Abu Dhabi-based Aliensense has introduced NXS, a compact sensor board designed to easily connect cameras and sensors to robots, without custom wiring or driver work. The board relies on a single GMSL 2/3 cable for power, video, and sensor data over up to 15 meters, extendable to 40 meters over CAN-FD (data only, reduced baudrate).
The STM32G491 board is also compatible with the 2,000+ boards in MikroElektronika’s Click ecosystem thanks to a mikroBUS connector brought out through a Shuttle add-on board. This means you can use compatible sensors (via mikroBUS) in addition to, or instead of, a camera.
NXS specifications:
- MCU – STMicro STM32G491 Cortex-M4F microcontroller with 112KB SRAM, up to 512KB flash
- Camera Interface – MIPI CSI-2 input, MAX96793 GMSL2/3 serializer, power-over-coax
- Connectivity – GMSL2/3, CAN-FD, Cyphal/serial, I2C register map
- Expansion – mikroBUS socket with I2C, SPI, UART, PWM, analog, INT, RST
- Recovery support – Signed A/B firmware, watchdog rollback, serial recovery
- Power Supply – 12V input, 4.7 to 16V tolerance, power-over-Coax support
- Dimensions – 40 x 30 x 28 mm (anodized aluminum housing)
- Weight – 21 grams
- Temperature Range – -40°C to +85°C
The NXS board is part of a kit with the following items
- NXS board – Main connection board as described above for cameras, sensors, CAN-FD, GMSL, and serial workflows.
- MikroBUS modules
- Shuttle add-on to provide a mikroBUS connector
- MikroE 6DOF IMU for motion sensing
- Connector cable – Cable needed to bring the setup together and start testing on the bench.
On the software side, the NXS board integrates with open-source robotics technologies and standards such as ROS 2, OpenCyphal to keep distributed sensors and cameras in sync across the robot, and FRAMOS PixelMate C and FSM:GO modules. What I could not find is detailed technical documentation, except for the screenshot above showing the nxs command line utility in action.
The NXS “Vanguard Edition” kit is available for pre-order for $199, with shipping scheduled to start on August 20, 2026. After the pre-order period, the kit will sell for $249, and the company says that volume and OEM pricing are available for production deployments. The purchase link and additional information may be found on the product page.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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