Starling 2 Max main voltage

[Kory4Drone]

Hello,

I am trying to understand what the main voltage, or bus voltage, is on the Starling 2 Max. Are the 2 batteries in series or parallel on the drone? I.e. is the main voltage ~7.5V or ~15V? and if you wanted to tap off this voltage where would a suitable location be on the drone? Is there an electrical schematic of the drone available?

Thanks

[Alex Kushleyev]

Hi @Kory4Drone ,

Starling 2 MAX uses two 2S Li-Ion batteries. When connected to the drone, they are connected in series, creating a single 4S battery. The - and + terminals of the combined battery are connected directly to the ESC.

You could tap off the power at the ESC main power pads. If the current for your aux functionality is low (up to a few Amps), then you could use the "Battery Input Test Points" on the opposite side from the main pads. These pads are via-stitched to the opposite side using many vias and should be solid.

VOXL Mini 4-in-1 ESC Datasheet

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)

I do not think we have the power wiring diagram for the drone posted.. will check.

Alex

[Kory4Drone]

Thanks..

[Luis Carpi]

I feel the need to respond to this on belaf of one of my cliets and because Modalai has been downright hostile in its attempts to hide its manufacturing defects.

Starling2 max was released in two varients kept occluded from public. One of my customers bought two and received one of each. Which I thought was ridiculous and downright dangerous.

The power distribution board comes in two varients.
Power Input 2-4S Lipo (6-18V) : M0129-3 and M0129-5 variants. Supports 4S LiHV
2-6S Lipo (6-26V) : M0129-63 and M0129-65 variants. Supports 6S LiHV

The 6S variant comes with a sticker that has up to 6S listed on it BUT has 4s printed on the bottom due to a manufacturing level error. Starling2 platform runs 4s configurations out of the box.

run 4s until modalai starts treating after market care like a corporate responsibility and instead of an after thought.

[Alex Kushleyev]

Starling 2 Max is designed for 4S batteries only (two 2S Li-Ion battery packs, which are connected in series inside the vehicle). The Mini ESC, which also acts as a power source for VOXL2 inside the Starling 2 Max, is rated at least for 4S input (depending on the version of the ESC).

There are several versions of the Mini ESC to provide the users some flexibility, in particular the voltage of the VOXL2 regulator (5V for VOXL2 and 3.8V for VOXL2 Mini). Since Starling2 Max uses a VOXL2, the ESC part number will be either M0129-5 or M0129-65.

An updated (6S) version of the Mini ESC was released after the release of Starling 2 Max (new ESC part numbers: M0129-63, M0129-65). This ESC update extended the supported voltage for the ESC (not for Starling 2 Max) from 4S to 6S. The 4S version of the ESC has been phased out because the 6S version outperforms the original version even at 4S voltages (due to better Mosfets), so the 6S version is an improvement over the original 4S version of the ESC, while being fully backwards compatible.

Using the 6S-rated ESC in the 4S-rated Starling 2 Max is completely safe.

If you use the Mini ESC outside of the Starling 2 Max, you need to verify the part number / sticker on the ESC before plugging in 6S battery (M0129-63, M0129-65 only)

The ESC variants and part numbers are documented here : https://docs.modalai.com/voxl-mini-esc-datasheet/

Alex