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ModalAI Flight Core v1

:::warning PX4 does not manufacture this (or any) autopilot. Contact the manufacturer for hardware support or compliance issues. :::

The ModalAI Flight Core v1 (Datasheet) is a flight controller for PX4, made in the USA. The Flight Core can be paired with ModalAI VOXL (Datasheet) for obstacle avoidance and GPS-denied navigation, or used independently as a standalone flight controller.

FlightCoreV1

Flight Core is identical to the PX4 Flight Controller portion of VOXL Flight (Datasheet) which integrates the VOXL Companion Computer and Flight Core into a single PCB.

:::note This flight controller is manufacturer supported. :::

Specification

Feature Details
Weight 6 g
MCU 216MHz, 32-bit ARM M7 STM32F765II
Memory 256Kb FRAM
  2Mbit Flash
  512Kbit SRAM
Firmware PX4
IMUs ICM-20602 (SPI1)
  ICM-42688 (SPI2)
  BMI088 (SPI6)
Barometer BMP388 (I2C4)
Secure Element A71CH (I2C4)
microSD Card Information on supported cards
Inputs GPS/Mag
  Spektrum
  Telemetry
  CAN bus
  PPM
Outputs 6 LEDs (2xRGB)
  8 PWM Channels
Extra Interfaces 3 serial ports
  I2C
  GPIO

:::note More detailed hardware documentation can be found here. :::

Dimensions

FlightCoreV1Dimensions

PX4 Firwmare Compatibility

Flight Core v1 is fully compatible with the official PX4 Firmware from PX4 v1.11.

ModalAI maintains a branched PX4 version for PX4 v1.11. This includes UART ESC support and improvements in VIO and VOA that are planned to be upstreamed.

More information about the firmware can be found here.

QGroundControl Support

This board supported in QGroundControl 4.0 and later.

Availability

Quick Start

Orientation

The diagram below shows the recommended orientation, which corresponds to ROTATION_NONE starting with PX4 v1.11 (and on the ModalAI-maintained PX4 v1.10 branch)

FlightCoreV1Orientation

:::warning For PX4 v1.10 stable releases from QGroundControl use ROTATION_YAW_180 for the above orientation. :::

Connectors

Detailed information about the pinouts can be found here.

FlightCoreV1Top

Connector Summary
J1 VOXL Communications Interface Connector (TELEM2)
J2 Programming and Debug Connector
J3 USB Connector
J4 UART2, UART ESC (TELEM3)
J5 Telemetry Connector (TELEM1)
J6 VOXL-Power Management Input / Expansion
J7 8-Channel PWM Output Connector
J8 CAN Bus Connector
J9 PPM RC In
J10 External GPS & Magnetometer Connector
J12 RC input, Spektrum/SBus/UART Connector
J13 I2C Display (Spare Sensor Connector) / Safety Button Input

FlightCoreV1Bottom

User Guide

The full user guide is available here.

How to Build

To build PX4 for this target:

make modalai_fc-v1

Serial Port Mapping

UART Device Port
USART1 /dev/ttyS0 GPS1 (J10)
USART2 /dev/ttyS1 TELEM3 (J4)
USART3 /dev/ttyS2 Debug Console (J2)
UART4 /dev/ttyS3 Expansion UART (J6)
UART5 /dev/ttyS4 TELEM2, Primary VOXL Communications (J1)
USART6 /dev/ttyS5 RC (J12)
UART7 /dev/ttyS6 TELEM1 (J5)
UART8 /dev/ttyS7 N/A

Support

Please visit the ModalAI Forum for more information.

Tags:
 mindracer modalai_voxl_flight