VOXL Power

[gauravshukla914]

Hi. We are observing a strange thing wrt to power on VOXL. When we connect our ESC's on the J1007 connector on the VOXL, the VOXL boards powers on, even though there is no power connection being made on the "J1013 - 5V DC Power Input". Is this a problem?

[Vinny]

Hi Gaurav,
The PWM Output port J1007 provides 5V DC as a reference on pin 1. This same voltage connects to the main power 5V that powers Voxl.
https://docs.modalai.com/voxl-flight-datasheet-connectors/#j1007---8-channel-pwm--4-channel-dshot-output-output-connector
If you are providing a separate power source on the ESCs different from Voxl's 5V, then you should either insert a blocking diode on this or remove that cable position from J1007.1 and only use a 9-conductor cable, positions 2-10.
If you are using the same 5V supply on Voxl and the ESCs, then these are just shorts and do not matter.
We provide a variety of power tap-off options on Voxl and Voxl Flight and we know sometimes it can create tricky cabling solutions.
Let me know if you would like more info, and if you do, please provide us with the ESC part number you have.
Thanks!
Vinny

[gauravshukla914]

Thank you for the information. It was a great help. We are using Lumenier BLHeli_32 32bit 50A 4-in-1 ESC 2-6s w/ BEC 2A/5v, DSHOT / Proshot ESC

[Vinny]

@gauravshukla914
Great, thanks for the response. Glad we could help.
Just FYI, that 2A 5V BEC will not properly power a Voxl, nor would any 5V supply though any of the JST or Hirose connectors, although you may see Voxl try to power up.
In those conditions, be sure to use our Power Module as the main 5V so it has a successful power up. This is the only connector that was designed to support the current demand Voxl needs during power up: https://docs.modalai.com/voxl-flight-datasheet-connectors/#j1013---5v-dc-power-input-i2c3-to-power-cable-apm
https://docs.modalai.com/power-module-v3-datasheet/

Be sure to reach out with any additional questions.
Thanks!
Vinny