Powering OpenMV N6 + Servo Shield V2 via 5V BEC

OpenMV Boards
1

Hi,

I’m building a drone using an OpenMV N6 and a Servo Shield V2 to control 4 servos and 1 ESC. I have a few questions regarding the power setup:

• 5V BEC Compatibility: The Servo Shield V2 suggests 6V+ for its regulator. Can I safely power the setup using a 5V BEC connected to VIN, or will the voltage drop cause stability issues for the N6?

• Simultaneous USB Power: Can I keep the BEC connected while the USB cable is plugged in for coding and testing? I want to avoid disconnecting the battery every time I update the code without damaging my PC or the Cam.

• N6 Extension Cable: Is there an expected release date for an image sensor extension cable compatible with the N6?

Thanks for the help!

2

5V BEC Compatibility: The Servo Shield V2 suggests 6V+ for its regulator. Can I safely power the setup using a 5V BEC connected to VIN, or will the voltage drop cause stability issues for the N6?

Yeah, this is fine. You may be able to put that voltage in through the battery input. It just won’t regulate it down. The regulator should turn on okay as it’s above 4V which is it’s min.

Otherwise, the voltage needs to be input on on the of the servo shield pins.

Simultaneous USB Power: Can I keep the BEC connected while the USB cable is plugged in for coding and testing? I want to avoid disconnecting the battery every time I update the code without damaging my PC or the Cam.

Yes, the servo shield V2 and the N6 is designed for this to work. We had issues with this with the original RT1062 V4 design, but, the N6 has the same power architecture as the RT1062 V6 and we’ve resolved these issues.

N6 Extension Cable: Is there an expected release date for an image sensor extension cable compatible with the N6?

SignTown is working on these, which we will stock soon. Note that the PS5520 already works. It’s just the PAG7936, which is not compatible at the moment.

3

Hi Kwabena,

Thanks for the quick and detailed reply!

I’ve tested the setup as suggested—powering through the battery input with the 5V BEC while simultaneously using USB for coding—and everything is working perfectly.

Regarding the extension cable: while I wait for the SignTown release, I’m considering prototyping a custom solution. Has the pinout for the N6 image sensor connector been released? I want to check the feasibility of designing one myself.

I need the global shutter sensor mainly because its for a drone with a lot of vibrations.

Thanks again for the support!

4

You can find the schematic and pinout for the mainboard and sensor on the product page: OpenMV N6 .

I think there might be something I can do about getting the cable to work if I lower the MIPI signaling rate.

5

Sorry, i completly missed the schematic in the download page. Thanks!

You mean for the current Camera Module Extension Cable that is being sold on the website? if yes, how much will lowering the MIPI signaling rate impact the performance of the image sensor? because it might be useful until the PAG7936 extension cable is released.

Thanks in advance

6

We are running at 1.2Gb/s. Only 800Mb/s is needed. So, it’s just faster than it needs to be. The PS5520 runs at 850Mb/s and is fine.

7

Ok, will check it out, thank you very much.