Some of Xsens' GNSS/INS devices, such as the MTi-7, MTi-670 and MTi-680, support the use of an external GNSS receiver. When testing or evaluating these products we highly recommend purchasing a Development Kit. The MTi-7-DK and MTi-670/680-DK include a Development Board, GNSS daughter card and GNSS antenna, which means that all required hardware is available to get started right away.
For the MTi-7-DK and MTi-670-DK, the included GNSS daughter card features the u-blox MAX-M8Q GNSS receiver, which is a commonly used, standard precision GNSS receiver. The MTi-680-DK comes with a GNSS daughter card that features the u-blox ZED-F9P. However, it is easy to connect any other desired type or brand of GNSS receiver. The GNSS extension socket on the Development Boards follows Mikro Elektronika's mikroBUS standard. This means that a wide variety of GNSS daughter cards (click boards) is available that can be directly mounted onto the Development Board's GNSS extension socket.
The table below shows a list of GNSS click boards that have been tested with the MTi-7-DK, MTi-670-DK and MTi-680-DK. For some click boards, additional configuration is necessary; see the configuration column.
| Board | Vendor link | Farnell link | Compatibility | Configuration |
| u-blox MAX-M8Q | Included with MTi-7-DK and MTi-670-DK | Verified compatibility and performance | - | |
| u-blox ZED-F9P | Included with MTi-680-DK | Verified compatibility and performance | - | |
| u-blox NEO-M8N | Mikro Elektronika | Farnell | Verified compatibility | - |
| u-blox NEO-M9N | Mikro Elektronika | Verified compatibility | Need to manually enable port UART1 at 115200 bps using u-center (UBX-CFG-PRT message). | |
| u-blox ZOE-M8Q | Mikro Elektronika | Farnell | Verified compatibility | - |
| u-blox SAM-M8Q | Mikro Elektronika | Farnell | Verified compatibility | Compatible with MTi-670-DK revision 1.7 (introduced Nov 2021) and higher. Compatible with MTi-7/680-DK (all versions). |
If you have any questions regarding this list, please do not hesitate to contact our product specialists.
It is also possible to connect GNSS receivers to the GNSS extension socket without following the mikroBUS standard. In that case it is recommended to connect the RX, TX, GND and PPS pins. TX (of the MTi) is only required when communicating with u-blox GNSS receives as the MTi will send out UBX configuration messages at power-up. The PPS signal is not required but recommended for proper time/clock synchronization. The GNSS extension socket also features a 3.3V pin that can supply power to the GNSS receiver (and its antenna), but depending on the type of GNSS receiver the provided current might not be sufficient.
The GNSS extension socket of the MTi 1-series Development Board only supports communication at UART TTL levels. The MTi 600-series Development Board also uses UART TTL communication by default, but a jumper can be placed at GNSS_DIS in order to enable RS232 communication.