@ApoorvThapliyal I forgot to mention that the error occurred on drone side for voxl_mpa_to_ros2_node. While on computer it is not printing anything

@Alex-Kushleyev Thank you so much for your response. It helped a lot.

@Gerhold-Ten-Voorde , our lens holders are custom and we do not have any information we could share about those, but you may be able to find similar lens holders from other sources.

IMX412 : https://www.m12lenses.com/M12-Lens-Holders-s/61.htm

For IMX664, you may want to check Runcam fpv cameras, which appear to have similar lens holder / housing, however i don't know if those would have extra threads you need.

Also, please note that if you are going to try the spacer approach, make sure that there is absolutely no gap between the spacer, lens holder, otherwise light can enter the camera from the side and affect the image quality. Also make sure that even when using the default lens holder with IMX664, the mounting holes in the aluminum housing are covered, so that light cannot get inside.

Alex

@cguzikowski , got it, thanks for the clarification. I will add a camera server config param that would force the auto exposure to run all the time, regardless of whether the streams are used or not. this should be simple.

Also, i was wondering if you decided that the ISP snapshot is good enough for you or you want to explore saving the RAW bayer and processing offline? We have been experimenting with some approaches for offline processing and I can share some scripts, which have some flexibility on how much to de-noise , sharpen, etc. I am also going to add the LSC (lens shading correction) for the offline processing (and later into real-time misp pipeline) to correct for those artifacts that you saw where the colors change across the image.

Alex

@extmoddain ,

Can you please send a picture of the damaged ESCs? Which component blew up? Also what do the labels on the ESD bags from those ESCs say?

The 6s version of M0129 (mini ESC) should have a small label on the white 4-pin connector that says either -63 or -65 (meaning 6S and either 3.8V or 5.0V output for VOXL2 mini or VOXL2). We can also check using the serial number (label should be present on the ESC)

https://docs.modalai.com/voxl-mini-esc-datasheet/#specifications
aa7bc73c-90f7-41ae-9f28-cacb800c72eb-image.png

Alex

@ralinaresg , here is what we have available :

https://storage.googleapis.com/modalai_public/modal_drawings/MRB/D0013-V2.STEP

Hi @the_engineer ,

Please see the responses to your questions below:

Is the drone suitable for such an application, or is there a drone better suited for this kind of application?

Starling 2 Max can be equipped with two global shutter tracking cameras, two high resolution (IMX412) cameras and a TOF sensor, providing the most sensing that our platforms offer.

Is such indoor autonomous operation is feasible with the Starling 2 Max?

dual-camera VIO can be used for indoor navigation (using our integration with Open Vins software) please note that we cannot guarantee performance in your environment and you would like to achieve reliable operation, you would need to become very familiar with the software components and test and address the issues that may come up in your environment depending on how narrow the aisles are, you may consider Starling 2 (not Starling 2 Max)

To what extent can this drone be programmed and extended for research or development purposes?

majority of ModalAI software that runs on VOXL2 is open source : https://gitlab.com/voxl-public/voxl-sdk/

Is the drone programmable with Python or a similar programming language?

Voxl2 runs Ubuntu 18.04 OS and you can use any standard programming languages. Most of voxl2 apis for data access (camera, imu, etc) are in C/C++ which can be extended to python via bindings. ROS is also supported.

What charge time can be expected?

Typical recommended charge rate for Li-Ion batteries is 1C, so about one hour, maybe a bit more. You are free to explore other battery vendors if you need faster charge times.

Is a docking station/ induction charging retrofit possible?

we do not support this feature, but it should be possible with additional design. You would probably need to have your own power management board that allows seamlessly disconnecting the old battery (to be charged) and applying a DC power supply.

Is the drone capable of navigating in subpar lighting conditions?

you would need to test in your specific environment and address any issues that come up. Lighting is not the only factor, but also amount of useful features, etc

What is the expected maximum flight time at maximum takeoff weight?

see this thread : https://forum.modalai.com/topic/3732/starling-2-max-payload-capacity-and-flight-time-impact additional recommended payload up to 500g

What are the operational temperature limits of the drone?

Starling 2 Max can operate in reasonable temperatures. However, you would need to monitor your CPU usage - if it hits 95C, automatic throttling will occur and the system may not be able to keep up with all the tasks. ESC is rated to run at least 100C (MCU temperature), so that should not be an issue for this particular drone, which is not significantly loaded in terms of motor power).

Does visual obstacle avoidance also work during remote controlled manual flight?

please take a look at voxl-vision-hub, but remember that this will be a starting point and you will need to develop your own application based on your requirements and testing : https://docs.modalai.com/voxl-vision-hub/

What is the expected delivery time for the system to Germany?

Expected to ship within 60 business days from San Diego, CA, as stated on our web site https://www.modalai.com/products/starling-2-max

@Igor , we just uploaded the emulator docker image, please see details in this post : https://forum.modalai.com/topic/5179/qrb5165-emulator-image-1-6

Hi @Myles-Levine ,

I just want to double check something to make sure there is no confusion.

The lepton sensor is an IR (thermal) camera. it does not measure range. The lepton sensor plugs into the large square socket that is mounted to the M0157 / M0187 board (they are very similar). The infrared TOF sensor is a smaller (rectangular) sensor, which is marked as U1 on M0187 : https://docs.modalai.com/M0187/ .

Have you checked whether the Lepton sensor is working using voxl-portal, which would allow you to look at the IR image coming from the sensor?

Alex

@ChrisB here is a system architecture to follow: https://docs.modalai.com/voxl2-d0014/

We do not support an RB5, that is a Qualcomm product

@yaoyuh , it looks like the order has been taken care of. please let us know if you have any more questions.

Alex

@Dan-Jennings Honestly, I don't think updating the SDK version will help this issue. But, we highly encourage everyone to be on the latest SDK, regardless, since that's where you'll get the latest fixes and features. And it's how you'll get the best support from us. but in this case I don't think a newer SDK will get you the battery_status. It's probably a hardware issue or a parameter issue. You swapped boards and that didn't help. What about the cable? Those 4 wire cables are notoriously fragile. Can you swap it out and see if that helps? The other item is parameters. You saw that other post about setting BATT_MONITOR to 21 and BATT_I2C_BUS to 1. If you don't see the BATT_I2C_BUS parameter then it must mean that BATT_MONITOR hasn't been set to 21. Make sure it is set to 21, then reboot, then you should see the BATT_I2C_BUS parameter. Then set it to 1, reboot, then you should see correct battery_status.

Additionally, where can I buy the propeller replacements? It's not here https://www.modalai.com/search?page=1&q=propeller

@DronAlan https://www.modalai.com/pages/rma

^^^ This is the next best option outside of ADB IMO - nice suggestion @Alex-Kushleyev

I tested the fix and snapshots work now, thank you very much!