VOXL 2 Connectors

Table of contents

1. Video Overview of Connectors
2. Connector Callouts
   1. Add-on Board to Board Design Package
3. Buttons
   1. SW1 - Force Fastboot Button
   2. SW2 - EDL Switch
4. Pinouts
   1. J2 - 5VDC Fan Control
   2. J3 - Legacy Board to Board Connector (B2B)
      1. J3 Pin-out
   3. J4 - Power Connector / I2C Battery Monitoring
      1. Input Power Requirements
   4. J5 - High Speed Board to Board Connector (HSB2B)
      1. J5 Pin-out
   5. Camera Group J6, J7, and J8 Pin-outs
      1. General Pin-out
      2. J6 - Camera Group 0 Specific Pinout
         1. J6 Pin-out
      3. J7 - Camera Group 1 Specific Pinout
         1. J7 Pin-out
      4. J8 - Camera Group 2 Specific Pinout
         1. J8 Pin-out
   6. J10 - External SPI
      1. Overview
      2. J10 Pin-out, SPI Mode (Fixed), M0054
      3. J10 Pin-out, SPI Mode (GPIO_67 = HIGH), M0154
      4. J10 Pin-out, UART Mode (GPIO_67 = LOW), M0154
   7. J18 UART (ESC)
      1. J18 ESC UART
      2. SW Summary
   8. J19 - External Sensors (2x UART/ 2x I2C)
      1. J19 Pin-out
      2. SW Summary
   9. I2C Important Note:
   10. Power Input/Output Important Note:

Video Overview of Connectors

Connector Callouts

Hover a connector to identify it — click to jump to its pinout.

All single ended signals on B2B connectors J3, J5, J6, J7, and J8 are 1.8V CMOS unless explicitly noted. All single ended signals on cable-to-board connectors J10, J18, & J19 are 3.3V CMOS unless explicitly noted.

Add-on Board to Board Design Package

Reference add-on board Altium schematic package can be downloaded here

Buttons

SW1 - Force Fastboot Button

Force Fastboot momentary button.

To force device into fastboot mode:

• power off device, remove USB cable to completely power down
• press and hold SW1 button down
• power on device, attach USB cable
• release SW1 button
• from host computer, run fastboot devices and verify the device shows up. If not, restart this procedure

To reboot device to fastboot:

• device is powered on
• press and hold SW1 for 30 seconds until the device reboots into fastboot mode

SW2 - EDL Switch

Emergency Download switch, used for factory flashing. Should be left OFF. See user guide for QDL if interested in more information.

Pinouts

J2 - 5VDC Fan Control

J3 - Legacy Board to Board Connector (B2B)

Currently Supported Legacy Add-Ons:

• M0017 USB Debug Add-On
• M0030 LTE Modem Add-On
• M0048 Microhard Modem Add-On

The Legacy Board to Board connector is designed to host VOXL Add-ons such as the LTE Add-on v2 and the Microhard Add-on.

J3 Pin-out

J4 - Power Connector / I2C Battery Monitoring

For use with VOXL Power Module

Input Power Requirements

The VOXL Power Module provides the needed voltage and current demands of both VOXL (5V), VOXL 2 (5V), and VOXL 2 Mini (3.8V). It is a well tested and proven design.

For VOXL 2, we5V +/- 5% is expected to keep the eFuse happy. The VOXL Power Module is set for 5.08V at no-load to help compensate for any cable drops. 6A of in-rush support is required during power-on. The steady-state current requirement depends on your application and if a plug-in board (5G modem, Microhard, etc) is connected.

If you design with a 3A DC/DC, you will likely not be able to boot the system due to power on in-rush. Please use a 6A device for success with at least 188uF of bulk capacitance (qty-4 47uF for example) to match the VOXL Power Module performance.

If one needs to design their own power module, please submit a PCB review on our forum here

J5 - High Speed Board to Board Connector (HSB2B)

Currently Supported Add-Ons:

• M0062 - Debug/PCIe Add-On
• M0067 - 5G Add-On
• M0090 - 5G Add-On

J5 Pin-out

Camera Group J6, J7, and J8 Pin-outs

General Pin-out

Generic camera group pinout, please work with ModalAI for any mating designs to gauranteee proper operation

J6 - Camera Group 0 Specific Pinout

Configured for the following hardware:

                                                 +--> M0010
- M0054 J6 <--> M0076-1 interposer <--> M0010 <--|
                                                 +--> M0010

More camera information here

Connector: DF40C-60DP-0.4V(51)

Device Tree:

• qcom,cam-sensor0
• qcom,cam-sensor1

J6 Pin-out

J7 - Camera Group 1 Specific Pinout

Configured for the following hardware:

                                +--> M0014   (M0084-JL - lower)
- M0054 J7 <--> M0084 flex <----|
                                +--> M0025-2 (M0084-JU - upper)

Connector: DF40C-60DP-0.4V(51)

Device Tree:

• qcom,cam-sensor2
• qcom,cam-sensor3

J7 Pin-out

J8 - Camera Group 2 Specific Pinout

Configured for the following hardware:

                                                 +--> M0010
- M0054 J8 <--> M0076-1 interposer <--> M0010 <--|
                                                 +--> M0010

More camera information here

Connector: DF40C-60DP-0.4V(51)

Device Tree:

• qcom,cam-sensor4
• qcom,cam-sensor5

J8 Pin-out

J10 - External SPI

Overview

Available from apps proc as /dev/spidev14.0. J10 Achieved feature parity with VOXL 2 Mini when the design was updated from M0054 -> M0154. It is capable of either UART or SPI based on GPIO_67 control, but fixed in the Kernel for that build (not dynamic)

J10 Pin-out, SPI Mode (Fixed), M0054

J10 Pin-out, SPI Mode (GPIO_67 = HIGH), M0154

J10 Pin-out, UART Mode (GPIO_67 = LOW), M0154

J18 UART (ESC)

J18 ESC UART

SW Summary

Available from DSP as QUP2. In the factory configuration, PX4 communicates to the VOXL ESC through this UART.

J19 - External Sensors (2x UART/ 2x I2C)

J19 Pin-out

SW Summary

All connected to the DSP, and in the factory configuration are used as follows:

• QUP0 - I2C for external magnetomter
• QUP3 - future use
• QUP6 - UART for external GNSS (GPS)
• QUP7 - UART for external RC input

I2C Important Note:

• All I2C ports on the JST Board-to-Cable connectors (J19 on VOXL 2 and VOXL 2 Mini plus ModalAI Plug-in Boards such as M00130 & M0090) use a TCA9517 to translate and buffer the I2C from the Snapdragon SOC 1.8V to 3.3V logic levels.
• The expectation is that these ports go directly to an accesory target device without further translation back down to lower voltages. For example; a micro-controller running at 3.3V native I/O levels. The TCA9517 cannot operate “B-port to B-port” and therefore if your system requires translating back down to lower voltages, such as 1.8V or 2.5V, a special un-buffered I2C translater will be required such as the PCA9306 or PCA9509.

Power Input/Output Important Note:

• All power outputs on cable connectors are rated for 1A, however, the system cannot provide 1A simultaneously on all connectors. Contact ModalAI for design assistance.

• The difference between VDCIN_5V and VDC_5V_LOCAL is very important. The power module provides VDCIN_5V (raw voltage input) to the platform. On-board is an eFuse that protects the system from accidental wrong-voltage application, droops/brown-outs, or down-stream shorts or overloads. The output of the eFuse is VDC_5V_LOCAL (i.e.: protected output).

• Refer to the Expansion Hardware Design Guide for more detailed explanations.