ModalAI Forum

@Nicolas-Ethan-Blanchard I also re-loaded PX4 parameters from the provided file in the GitLab, so that could have helped as well. Although, I do think that the IMU orientation parameter was set correctly initially, because it matched the parameter in the working drone.

Hey Adrian, thanks for the reply! Chad also replied this morning affirming the inverted image in the portal is normal. I was afraid to fly it until I could confirm that. On the SIM, like I said in the other post, after inserting the new EIOT SIM I ordered and A: Killing the voxl modem service temporarily then B: booting up and killing the WiFi then running the shell script to configure the modem with the new custom APN for the new sim (which, by the way, is running on the same ATT network as the prepaid ATT phone sim I was trying to use.. it has to be the provisioning on the carrier side that keeps it from working in the modem) thus making the WWAN gateway the default gateway, I can now get a response to any ping I throw at the internet through the wan. I believe the issue with the SIM card socket that makes me have to take things apart to get the sim to actually click into place properly has to do with board "tweakage" or flexing just enough to make the rather delicate sim card locking mechanism bind. You know the board is basically held in position by the two corner silicone grommets and the B2B connector... it doesn't have any kind of screws or standoffs holding it precisely where you want it against the frame. It's just kind of sandwiched in there. if you were to continue to develop the product, I'd look into screwing it down,, Anyway, now that I have a working SIM, all I have to do is keep it active and hopefully never take the Voxl Cam apart again!

Vinny! You're the man! Good news but a little backround first. I've been building drones for a long time, but I come from the "Other side" using a windows box to configure APMs then Pixhawks with Arducopter using Mission Planner. When I got this thing, I literally built an Ubuntu workstation just to talk to it. I'm an old guy that used to live on the DOS commandl line, but I really have to hone my Linux skills (almost nonexistent..) for this project. Outside of the Arduino IDE and some ancient BASIC, I'm no coder, but I understand microcontrollers, serial, I2C, CAN etc pretty well because I come from an industrial automation background. (Amazon Fulfillment Center Controls lead configuring Cognex and Sick every day..) I figured out the serial ports. (I was using the freaking asterisk in the QGC parameter search box like a typical DOS jockey!) I found that in the 1.11.3 firmware the serial parameters are bit masks and numeric with no real reference for me, but in the latest PX4 release they have a dropdown and real names and values, so I loaded it, changed TELEM1 to 921k and Mavlink mode 2 (offboard), saved the params, then loaded your 1.11.3 custom version back up and restored the params. Done deal. Now I just need the level shifters I ordered today and I can try it out. BTW I also ordered two connector kits, one with a pile of GH 1.25's and the other with a pile of DF13's. I've been meaning to get them for a while cause' I have a huge collection of parts that just don't quite match up and also because I wear my super-re-pinner badge proudly! I'll let you guys know how the level shifters work. I ordered two types, one with multiple mosfets and one with the TXS0108E chip so I can see what works best when it goes back together. Thanks for your prompt and helpful reply!

Thanks, Adrian! I will look into building two batteries with Sony VTC6 cells.

@Chad-Sweet Thanks; any comment on what temperatures you or the team have seen trying to stream higher than vga resolution through voxl-streamer? Interested if you are seeing the same using 1080p or the full resolution of the sensor, for example.

@powerralley -- I don't work for ModalAI but my off the cuff answer is "yes" and it is something I am trying to build something similar. Modal does provide some mapping/SLAM capabilities that use the Time-of-flight depth sensor to build a 3D map of an indoor space. It does work, but not without some tweaks and work on your part.

@Vinny Thanks, this helps a lot!

@Steve-Turner Great, thanks! As luck would have it skycharge is already on our short list; I'll look at the page and see what I learn

@Alex-Gardner Sorry for responding late. Yeah it looks like seeker have it's own landing gear. Since we lose and break M500's landing gear before... so, I wonder if there any spare landing gear that I can buy, just in case. Thanks!

Yes to both

@rstoleru There are a few different modem options, you can see in the dropdown on this page: https://www.modalai.com/collections/voxl-add-ons/products/voxl-lte?variant=32449203601459 Most NA folks order the WP 7610 while EU folks order the 7607. The supported bands vary but you can look up the datasheets from Sierra Wireless for more info. You can enable / disable certain bands via. AT commands, in NA for example, we legally have to disable band 5 for civilian drone flight.

@Eric-Katzfey FYI, I just moved /lib and /usr/lib to /data. This allowed to have enough space for my work. Thank you.

@Kris The LTE add-on board (M0030) has 2 JST ports for client USB devices

@Alex-Gardner Definitely interested in open VIO options. Would be awesome being able to use other techniques for picking out key points and even accelerate them on the hardware. Maybe QVIO already does that...

Thanks!!

Additionally, I am unable to view the pointcloud in RViz It connects and can show images but not spatial data: No tf data. Actual error: Fixed Frame [map] does not exist Maybe there is a misconfiguration of ros on the seeker?

@NUMETRIX , in order to check and upgrade your ESC firmware, you can install the latest VOXL2 SDK, which comes with voxl-esc tools. scan: voxl-esc scan upgrade firmware: voxl-esc upgrade_firmware for reference: https://gitlab.com/voxl-public/voxl-sdk/utilities/voxl-esc/-/blob/master/scripts/voxl-esc?ref_type=heads (the voxl-esc tools are installed to /usr/share/modalai/voxl-esc-tools/) by the SDK. You can call the python scripts directly from there as well (as opposed to using voxl-esc wrapper). But make sure to stop PX4 first. Alex