I want to be able to panel mount the connection between my cameras on a moving robot arm, and the junction box which has the jetson nano inside. This is a virtual stereo pair of the ZED x one cameras. The idea is simply to disconnect all the cables like power, cameras etc from the box, and then move the two items separately to the new location for different jobs. Joining the box to the robot is not working out well for its size and shape. I read that these Fakra connectors are not meant to be frequently disconnected, and I need to mount something to a bulk head rather than just the camera and jetson nano. Are there any recommendations for this? It doesn’t need to be water proof, but mounting to a junction box wall for passing the connect to the inside is required.
Your reading is correct, and it is worth being precise about the numbers. The Fakra interface used by all our GMSL2 products (Fakra-Z, 50 Ohm) is specified by ISO 20860-1 and SAE/USCAR-18, and the connector datasheets rate it at at least 25 mating cycles for the standard version, and at least 5 for the waterproof version. It is a latching automotive interface designed to be mated once at installation, not a daily quick-disconnect. On top of the mechanical wear, every additional coupling in a GMSL2 link introduces an impedance discontinuity; as documented in our Help Center, the maximum length of a GMSL2 link is 15 meters, and each cable-to-cable coupling can introduce noise, potentially reducing the maximum usable length. rosenberger-Stereolabs
What we recommend for your use case
We do not offer a panel-mount Fakra bulkhead feedthrough, and we would not suggest adding a third-party jack-to-jack coupler either, because it inserts two more interfaces into the link. The approach that works well in the field is to make the repeatedly mated interface a cheap, replaceable part, and to move the mechanical load onto the panel:
- Inside the box, leave the ZED Link card permanently connected through the GMSL2 Fakra 1-to-4 M-F cable; this connector should never be cycled.
- Route a short GMSL2 Fakra Extension Cable M-F (0.5 m or 1 m) from the breakout through the enclosure wall using a standard cable gland or grommet, and leave its female end just outside the panel. Since your application is not required to be waterproof, a simple grommet is enough. The right-angle version is useful if the internal clearance is tight.
- Capture the mated Fakra pair mechanically at the wall, with a small machined or 3D-printed plate that clamps the rectangular Fakra housing profile. The latch retention is specified at 110 N minimum, so once the housing is held by the plate, all pull and bending loads from the arm-side cable are taken by the panel and not by the connector or by the capture card.
- When the extension jumper reaches the end of its life, you replace only that jumper; the camera pigtails and the ZED Link card connectors stay untouched.
All the cable options are here: GMSL2 cables and accessories.
A more robust alternative worth considering
If the cameras and the box have to be separated regularly, the cleanest solution is to stop breaking the GMSL2 link at all, and to move the compute to the arm side. The ZED Box Mini is 152.8 x 103.8 x 41.5 mm for 600 g, with two Fakra-Z GMSL2 inputs, hardware camera synchronization, a screw terminal power input and Gigabit Ethernet. Mounted close to your ZED X One pair, the GMSL2 cables stay permanently connected, and your quick-disconnect becomes Ethernet plus power, which are rated for hundreds of mating cycles. It also lets you send the streams to your main machine over Gigabit Ethernet through the ZED SDK Streaming module. Note that a pair of ZED X One GS is supported, while two ZED X One 4K on the same unit are not; the details are on the ZED X One page.
One important operational point
GMSL2 cameras are not hot-pluggable. Whatever mechanical solution you adopt, always power the box off before unmating the Fakra connectors, and reconnect the cameras before powering it on again, so the driver enumerates them correctly at boot.