02 12:58:39 WARNING: repo file has changed since last update, packages may have originated from a different repo List: kernel-module-voxl-fsync-mod-4.19.125 1.0-r0 kernel-module-voxl-gpio-mod-4.19.125 1.0-r0 kernel-module-voxl-platform-mod-4.19.125 1.0-r0 libfc-sensor 1.0.7 libmodal-cv 0.5.11 libmodal-exposure 0.1.1 libmodal-journal 0.2.2 libmodal-json 0.4.3 libmodal-pipe 2.10.2 libqrb5165-io 0.4.6 libvoxl-cci-direct 0.2.3 libvoxl-cutils 0.1.1 modalai-slpi 1.1.19 mv-voxl 0.1-r0 qrb5165-bind 0.1-r0 qrb5165-dfs-server 0.2.0 qrb5165-imu-server 1.0.1 qrb5165-rangefinder-server 0.1.3 qrb5165-slpi-test-sig 01-r0 qrb5165-system-tweaks 0.3.0 qrb5165-tflite 2.8.0-2 voxl-ardupilot 4.7.0-76aed8f8 voxl-bind-spektrum 0.1.1 voxl-camera-calibration 0.5.7 voxl-camera-server 2.0.1 voxl-ceres-solver 2:1.14.0-10 voxl-configurator 0.8.5 voxl-cpu-monitor 0.4.8 voxl-docker-support 1.3.1 voxl-elrs 0.2.2 voxl-esc 1.4.7 voxl-feature-tracker 0.4.1 voxl-flow-server 0.3.6 voxl-fsync-mod 1.0-r0 voxl-gphoto2-server 0.0.10 voxl-gpio-mod 1.0-r0 voxl-jpeg-turbo 2.1.3-5 voxl-lepton-server 1.2.3 voxl-lepton-tracker 0.0.2 voxl-libgphoto2 0.0.4 voxl-libuvc 1.0.7 voxl-logger 0.4.7 voxl-mavcam-manager 0.5.7 voxl-mavlink 0.1.1 voxl-mavlink-server 1.4.2 voxl-modem 1.1.3 voxl-mongoose 7.7.0-1 voxl-mpa-to-ros 0.3.9 voxl-mpa-tools 1.2.3 voxl-neopixel-manager 0.0.3 voxl-open-vins 0.4.14 voxl-open-vins-server 0.2.75 voxl-opencv 4.5.5-2 voxl-osd 0.0.1 voxl-platform-mod 1.0-r0 voxl-portal 0.7.0 voxl-px4 1.14.0-2.0.84 voxl-px4-imu-server 0.1.2 voxl-px4-params 0.5.3 voxl-qvio-server 1.0.4 voxl-remote-id 0.0.9 voxl-reset-slpi 0.0.1 voxl-state-estimator 0.0.2 voxl-streamer 0.7.4 voxl-suite 1.3.5 voxl-tag-detector 0.0.4 voxl-tflite-server 0.3.4 voxl-utils 1.4.3 voxl-uvc-server 0.1.7 voxl-vision-hub 1.8.9 voxl-vtx 1.1.0 voxl2-io 0.0.3 voxl2-system-image 1.7.10-r0 voxl2-wlan 1.0-r0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Output of voxl-inspect-services before disabling services:

Scanning services... Service Name | Enabled | Running | CPU Usage ------------------------------------------------------------------- docker-autorun | Disabled | Not Running | modallink-relink | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-ardupilot | Enabled | Running | 0.0% voxl-auto-logger | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-camera-server | Enabled | Running | 130.0% voxl-cpu-monitor | Enabled | Running | 0.3% voxl-dfs-server | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-feature-tracker | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-flow-server | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-imu-server | Enabled | Running | 3.9% voxl-lepton-server | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-lepton-tracker | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-logger | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-mavcam-manager | Enabled | Running | 0.0% voxl-mavlink-server | Enabled | Running | 1.2% voxl-modem | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-neopixel-manager | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-open-vins-server | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-osd | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-portal | Enabled | Running | 0.1% voxl-px4-imu-server | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-px4 | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-qvio-server | Enabled | Running | 4.0% voxl-rangefinder-server | Enabled | Running | 0.5% voxl-remote-id | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-softap | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-state-estimator | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-static-ip | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-streamer | Enabled | Running | 0.2% voxl-tag-detector | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-tflite-server | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-time-sync | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-uvc-server | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-vision-hub | Enabled | Running | 5.4% voxl-vrx | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-vtx | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-wait-for-fs | Enabled | Completed |

Output of voxl-inspect-services after disabling services:
voxl2:~$ voxl-inspect-services

Scanning services... Service Name | Enabled | Running | CPU Usage ------------------------------------------------------------------- docker-autorun | Disabled | Not Running | modallink-relink | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-ardupilot | Enabled | Running | 0.0% voxl-auto-logger | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-camera-server | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-cpu-monitor | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-dfs-server | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-feature-tracker | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-flow-server | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-imu-server | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-lepton-server | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-lepton-tracker | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-logger | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-mavcam-manager | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-mavlink-server | Enabled | Not Running | voxl-modem | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-neopixel-manager | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-open-vins-server | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-osd | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-portal | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-px4-imu-server | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-px4 | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-qvio-server | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-rangefinder-server | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-remote-id | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-softap | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-state-estimator | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-static-ip | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-streamer | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-tag-detector | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-tflite-server | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-time-sync | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-uvc-server | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-vision-hub | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-vrx | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-vtx | Disabled | Not Running | voxl-wait-for-fs | Enabled | Completed |

Output of netstat -tuln:

Active Internet connections (only servers) Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address Foreign Address State tcp 0 0 127.0.0.53:53 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:22 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:8900 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:5037 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:80 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN tcp6 0 0 :::22 :::* LISTEN udp 0 0 127.0.0.53:53 0.0.0.0:* udp 0 0 0.0.0.0:68 0.0.0.0:* udp 0 0 0.0.0.0:69 0.0.0.0:* udp 0 0 0.0.0.0:14550 0.0.0.0:* udp 0 0 0.0.0.0:14556 0.0.0.0:* udp 0 0 127.0.0.1:14557 0.0.0.0:* udp 0 0 0.0.0.0:14558 0.0.0.0:* udp 0 0 127.0.0.1:14559 0.0.0.0:* udp6 0 0 :::69 :::*

Connection over USB using Mission Planner => Starts the connection and then times out (Tried baud rates 115200 (default AP) and 921600 (Configured in voxl-mavlink-server.conf))

Station Mode tests (every time restarted voxl-mavlink-server)
Connection using MavProxy on 14550 : Failed to connect to udp:150.0.0.221:14550 : [Errno 49] Can't assign requested address
Connection using MavProxy on 14556 : Failed to connect to udp:150.0.0.221:14556 : [Errno 49] Can't assign requested address
Connection using MavProxy on 14557 : Failed to connect to udp:150.0.0.221:14557 : [Errno 49] Can't assign requested address
Connection using MavProxy on 14558 : Failed to connect to udp:150.0.0.221:14558 : [Errno 49] Can't assign requested address
Connection using MavProxy on 14559 : Failed to connect to udp:150.0.0.221:14559 : [Errno 49] Can't assign requested address

Connection using QGroundControl over port 14550 : Connected successfully

Connection using Mission Planner on UDP port 14550 :

Only one usage of each socket address (protocol/network address/port) is normally permitted at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.DoBind(EndPoint endPointSnapshot, SocketAddress socketAddress) at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.Bind(EndPoint localEP) at MissionPlanner.Comms.UdpSerial.Open() in C:\Users\mich1\Desktop\CubePilot\MissionPlanner\ExtLibs\Comms\CommsUdpSerial.cs:line 130 at MissionPlanner.MAVLinkInterface.OpenBg(IProgressReporterDialogue PRsender, Boolean getparams) in C:\Users\mich1\Desktop\CubePilot\MissionPlanner\ExtLibs\ArduPilot\Mavlink\MAVLinkInterface.cs:line 886 at MissionPlanner.Controls.ProgressReporterDialogue.RunBackgroundOperation(Object o) in C:\Users\mich1\Desktop\CubePilot\MissionPlanner\ExtLibs\Controls\ProgressReporterDialogue.cs:line 111

Deleted the primary_static_gcs_ip from voxl-mavlink-server.conf
Connection using Mission Planner with UDPCI on 14550 : Times out after 30 Seconds
The log in voxl-mavlink-server show some sort of connection but the loses it because of the timeout

voxl2:~$ voxl-mavlink-server loading our own config file ================================================================= Parameters as loaded from config file: primary_static_gcs_ip: secondary_static_gcs_ip: 192.168.8.11 onboard_port_to_autopilot: 14556 onboard_port_from_autopilot: 14557 gcs_port_to_autopilot: 14558 gcs_port_from_autopilot: 14559 en_external_uart_ap: 0 autopilot_uart_bus: 1 autopilot_uart_baudrate: 921600 autopilot_mission_delay_start: -1 udp_mtu: 0 gcs_timeout_s 4.50 en_external_ap_timesync: 1 en_external_ap_heartbeat: 1 ================================================================= starting receive thread for onboard channel from autopilot starting receive thread for gcs channel from autopilot CONNECTED to autopilot on gcs channel Not connecting to primary gcs ip: Adding secondary manual gcs IP address to udp connection list: 192.168.8.11 Added new UDP connection to 192.168.8.11 Init complete, entering main loop CONNECTED to autopilot on onboard channel Detected Autopilot Mavlink SYSID 1 Added new UDP connection to 150.0.0.185 CONNECTED to GCS at 150.0.0.185 DISCONNECTED FROM GCS 150.0.0.185

SoftAP Mode tests (every time restarted voxl-mavlink-server):
Exactly the same results

I'm going to try to take a capture of the traffic and compare the differences between QGroundControl and Mission Planner and revert back to you with more information

Hi @LucaVertiq , this is cool stuff. I am curious if you were able to do any direct comparisons of qvio performance using unfiltered vs low pass (rpm-based) vs notch (rpm based)?

In order to replicate the same conditions for each test, this would have to be done using mpa playback after collecting mpa logs of just imu data and images.

since the rpm data is not coming from mpa, it cannot be logged / played back using our logger.

However, one idea is to process the IMU data logs using RPM logs using a separate script and then run the playback + qvio to generate new results. The IMU data processing can have different options like the rpm-based notch filter and it would obviously also need to have a px4 log that contains the ESC status.

This also leads to a question, whether the IMU data should be filtered in the imu server or the application that uses the imu, since the requirements for the IMU data may differ for different applications, so it may be best to leave the IMU server publishing the original data. But also, there could be a separate output pipe from the imu sever with the notch filtered imu data..

Anyway, just wanted to check if you happened to get any quantitative results from your testing that show how the filtering helps with QVIO performance. My understanding from working with QVIO in the past was that the best thing to do was to feed unfiltered imu data into QVIO and let it integrate the noisy data. low pass filtering the IMU data too much would actually remove some of the actual components of motion that are important for motion tracking. So i am curious what exactly has improved in your case when you added notch filtering - is the drift vs distance improved or the number of VIO "blow-ups" has reduced?

Lots of questions, but I am happy to discuss this further and see how we can improve performance of our VIO stack 🙂

Alex

@andrevs01 ,

The documentation links I provided describe how to get M0065 board running in PX4 as a standard actuator that supports 8 PWM outputs.

If you are familiar with PX4, GCS, Actuators, then look through those documentation pages and follow the setup.

However, i don't have the full information about your hardware, so i don't know if you need some customizations:

are you using voxl2 on a flying drone? if so, are you using a modalai ESC or another ESC? Are you planning to use M0065 board to generate pwm output for your ESC (if you are using a standard ESC that accepts PWM as control input) do you need to use PX4 for your application? the reason why I ask is that you can use M0065 pwm outputs without PX4 if you don't need PX4 at all.

Alex

Hi @Cody , is it the case that the commanded RPM is relatively high, but motor just does not spin up? Did you confirm that from the logs?

We have a fork of px4-flight-review, which you can run on your linux pc locally https://github.com/modalai/px4-flight-review . There is a Quickstart Guide that should get you up and running in a few steps (Docker is required) - https://github.com/modalai/px4-flight-review?tab=readme-ov-file#quickstart-guide

This has support for our custom data logs, including commanded and actual motor RPMs, which is useful for debugging. Can you send a plot of RPMs from the flight review app?

You should have a plot like this, maybe zoomed in on areas of interest.

27f5e9a6-de4a-49a0-9ade-7b6f2446a7c5-image.png

Alex

@Madelyne-Rossmann , sounds good! We will work on enabling larger resolutions for calibration and tag detection. It is a bit of a hassle due to very large frames, so some optimizations need to be made.

Alex

@valvarez , the usage for the test tool is as follows:

voxl2:/$ qrb5165io-uart-test -h Description: runs hardware loopback test on specified bus Usage: qrb5165io-uart-test -d <device ID> (eg 3 for /dev/ttyHS3)

So you should run your test as:

voxl2:/$ qrb5165io-uart-test -d 2 [INFO]: success!

@Eric-Katzfey

Yes, seems working. no error.
Thanks.

@voxl2_user , i will ask around..

Also, there may be some sysv compatibility mode, instead of fully utilizing sysv for all IPC. I think i saw something like that when grepping the kernel build source for sysv supprt. I will check a bit later.

Alex

@valvarez , i believe i have previously tried VOXL_ESC + VOXL2 IO drivers running at the same time and it worked. You just have two output interfaces that you can configure and test via GCS.

As Eric mentioned, you just need to make sure you configure the two drivers to start together and to connect to the correct ports (and baud rates).

Regarding outputting PWM from VOXL_ESC, there is a way to make it work. We do not have the PWM ports on the ESC exposed as normal PWM outputs in PX4, but you can use a special tool / command on voxl2, which will send message to the ESC (via PX4) and control the PWM port:

https://gitlab.com/voxl-public/voxl-sdk/services/voxl-io-server/-/blob/master/tools/voxl-send-esc-pwm-cmd.c (which is also part of our SDK) .

voxl2:/$ voxl-send-esc-pwm-cmd -h Tool to send command a VOXL ESC to make it output a PWM signal If timeout is disabled (default) then the esc will keep sending the same pwm command even after this program exits. If enabled, the signal will stop after 0.5s. Oneshot mode will automatically exit this program after one message is sent to the esc, otherwise it will keep going untill you hit ctrl-C ESC_PIN_M0129_AUX0 2 ESC_PIN_M0129_AUX1 258 ESC_PIN_M0129_AUX2 514 ESC_PIN_M0129_AUX3 770 ESC_PIN_M0129_AUX_REG_EN 6 ESC_PIN_M0129_AUX_REG_ADJ 22 ESC_PIN_M0138_VTX_REG 80 ESC_PIN_M0138_RGB_OUT 24 ESC_PIN_M0138_AUX0 2 ESC_PIN_M0138_AUX1 770 ESC_PIN_M0138_AUX_REG_EN 12 ESC_PIN_M0138_AUX_REG_ADJ 11 D0008_V5_LIGHT_BAR_PIN 2 D0008_V5_PAYLOAD_PIN_0 770 D0008_V5_PAYLOAD_PIN_1 24 -h, --help print this help message -o, --one-shot only send one command then quit, not to be confused with short duration 125us oneshot mode -p, --pin {pin} output pin -t, --timeout enable 0.5s timeout, otherwise pwm will continue indefinitely -w, --width {val} pulse width microseconds (default 1500) typical use: voxl-send-esc-pwm-cmd -p 2 -t -w 1500

You will need to provide the pin number. See the usage helps, which provides the pin mapping (look at pins for M0129 ESC, but pwm pins are the same on M0117, M0134 ESCs as well). For a simple test, you can use pin=2 (meaning this will control Pin A2 on ESC ID 0 🙂 ), which should control the PWM0 output on your ESC. The 4 PWM outputs on the ESC are each connected to A2 port of the corresponding microcontroller, responsible for each ESC ID. The pin mapping is also documented here : https://gitlab.com/voxl-public/voxl-sdk/services/voxl-io-server/-/blob/master/lib/modal_io.h?ref_type=heads#L66

Alex

@Gary-Holmgren , we have not tried the mask with 1280x800 resolution.

Can you please try using the mask of size 160x120 and make it half white / half black for sanity testing. It is possible that the mask size has to be of these specific dimensions (and it would get resized to match the aspect ratio of the actual image, not sure).

Also, you should enable the debug prints in QVIO, as mentioned here https://forum.modalai.com/topic/3459/masking-qvio/6 and there is another potential "gotcha", the mask path is relative to working directory where qvio server starts.. but after you enable the qvio server debug prints, you will see the path from which the mask file is being loaded, as you can see from screen shots from the other post.

Unfortunately, the underlying QVIO source code is not available, so I cant check the exact behavior of the masking feature.

Alex

@antenna-eng What hardware do you have connected to the VOXL 2 board? Cameras etc.