ModalAI Forum

Our downloads page was recently updated and in the process the Hexagon SDK download file sdk.tgz was locked. We'll get that fixed and let you know when it is ready.

Yes, thank you Vinny.

Yes, unfortunately some of the dependencies have changed. Can you checkout tag sdk-1.6.4-1 of voxl-mpa-tools and then in the docker ./install_build_deps.sh qrb5165 sdk-1.6. That should work.

Hi @adam These claims remain true. We are exploring some items in the future for individual certification to ease downstream efforts by integrators, but as of today, the efforts still largely fall on the end-product integrator (which is unavoidable no matter what certifications we employ) and we can help where needed if any requests are specific and actionable.

Hi @muqing-cao Correct, M0213 does not have a USB hub on it like M0090.

@RoyAzriel 1.6.4 release is tested on Starling 2 now, go ahead and use that from the link I emailed you.

Hi, thanks for the detailed questions on the M0189. Answering below — full specs are on the datasheet at https://docs.modalai.com/M0189/ and the product/ordering page at https://www.modalai.com/products/m0189. 1. Integration Guidelines The M0189 doesn't plug directly into VOXL 2 Mini — it connects to a M0188 or M0195 carrier board (which itself mounts on VOXL 2 Mini), via one of four ToF ports (J01/J23/J45/J67) using an MCBL-00128 cable. The module is hardware-strapped for I2C, so only power, ground, and I2C are routed through the connector — no host-side mode-pin configuration needed. On the software side, it's managed by voxl-mini-tof-server (see docs.modalai.com/M0189/ for the link, or search "mini-tof-server" on docs.modalai.com Reads a JSON config from /etc/modalai/voxl-mini-tof-server.conf (or multiple files in .conf.d/ if you're running sensors across separate I2C buses) Publishes point cloud data over MPA on the rangefinder_pc pipe Ships with a config wizard (voxl-configure-mini-tofs -i) for known hardware setups, plus non-interactive list/set commands Supports multiple sensors via a TCA9548A I2C mux Output is inspectable with voxl-inspect-points or viewable live as a point cloud in VOXL Portal Sensor location/orientation relative to the vehicle's center of gravity has to be set manually and precisely in the config — there's no auto-calibration step. I didn't find a dedicated worked example/reference design specifically for VOXL 2 Mini + M0189 beyond the datasheet and server docs, but the mounting/connector details and full pinout are on the datasheet page. 2. Sensor Performance and Use Cases Per the datasheet and product page: FOV: 45° × 45° (65° diagonal) Range: up to 400 cm, target- and lighting-dependent Resolution: up to 8×8 (64 zones) — this is genuine multizone depth, output as a 3D point cloud over MPA (not single-point, and not a dense depth image) 940 nm Class 1 eye-safe VCSEL, direct-ToF (dToF) Neither page gives quantified outdoor/bright-sunlight derating numbers or flight-tested obstacle-avoidance performance data — that's probably worth a direct follow-up if you need hard numbers before committing to a platform design. 3. Availability and Purchasing Currently listed as an active, in-stock product at $44.99 (MPN MDK-M0189-2-00, board only) — see https://www.modalai.com/products/m0189. You'll also need the M0188 or M0195 carrier and the MCBL-00128 cable, both sold separately. Per the compatibility table on that page, it works with VOXL 2 Mini (via the carrier) and VOXL 2 (with additional cabling), but not VOXL or VOXL Flight. No lead-time info is posted, so I'd check with sales directly on that.

Hi, I would like to know what wifi module is on the drone. The one mounted on the drone is different than AlfaNetworks? Adam

Hi @awagner Apologies for the delayed response. It looks like this post slipped through during our recent forum and documentation site refactor. Are you still experiencing issues with your M0041-4? A few clarifying questions will help: When you mention "that is dead too", can you please clarify what exactly is no longer working? The M0041-4 power module, the VOXL 2 Mini, your power supply, or some combination of the three? Can you share more details about your ESC, make, model, and how the battery pads are connected to the power module? A photo of your wiring connections would be very helpful here. On the spark at plug-in: direct battery connection is the standard way to power up a drone, so that in itself is not unexpected. The spark on connection is not uncommon with a 6S pack due to charge balancing and inrush transient at the moment of contact (especially with our FPV ESC with near 1,000uF of capacitance). That said, we do include protection on the M0041-4 for this reason, so something unusual may have happened in your specific setup, which is why we'd like to see the connections. As a general note, we typically see XT-30 used up to 4S and XT-60 up to 6S. Running 6S on an XT-30 is outside the more common usage pattern and worth flagging as a potential factor. We had some folks mistake a 4S ESC for 6S due to exactly that on early Stinger models. We've since remedied that. One practical note: depending on what has failed, a replacement power module may be a faster and cheaper path than a full debug effort. That said, we do want to help you identify the root cause so this does not repeat. Replacing hardware without understanding the failure just puts the next module at the same risk. Let us know and share photos if you can. Again, sorry for the long delayed response. Thanks!

Hi @john.almasi , We just posted the updated drivers for IMX412 camera : imx412_drivers_20260709.zip These drivers include: three variants with the following MIPI data rates: 2004, 2088, 2200 Mbps I believe all three should be pretty much interference-free, but you should test and check the spectral coincidence plots from (see note below) *** note that 2200Mbps is 5% above maximum recommended specification for the camera, but so far we had no issues (use at own risk). For most use cases, 2088 Mbps should be a good choice. regular and flip versions alternate i2c slave register option (0x20 instead of 0x34) please note that in the driver versions of 2004 and 2088 Mbps, the following modes still use 2200 Mbps in order to achieve desired throughput: 4040x3040 60FPS 3840x2160 80FPS 1936x1080 240FPS Here is the full mode list table for this driver set (mbps is one of 2004, 2088, 2200 respectively): ['bpp','mbps','width','height', 'fps'] [ 10, mbps, 4056, 3040, 30.0] [ 10, mbps, 4040, 3040, 30.0] [ 10, 2200, 4040, 3040, 60.0] [ 10, mbps, 3840, 2160, 30.0] [ 10, mbps, 3840, 2160, 60.0] [ 10, 2200, 3840, 2160, 80.0] [ 10, mbps, 2028, 1520, 30.0] [ 10, mbps, 1996, 1520, 30.0] [ 10, mbps, 1996, 1520, 60.0] [ 10, mbps, 1996, 1520, 120.0] [ 10, mbps, 1936, 1080, 30.0] [ 10, mbps, 1936, 1080, 60.0] [ 10, mbps, 1936, 1080, 90.0] [ 10, mbps, 1936, 1080, 120.0] [ 10, 2200, 1936, 1080, 240.0] [ 10, mbps, 1920, 1080, 30.0] [ 10, mbps, 1920, 1080, 60.0] [ 10, mbps, 1920, 1080, 90.0] [ 10, mbps, 1920, 1080, 120.0] Additionally, we added some information that clarifies what are different components of the camera drivers and also explains how to achieve the image rotation in different use cases (and versions of voxl-camera-server) : https://docs.modalai.com/voxl-camera-drivers/ You should also check out the following post regarding GNSS interference, which includes some analysis showing how different MIPI bit rates can interfere with GNSS bands (bitrate and content-dependent) : https://forum.modalai.com/topic/5116/gnss-emi-mitigation-guidelines Please test it out and let me know if you have any issues. Alex

What commands did you use to start each one? I would try qshell mb12xx start -X -b 4 -a 0x66 and qshell mb12xx start -X -b 4 -a 0x70

Hey @alex-kushleyev, good to know it holds up like that under load, and thanks again for the reply. Two things I'm trying to pin down on the Mini: Power. Can a USB port on the VOXL Mini actually supply around 2-2.5 W, and can it do that on one port while a small USB camera runs on the other? Or should I plan to power those externally? Extra camera slot. From the D0013-V2 CAD the imager board looks like 5 DF56 coax connectors with 4 used (EO + dual AR0144 + Boson+), and the Lepton is on the M0187 SPI adapter so it's off the CSI bus. Is that spare coax connector wired to a usable CSI lane, and would voxl-camera-server take a 5th sensor (an M0161) there without a custom config? Thanks, Eyal

Hi @dinesh-varun-kandiyappan , please see responses below: the high resolution cameras (IMX412) are not calibrated during production. PMD tof does have intrinsics avaiable and they are downloaded from the sensor directly when the voxl-camera-server strarts. We did make a feature branch to print out those intrinsics for the TOF sensor - we can revisit that (and mainline it). You can use our tool voxl-calibrate-camera to perform intrinsics calibration of the fisheye IMX412 camera. We also have some improvements to make the process more efficient for high resolution images - if you need that, we can share the update (on todo list to mainline). https://docs.modalai.com/calibrate-cameras/ all the extrinsics are obtained from the 3D CAD models (not calibrated). they should be pretty accurate, but we do not have any data / analysis on the accuracy Yes, TOF sensor is an indoor sensor because outdoors the IR light will interfere with the sensor. We used to have drones that used DFS (Depth From Stereo, which used an algorithm from Qualcomm), but that stereo camera setup (using old ov7251 cameras) is EOL and we are not actively developing / testing DFS. However, you could potentially put together two AR0144 tracking cameras in a stereo configration and try DFS. QVIO only works using a single camera, but Open-Vins supports multiple cameras and that provides more reliable VIO solution. We are not developing QVIO, but Open-Vins is under active development and testing, so you should probably start with that. Also, QVIO is closed source (and not being actively developed), so it has no potential for updates / improvements. Can you please clarify? the PX4 params should be set up correctly for each drone after you run voxl-configure-mpa Can you please clarify? Is the goal for your model to control the vehicle's flight? (if so, what type of controls?) Alex

We do not support DSHOT when using Voxl2 + IO Expander board. However, OneShot125 is supported (though you would need to re-build voxl-px4 pakage and change the following scale factor : https://github.com/modalai/px4-firmware/blob/voxl-dev/src/drivers/voxl2_io/voxl2_io.hpp#L133) -- set MIXER_OUTPUT_TO_CMD_SCALE = 125 instead of 1000. This would reduce the actuator latency by 1-2ms (as long as the ESC supports OneShot125).

Reference this forum link in the RMA.

@vinny @alex-kushleyev @tom Thanks for the input guys! Happy to report it is all working as intended. Much appreciated.