Cruiser Carrier Board v1.0
Cruiser Carrier Board v1.0
One board in place of a PoE switch, a recorder box and a small server, built for the Raspberry Pi CM5.
Cruiser puts an 8-port Gigabit PoE+ switch, a 2.5GbE uplink, NVMe and SATA storage, dual 4K HDMI and an ESP32-C6 radio on one 170 x 120 mm board. Power cameras, access points and other PoE devices straight from the board and run the recording software you choose on the same CM5. Switching happens in hardware, and each port shows up in Linux as its own network interface.
Put an NVMe SSD or a Hailo-8 AI accelerator in the M.2 slot. Mirror or stripe two SATA drives with the hardware RAID DIP switch, or use Linux software RAID. Need more ports? An Interceptor PoE Board adds 8 more PoE ports (10/100) over the onboard FFC connector, for 16 in total, powered by the Cruiser with no extra converter. A 16-port build runs every port at 15W (802.3af), and the 120W budget covers every port the board sees, so email sales@exaviz.com before you spec one.
The ESP32-C6 runs 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth LE, or a Zigbee coordinator for Home Assistant, one firmware at a time. Exaviz packages from apt.exaviz.com add full hardware support to Raspberry Pi OS, Debian 12 Bookworm or 13 Trixie, or Ubuntu 25.10 or 26.04 LTS (arm64), so no custom OS image is needed.
Key features
- 8x Gigabit PoE+ (IEEE 802.3at, 802.3af compatible) on a 120W budget: eight ports at 15W or four at 30W (firmware 1.1.2 or later)
- Expand to 16 PoE ports with an Interceptor PoE Board (extra 8 ports at 10/100)
- 2.5GbE WAN uplink (Realtek RTL8156BG)
- M.2 Key-M slot (PCIe Gen 2 x1, 2230 to 2280) for an NVMe SSD or a Hailo-8
- 2x SATA III with hardware RAID 0, 1, Span or JBOD (DIP switch), or Linux software RAID; microSD slot
- 2x HDMI 2.0, up to 4K at 60Hz, independent displays
- 3x USB 3.0 and 4x USB 2.0
- ESP32-C6: 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth LE, or a Zigbee coordinator, one firmware at a time; external antenna connector, antenna not included
- 2x Qwiic/STEMMA QT connectors for sensors and displays
- 0 to 70 °C operating range
- Mini-ITX compatible with standoff spacers
- NDAA Section 889 (self-attested)
Versions
| Version | Switch ports | Power input | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cruiser | 8x Gigabit PoE+ | 48 to 57V DC | NVR, PoE switch |
| Cruiser Lite | 4x Gigabit PoE+ | 48 to 57V DC | Smaller installs |
| Cruiser Keel | 4x Gigabit, no PoE | 13 to 57V DC (24V or higher recommended) | Non-PoE builds |
All versions include the 2.5GbE WAN port, M.2 NVMe, 2x SATA, USB, dual HDMI, ESP32-C6 and Qwiic connectors. Board only; the Raspberry Pi CM5 or CM5 Lite is sold separately. Power comes in on a 5.5/2.1 mm center-positive DC barrel jack.
Assembled for you
Order your Cruiser with a case and accessories and we will assemble and ship everything together. Already ordered separately? Email sales@exaviz.com and we will take care of it.
Volume and shipping
Planning more than a few sites, or need a different shipping option? Email sales@exaviz.com. Questions about an order: info@exaviz.com.
Documentation
Setup guides, specs and the power calculator: exa-pedia.com/docs/cruiser