Arduino goes pro: New Nano XL packs industrial-grade comms into tiny board

Arduino has launched the Nano XL Link, a significantly upgraded version of its popular Nano development board. It maintains the same compact 43x23mm footprint but swaps out the usual microcontroller for a much more powerful Microchip PIC32CK chip featuring an Arm Cortex-M33 processor running at 120 MHz, along with 2MB of flash and 512kB of RAM. The board also integrates a Hardware Security Module with TrustZone for enhanced security.

What truly sets this board apart for industrial applications is its built-in field bus transceivers: it includes CAN FD, RS485, and 10/100 Mbps Ethernet interfaces right on the board. This makes it directly suitable for building automation, motor control, smart sensors, and industrial networks without requiring bulky external adapter shields. For engineers and makers, this represents a substantial leap from hobbyist prototyping to hardened, network-ready deployment, offering professional-grade connectivity in Arduino's familiar ecosystem.