@Michael-Hatton Did you run through the voxl-configure-modem setup in order to configure APN, etc?

https://docs.modalai.com/voxl-modem/#usage

@Michael-Hatton Yes, you need to have a separate battery charger. I'll see if I can get a recommendation from the team on a good charger to use. I use a Hota D6 Pro, personally.

Hi @gerard
Do you not get these LEDs either?
https://docs.modalai.com/microhard-usb-carrier/

7bc35bb8-c446-4e2f-b42e-5082bc84dbb9-image.png
Without a Microhard module installed, the 5V LED and the USB Hub LEDs should all still illuminate.
When the MH is properly configured, then you should start to see the other Activity and RSSI/Status LEDS. Those not appearing indicate the module is not configured, not seated, or in error.
Images will help.
Thanks!

@jameskuesel ,

I think there is another option which i have not considered before. The first three cameras are the same as above:

: M0173 J1: AR0144 slot 0 : CCI0 : M0173 J2: AR0144 slot 6 : CCI1 : M0173 J5: AR0144 slot 2 : CCI2

Then if we use J8U (which can be done using M0181 - it allows you to connect a Boson sensor to lower slot, and a tracking / hires camera to upper slot). Then the fourth camera would be:

VOXL2 J8: M0181 Upper : AR0144 slot 5 : CCI3

And there are no CCI conflicts.

One issue is that we don't typically sell M0181 by itself (only in a kit). Instead you could use two other options, both of which allow connecting a tracking / hires camera to the upper slot:

M0194 : https://www.modalai.com/products/m0194/ M0172: https://docs.modalai.com/M0172/ / https://www.modalai.com/products/mdk-m0172-1-00

The only down side of using M0172 / M0194 instead of M0181 is that the two alternatives do not have a mounting hole that would align with VOXL2 mounting hole, but M0181 does have a tab with a mounting hole for VOXL2 J8, see below. The M0172 and M0194 were really designed as mainly options for VOXL2 mini.

98d5f0ec-7f07-44bf-b002-036aefd3921d-image.png

c9c77086-b5fc-4215-99a2-fdc310d6f18c-image.png

@jbiscan21 said in Standoffs part:

standoffs

You can find them here: https://www.modalai.com/products/starling-2-max-replacement-parts?variant=66893548028208

@Alex-Kushleyev

Aha yes that was my original understanding. Yes knew you'd need a zoom level for it to actually look good/work effectively. Would probably have a lower bound of 1.2-1.3 likely from what I experimented with. TBD on dimensions.

Sorry, was confused, sounds good!

For those who are interested in more details, a new plot with some further discussion regarding exactly how the higher MIPI bitrate (2100Mbps) can interfere with the lower GPS L1 frequency (1575.42).

interference_l1.png

The plot shows whether different MIPI bitrates are capable of generating interference for the L1 band, considering that the MIPI data line is not producing a constant frequency (unlike the clock line). Byte sequences of different lengths will have different frequency components and they can have harmonics of the resulting slower frequency end up very close to gps L1. This is exactly what happened with 2100Mbps -- repeating 4-byte sequences can have a third harmonic equal to exactly GPS L1 frequency..

This table shows more details for the mipi data rates that may have strong interference with GPS L1. Actually the tables shows the exact bitrate that would have a perfect interference match to the GPS L1 center frequency.

| Data Rate (Mb/s) | Pattern Length (N) | Harmonic (k) | | ---------------- | ------------------ | ------------ | | 787.71 | 2 | 1 | | 1050.28 | 2 | 3 | | 1260.34 | 4 | 5 | | 1575.42 | 1 | 1 | | 1800.48 | 8 | 7 | | 2100.56 | 4 | 3 |

In practice, the longer the pattern length, the least likely it is to repeat, creating constant interference. However the 4-byte patterns are very short and 2100Mbps ended up being the worst bitrate choice out of all reasonably fast bitrates (above 1300Mbps), excluding the L1 itself.

similar plot for GPS L5
interference_l5.png

And combined L1 + L5 plot
interference_l1_l5.png

The 2088Mbps released in the post above (seemed good, based on the experimental results) seems relatively close to 2100, but it's interference will be about 10Mhz away from GPS L1 center frequency and it has shown to cause only 1-2dB drop when both cameras are running at max resolution. It seems that the absolute safest bitrate for GPS L1 would be around 1650Mbps, which has the largest margin.

Alex

@Jon-Brookshire , sorry for the delay.

Based on the dmesg log, it does look like a cabling issue, causing the USB connection to get dropped and then picked up again. Can you please clarify how exactly, in your case, the new wifi card is connected to VOXL2 and whether you replaced any adapters / cabling when switching back to the older AC600 ?

Alex

@awagner , I believe on VOXL2 Mini should be able to support any 4 cameras on the J6L, J6U, J7L, J7U (specifically the AR0144 (M0149) and IMX412 (M0107), which I assume you are using)

Can you please clarify the error that you are seeing? Is the issue the lack of correct sensormodule or something else? (you can check if correct sensormodules are present in /usr/lib/camera after configuring the cameras). As a reminder, the J6L, maps to slot 0, J6U, slot 1, J7L slot 2 and J7U slot 3.

Are you able to connect the 2 AR0144 cameras to J6 and J7?

What is your goal - how many of each cameras do you need to use? We can test it.

Alex

@qubotics-admin , thanks for doing the motor swap test. From this result, it does appear that one of the ESC channels is not working properly. We would like to take a look at the ESC - are you able to send it back for inspection? We can send you a replacement ESC in return.

Alex

@wilkinsaf You can disable compass with SYS_HAS_MAG = 0 and EKF2_MAG_TYPE = 5. But if you enable it and it isn't healthy you won't be able to arm. Power compensation may work, it depends on your particular drone model and use case.

@Barry-Hammond https://docs.modalai.com/voxl-streamer/#how-to-stream-video-with-rtsp-on-voxl

Quality greatly depends on your LTE coverage and VPN performance. I recommend lowering the bitrate in /etc/modalai/voxl-streamer.conf until you're happy with the response rate.

Tailscale can add overhead as well and our recent LTE testing has involved hosting a custom WireGuard server.

Good tip. For anyone testing without the GPS module attached, setting SYS_HAS_MAG=0 and EKF2_MAG_TYPE=5 seems to be the key part since the compass is on the GPS board. I was also looking at some compass-related references on 123compass.org while trying to understand the magnetometer side of it.

@JB1 Our voxl-remote-id software with WiFi dongle is intended only for reference and is not meant to be a commercially ready system for our customers who need a remote id solution for their VOXL2 based drone products. Integration, testing, validation, and FAA registration with desired hardware is up to the end user. At a minimum the manufacturer id would need to be changed from ModalAI's id to your companies issued manufacturer id.

@jon And you can find a lot of detailed information about the agent, including the start options, here: https://docs.px4.io/main/en/middleware/uxrce_dds

@Michael-Hatton When you arm the drone it is in flight mode and the motors start to spin. It's that spinning of the motors that you don't want while plugged into a power supply. Only use your battery to actually spin the motors and fly.

@Eyal , sorry for the delay. Here is some additional information regarding Stinger FPV:

https://docs.modalai.com/stinger-vision-datasheet/ base weight with battery : ~570g maximum thrust per motor : 650g @ 15V, 2600g total theoretical theoretical max thrust to weight ratio: 4.5:1, lots of extra margin, but if you add a LOT of weight, will need to check motor temps, etc. CAD model for stinger (may be slightly outdated) : https://forum.modalai.com/topic/5180/looking-stinger-fpv-cad-models -- you can attach your payload to carbon fiber I think that Stinger will be easier to tune up with additional payload because of more responsive and powerful propulsion system than Starling 2. i dont know what your sensor package is so, it is hard to comment about which platform is better. Starling 2 has landing gear that offsets it from the floor. Stringer is much lower to the ground.

Alex

@Jskim This is the repo we use for support of UVC cameras: https://gitlab.com/voxl-public/voxl-sdk/services/voxl-uvc-server. I don't think it will work directly with Seek cameras but you can try. In my experience each new camera requires a bit of integration work and updates to that code.