Ever run a sensor cable across a robot chassis and watched the signal fall apart before it reached the microcontroller? That is the exact headache Aliensense built its new NXS board to solve.
What the NXS actually does
The NXS is a small hub that carries power, video, and sensor data down one cable, so a MIKROE mikroBUS Click board or a MIPI camera can sit far from the host and still talk to it cleanly. The Abu Dhabi team’s pitch is that the board handles the hardware interface, the driver layer, and the data transport, so your robotics group works with clean sensor readings instead of wrestling firmware. For a thesis rover or a competition bot where the camera lives on an arm and the brain sits in the base, that single-wire idea cuts out a lot of tangled harnesses.
How far can one cable really go?
It depends on the mode you pick on the STM32G491-powered board. Need a live camera feed? Route the MIPI CSI-2 input through the Analog Devices MAX96793 GMSL2/3 serializer into a coaxial cable up to 15 m (about 49 ft) that carries power, video, and data together. Drop the video and switch to CAN-FD, and sensor-only range stretches to 40 m (about 130 ft). A third mode gives plain UART serial access for simpler setups. The mikroBUS socket is fully wired with I2C, SPI, UART, PWM, analog, and an interrupt pin, so most Click boards drop straight in.
Try it on your next build
At launch the NXS ships with validated drivers for eight sensor families, including the TDK IAM-20680 six-axis IMU and the TE MS5611 barometer. The early “Vanguard” edition runs $199 with a $50 discount plus priority driver support if your sensor is not on the list yet, with shipping set for August 20th. If your team is planning a long-reach sensor node, read the full write-up on Hackster and check which Click boards you already own before committing. Pair it with an STM32 or Raspberry Pi host and you get a tidy way to push a camera 15 meters down a robot arm without a rat’s nest of wiring.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far can the NXS send data over one cable?
With a live camera feed over GMSL2/3, up to 15 m (about 49 ft) of coaxial cable carries power, video, and sensor data together. Drop the video and switch to CAN-FD, and sensor-only range stretches to 40 m (about 130 ft).
What do I need on the host side to use the camera?
The MIPI CSI-2 camera path needs a host with GMSL2 or GMSL3 support, or an adapter that provides it. The mikroBUS Click sensors themselves ride standard I2C, SPI, UART, or PWM, so they are easier to hook to common boards.
What will I learn if I build this?
You get hands-on practice with serial and camera protocols like CAN-FD, UART, and GMSL, plus sensor driver integration and how to run reliable long-distance nodes on a robot. Those wiring and firmware skills carry straight into thesis and competition projects.
