ModalAI Forum

@Vinny Thank you for reverting back. I will try to externally power the Doodle labs module.

I wanted a clarity on the ADB Debug port, How can I connect the sensor or any extra module(for my use case) and get it working. what will be the challenges that I might face.

Hi @eric-katzfey @vinny @alex-kushleyev
https://www.modalai.com/products/m0062-2
will this expander board help me connect to connect the USB based Radar and connect Doodle labs to another.

Or else can I connect the USB based Radar to the Debug ADB (USBC HOST MODE) port?

@Eric-Katzfey Thank you for reverting back, I will use j18 or 19 for the flight controller connection.
So I am assuming the UART on J3 is capable of accepting the radar data(if the radar supports UART communication).

I have some more queries that I have mentioned above, Please help me with those. Especially how to install the drivers, where to install it, and also how to access the data in ROS.

Than you for the responses.

@vinny @alex-kushleyev

@eric-katzfey Thank you for getting back to me.

To clarify my setup:
I am replicating the RADVIO pipeline from NTNU using their ROS 1 codebase. The software messaging between PX4 and ROS is already sorted; my main challenge is finalizing the physical hardware interfaces on the VOXL 2.

Current Hardware Configuration:

J3 Port: Attached to a USB 3.0 / UART expansion board.

Expansion UART: Connected to FlightCore v2.

Expansion USB: Connected to a Doodle Labs mini radio.

Unused/Free Ports: J10, J18, and J19.

Key Questions:

1. Physical Port Mapping: Depending on how the radar needs to be interfaced, which specific headers/ports on VOXL 2 should be allocated for:

• list itemUSB: (If connecting via a USB interface)

• list itemUART: (If connecting via serial)

• list itemI2C: (If connecting via I2C)

2. Alternate UART Setup: If I disconnect the J3 expansion UART from the FlightCore v2 and instead route direct UART via J18 (for an FPV ESC), can the freed-up UART port on the J3 expansion board be safely reassigned to the radar?

3. Drivers & ROS 1 Integration: What is the recommended workflow or driver stack on VOXL 2 for bringing up radar serial/USB streams and exposing them to ROS 1 nodes?

Any advice on the optimal pinout and hardware topology for this build would be greatly appreciated!

Hello @eric-katzfey @vinny,

I am planning to integrate a 60 GHz mmWave radar into my current VOXL 2-based system and would appreciate some guidance regarding the recommended interface, hardware compatibility, and software integration.

I am currently evaluating the following two radar options:

1. DesignCore RS-6843AOPU USB 60 GHz mmWave Radar Sensor — D3 Engineering
D3 Engineering RS-6843AOPU

2. Texas Instruments IWR6843AOPEVM — IWR6843AOP Evaluation Module
TI IWR6843AOPEVM

Both are based on the IWR6843AOP 60–64 GHz mmWave radar platform.

Current VOXL 2 configuration

My current system uses the J3 connector for my existing Doodle Labs and Flight Controller connections.

Since I am currently using the USB connection available on J3 for these existing connections, the UART and I²C interfaces are still available for my radar integration.

Therefore, I am considering using the J19 External Sensors connector, which provides UART and I²C interfaces, to connect the external radar while keeping my existing J3 configuration unchanged.

I would like to confirm whether this approach is feasible and which interface would be recommended for the radar.

UART

• Can the RS-6843AOPU or IWR6843AOPEVM be connected to VOXL 2 through one of the J19 UART interfaces?

• Which J19 UART would you recommend for a dedicated radar application?

• Are the J19 UARTs already assigned to any default VOXL 2 functionality, and can one be reassigned to a custom radar application?

• Are the UART voltage levels of both radar options compatible with the 3.3 V CMOS UART on VOXL 2?

• What baud rate and data protocol would you recommend for receiving processed radar data?

I²C

I am also considering using I²C instead of UART, particularly if I only need processed radar information such as range, radial velocity, angle, target information, or obstacle information.

• Can I use the VOXL 2 J19 I²C interface to connect either of these radar modules?

• Which J19 I²C bus would you recommend?

• Are either of the J19 I²C buses already reserved for other VOXL 2 peripherals/functions?

• Can a custom VOXL application directly access the J19 I²C bus?

• Is there an existing VOXL driver/API that can be used for a custom I²C radar device?

• Between UART and I²C, which would you recommend for radar integration considering bandwidth, latency, reliability, and software support?

USB

I would also like to understand the USB option.

• For the RS-6843AOPU, is USB the preferred interface for accessing its processed radar/algorithm output?

• For the IWR6843AOPEVM, can VOXL 2 receive the radar point-cloud data directly over USB?

• Given that my J3 USB connection is already being used, is there another recommended USB host interface/add-on for connecting the radar to VOXL 2?

Final recommendation

Before I start the integration, I would especially appreciate your recommendation on:

RS-6843AOPU vs. IWR6843AOPEVM

and

J19 UART vs. J19 I²C vs. USB

for the most reliable and maintainable VOXL 2 integration.

My main requirement is to keep my existing Doodle Labs and Flight Controller connections on J3 unchanged and use the remaining available VOXL 2 interfaces for the radar.

Any guidance on the recommended hardware connection, J19 pin/interface selection, voltage levels, and software integration path would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

@moderator Any reply will be much appreciated.

@Eric-Katzfey thank you for reverting back, I am using an Optical flow along with FC for position hold, for the scenarios where the VIO fails.
My current architecture has voxl 2 + flight core v2 + optical flow attached to the Flight core + voxl FPV esc.

Please could you give me update whether a new FC is coming up. It would help me reconsider the architecture.

Hey @Eric-Katzfey ,
I have similar query. Not exactly the same, but I want to run ardupilot along with Voxl fpv 4 in 1 ESC.
Ardupilot on 3rd party FC.

The architecture that I would like to try out is :

Voxl 2 ---> 3 rd Party FC (with ardupilot)----> voxl FPV 4 in 1 ESC

Especially since flight core v2 has reached EOL. Is any new FC being release?

Please help me out here.

@ModalAI-Team Help me out here . I want to purchase some new components, but with out having a clear idea on the architecture I won't be able to do it.
Please guide me here.

@ModalAI-Team
If anyone could help me understand this behaviour and help me solve the boot issue, if there was any way, would mean a lot.

I have 2 VOXL 2 which are not booting. which gave successful result in unbricking but did not detect ADB earlier. That was until last day when while trying unbricking the same boards, I got a positive result in one of the boards.

If this issue can solved by anyway, please help me out.

Hey @Moderator , @ModalAI-Team

I had few more questions regarding the same.

1. Does the 3D map generated have the same quality has PMD TOF?
2. Can the 3D map be used for P-to-P navigation from voxl-Portal?
3. Can the TOF data be used for collision prevention?
4. Can multiple maps be used together?
5. Does Multiple TOF give collision prevention in multi direction?
6. If you could provide a image of map generated by the new TOF, it would be great and help us to make a decision for our architecture.

Thank you for your help and time, looking forward to your response.

Re: voxl2 is not booting

@alex-kushleyev @vinny @eric-katzfey @modaltb

I was trying to unbrick the same voxl 2 again, which was successful and I was even able to flash the 1.4 SDK, and both showed successful. As I completed the reboot after flashing, the board went back to the boot mode, it is not able to pass the boot loop, the LED is constantly ON, ADB is unresponsive again.

Since the log data is huge, I am sharing the link to the log below. Please help me understand this behaviour.

link text

@moderator

Thank you very much for your detailed explanation of the VOXL 2 Mini ToF sensor.

This information will greatly assist us in finalizing our approach for integrating the sensor into our UAV platform.

Thank you once again for your continued support and guidance.

@Robbie-McCue

Thank you for your feedback I will look into this.

@Alex-Kushleyev @Eric-Katzfey

I would appreciate any guidance from the ModalAI team or community regarding third-party radio and VTX integration with VOXL2, as this information will help us finalize our system architecture.

Thank you for your support and guidance.

@Alex-Kushleyev @Eric-Katzfey

I would appreciate any updates or recommendations regarding the integration and availability of the M0189 VOXL 2 Mini ToF sensor.

Thank you for your continued support.

Hello @Alex-Kushleyev and @Eric-Katzfey,

I hope you are doing well.

I recently came across the updates regarding the M0189 VOXL 2 Mini ToF sensor, and I am interested in evaluating it for integration into our UAV platform based on VOXL2 mini.

We are currently planning to work on VOXL2 mini-based system and are exploring additional sensing solutions for obstacle detection, terrain following, and navigation-related applications. The Mini ToF sensor appears to be a promising option, and I would like to gather some additional information regarding its integration and availability.

Could you please provide guidance on the following:

1. Integration Guidelines

   • Recommended hardware connections and interfacing requirements with VOXL2 mini.
   • Software and SDK support available for the sensor.
   • Any required drivers, services, or configuration steps within the VOXL SDK.
   • Best practices for mounting, calibration, and deployment on UAV platforms.
   • Available documentation, reference designs, or example projects demonstrating integration with VOXL2 mini.

2. Sensor Performance and Use Cases

   *Typical operating range and field-of-view specifications.

   • Expected performance in outdoor environments and varying lighting conditions.
   • Any known limitations or considerations for autonomous flight applications.
   • Whether the Mini ToF sensor provides 2D ranging data (single-point or multi-zone distance measurements) or a 3D depth map / point cloud output. If 3D depth information is available, could you please provide details regarding the depth resolution, output format, field of view, and any supported visualization or processing tools within the VOXL ecosystem?

3. Availability and Purchasing

   • Current availability status of the M0189 VOXL 2 Mini ToF sensor board.
   • Recommended purchasing channels and lead times.
   • Whether the sensor is available as a standalone module or requires additional interface hardware.

We are currently evaluating sensors for integration into our UAV platform and would appreciate any documentation, recommendations, or resources that could help us better understand the capabilities and integration process of the Mini ToF sensor with VOXL2 mini.

Thank you for your time and support.

I look forward to your guidance.

Hello @Alex-Kushleyev and @Eric-Katzfey,

I have a few questions regarding the integration of third-party communication modules with the VOXL2 platform.

We are currently using VOXL2 in our UAV and would like to integrate third-party radio and video transmission systems.

Radio Integration

We are considering using the Silvus StreamCaster Lite 5200 as the air-side radio. Could you please let us know:

Whether the VOXL2 system is compatible with the Silvus StreamCaster Lite 5200.
If there are any recommended integration guidelines, interfaces, configuration requirements, or best practices for using this radio with VOXL2.

Video Transmission (VTX) Integration

We would also like to integrate a third-party video transmission system while continuing to use the camera configuration available on VOXL2.

Could you please advise:

Whether VOXL2 supports integration with third-party VTX systems.
If there are any recommended or validated VTX solutions that are known to work well with VOXL2.
Any available documentation or integration guidelines for such configurations.

We would appreciate any recommendations or references that could help us evaluate these options for our current system configuration.

Thank you for your support and guidance.

@Alex-Kushleyev @Eric-Katzfey @Vinny @modaltb
Hi guys,
I had some queries regarding VOXL 2 MINI, ESC, camera break out board and flight core v2

1. Is Doodle Lab module compatible with the companion board, any additional board required?
2. Is there any way I can connect ARK optical flow to the voxl 2 mini?
3. I saw the camera breakout board comes with and without barometer, under what conditions does it help?
4. Is the VOXL ESC 4 in 1 mini with built in power module, handle a 1.5 kg drone?
5. I realized the flight core v2 is EOL, are you guys releasing new version?

Thank you for your time. Looking forward to hearing from you guys.

@Sean-Hickey

I tested with this firmware modalai_fc-v2_1.14.0-2.0.133.px4 from (http://voxl-packages.modalai.com/dists/fc-v2/sdk-1.6/ ) and it worked, but there is no uavcan thats the only problem.

I checked with the parameters you mentioned.

When i reduce the cp_dist it stops working but with 1.5 m it is working.