VOXL2 to Herelink

This will document the process of connecting the Herelink to the VOXL2

Requirements:

You will need the Herelink 1.1 Air Unit model that comes with an Ethernet port for you to connect to the VOXL2.

• Herelink 1.1 Air Unit

• Herelink GCS

• VOXL2

• Ethernet to USB

Setup:

Hardware Setup:

Splice together an Ethernet connection from the Herelink Air Unit to the Ethernet to USB.

Air Unit Pin out:

Pin #	Name
1	TX+
2	TX-
3	GND
4	RX+
5	RX-

Ethernet Cable for RJ45:

Color	Name	Connection to Air Unit(Pin #)
Orange + White	TX+	RX+(4)
Orange	TX-	RX- (5)
Green + White	RX+	TX+ (1)
Blue
Blue + White
Green	RX-	TX- (2)
Brown + White
Brown

Additionally, if the Air Unit and VOXL2 are powered from two separate sources then you will need to connect the GND to the VOXL2 to the Air Unit, since ethernet doesn't use grounding.

Once all the wiring is done follow the steps below.

1. Connect the Air Unit to the Ethernet to USB.

   
2. Connect the USB to the USB Port on the VOXL2

   
3. Lastly, Connect the Ground from the Air Unit's Ethernet to a ground on the VOXL2

   

Software Setup:

If possible it maybe possible to contact Herelink to have them assign the IP of the Air Unit and Controller onto the same subnet as the VOXL2. The Setup below is for a standard Herelink and VOXL IPs.

Since the Herelink Air Unit doesn't have a DCHP Server to assign the VOXL2 an IP address when connected we will have to manually set the IP on the VOXL2 to a subnet accessible by the Air Unit.

1. adb shell into the VOXL2

2. Enter ifconfig eth1 192.168.144.50 255.255.255.0

3. Next we have to edit the Mavlink Server file to sent the data to the Herelink Controller

4. Enter vim /etc/modalai/voxl-mavlink-server.conf and scroll down

5. Change the primary_static_gcs_ip to 192.168.144.11

   
6. Restart voxl-mavlink-server by enteringsystemctl restart voxl-mavlink-server

7. Now power on the Herelink Controller and Open QGC.

8. Mavlink Messages should be reaching the Herelink controller now.

The IP of the VOXL2 will have to be statically assigned on each restart for the VOXL2 unless a service file is introduced.