I would like to share a recent issue I experienced with my system and ask for technical advice and possible recovery options.
Setup Description:
I connected two Pixhawk flight controllers (one is Pixhawk Cube Orange, the other is a Pixhawk 2.4.8) to the same battery power source. At the same time, I had an RFD900ux telemetry module connected to the Cube Orange via the UART port.
What Went Wrong:
After powering on the system:
My Cube Orange stopped functioning properly.
The RFD900ux telemetry module was burned and is no longer responsive.
The Pixhawk 2.4.8 is still operational.
The SD card in Cube Orange was also damaged.
Current Status of the Cube Orange:
When connected to a PC via USB, the LED remains solid green, which I believe means the bootloader is still active.
The original SD card was damaged, so I inserted a new FAT32-formatted microSD card (16GB).
I have not yet attempted to re-flash the firmware.
Cube does not show any activity on telemetry ports anymore.
My Questions / Request for Help:
Could the shared battery connection between two Pixhawks and the telemetry module have caused a GND loop or voltage backfeed, damaging the Cube?
What parts of the Cube Orange might be damaged in such a scenario (SD circuit, UARTs, power distribution)?
Now that the bootloader LED is solid green, is it safe to attempt a firmware reinstallation with a new SD card?
Is there a safe procedure to test UART/telemetry ports after such an event, or are they likely permanently damaged?
Can the RFD900ux module be tested or repaired, or should I consider it fully damaged?
Additional Info:
The Cube Orange shows up on the COM port when connected via USB.
I want to use Cube Orange actively again and would like to understand the safest way to proceed with firmware installation and checking other subsystems.
Thank you in advance for your guidance. I’m happy to share any logs, photos, or test results needed to better diagnose the situation.
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You would need to draw out a detailed diagram of how this was all connected together.
It sounds like you’ve made a wiring error or two, as each flight controller should be powered by it’s own power brick - only the grounds (0v) of each should ever be connected together. They CANNOT share the 5v or any other voltages.
That still doesnt explain why you’d want to do any of this, or how it could possibly work. You would need a whole lot of extra hardware and firmware/software if you were planning some sort of flight controller redundancy. There may be a commercial solution, or something you can do with a Cube Red, but otherwise it’s like you are trying to drive two cars at once.
I cant help without you stating what you were trying to achieve (start with this) and supplying a detailed diagram (if we can progress past the purpose)
You’ll be buying some new hardware.
Thank you for your response.
Our goal was to run two separate telemetry modules simultaneously to achieve more stable communication. Since we were facing issues connecting the telemetry modules properly, we attempted a workaround: we connected a Pixhawk 2.4.8 and a Cube Orange to the same battery, and assigned a separate telemetry module (RFD900ux) to each one.
After this setup, the Cube Orange stopped responding, and the RFD900ux telemetry module connected to it was damaged (burned). I am currently trying to recover and reuse the Cube Orange if possible.
Below is a semantic diagram of our setup. I’m also happy to provide a full wiring diagram if needed.
Each Pixhawk was connected to the same battery, and each had its own telemetry module connected. The Cube Orange and RFD900ux were damaged after this configuration.
There should be no trouble running two different telemetry radios. There would have just been a configuration issue of some sort.
A Pixhawk 2.4.8 should not be used for any copter/rover/plane requiring reliability. Some will never work, some will work forever and some will fail randomly. One of their biggest deficits is their lack of power management circuitry - so there’s a good chance it blew up your valuable Cube.
No, If both had 5V connected correctly. You do not provide wiring diagrams so we can only speculate.
What scenario? Without diagrams there is no scenario. Where are the GND connected? Where are the 5V connected to? etc.
For all we know you might have connected then in series.
No, the firmware is not installed via SDcard it is installed via USB connection to a PC.
Setup Description:
What Went Wrong:
Current Status of the Cube Orange:
My Questions / Request for Help:
Additional Info:
