Connection of external camera with the USB 3.0 adb port

[Darshit Desai]

I know there was already a post earlier on this, but is there a way to use the voxl adb port which is also USB3.0 to connect it to external peripherals like in our case a D435i realsense camera. The USB 2.1 expander board I think is providing low power to the camera which might cause some issues in the future.

[Vinny]

Hi @Darshit-Desai
I am assuming you are referring to Voxl/Voxl-Flight, in which case we do know "yes", that USB for ADB does work in Host mode with the correct uncommon cable as explained in previous posts.
However, if you use this board: https://www.modalai.com/collections/accessories/products/m0078
You will be able to set the jumper to pick up direct 5V which is even more than the USB3 port has. On Voxl1, the USB3 port is set to ~1A (more like 950mA), but with the expansion board, you have >2A support with the jumper setting.

Hope that helps!

[Darshit Desai]

Hi @Vinny thank you for the prompt response. We are using this board. Is there a similar jumper facility available for getting higher load for the peripherals.

Page not found

ModalAI technical documentation for VOXL and VOXL 2 Companion Computers for PX4 and ArduPilot Obstacle Avoidance and GPS-denied navigation, assembled in the USA

ModalAI Technical Docs (docs.modalai.com)

Also we check on the forum posts and the documentation, the linked product on the documentation is from Amazon Germany, Is there a cable which might be locally available in US of similar specifications?

We saw the documentation of the M0078 expansion board, to get the 5 Volts (unrestricted up to 2 Amps) on the J3 connector we just need to short pin 1 and 2 with the shorting plug on pin J2. Am I right?

[Vinny]

Hi @Darshit-Desai
Sorry, no, that original debug board is limited to 500mA USB VBUS, hence why we made the "M0078" board (first link I had above).
The cable we used to carry was MCBL-00019 for this Voxl1 USB ADB Port Host-mode use case, but it has been very difficult to source so we had to obsolete it. We've heard of a few folks hack a normal USB3 cable to swap the RX and TX with marginal success. It's not impossible, but not scalable and reliable unless you have a cable vendor make you a custom cable.

We made sure on Voxl2-Mini we listened to customers and enabled true USB-C OTG on that port. We are working on a revised Voxl2 soon which will also make that an option. Sadly however, for Voxl1, it is what it is.
Our newer Voxl2 plug-in boards all support at least 1A USB VBUS to accommodate the higher-demanding cameras and accessories our customers have been trying to use, so we are trying to adapt to our customer's needs and keep improving design support/features.

Hope this helped.