NAVIA is not a single instrument, it is a network. A panel is assembled from a small number of unit types, each of which does one job, connected by one CAT 6 cable per device that carries both gigabit data and power. This article explains what each unit is for, how power and data actually flow, and how to plan a system before you order it.
The architecture in one paragraph
A Hub sits at the centre and gives every device its own gigabit path and its own power feed. A Core provides the computing, the software and the voice assistant. Sense provides the air data and attitude. Displays show it. Traffic listens to everybody else in the sky. EMU watches the engine, UPS keeps the whole thing alive if the ship supply fails, and Grip is how your hand talks to it. Everything speaks over the same network, so adding a device is one cable, not a wiring project.
The units
Hub — the network
The backbone: a 1 Gbit Ethernet switch with a 100 W Power-over-Ethernet budget at 48 V, one cable per device. Every other unit plugs into it. This is what makes a NAVIA panel a star rather than a chain — one device failing does not interrupt anybody else's path.
Core / Core Pro — the brain
Navigation, logging and Navia OS for the whole system, with the first AI voice assistant in avionics (it works offline), a built-in global SIM for weather and cloud sync, spatial audio across four speakers, and open, documented hardware and protocols.
Sense — the instruments
The AD-AHRS unit: attitude, airspeed, altitude and position. Choose the variant by what you fly.
| Variant | Notable |
|---|---|
| Sense Gliding | Dedicated TE probe port, highest-level IGC flight recorder, high-accuracy airspeed and OAT, AHRS, instant wind, inertial variometer |
| Sense Gliding Pro | The same, with instant wind and the inertial variometer as options — the Pro+ upgrade path |
| Sense Gliding Pro+ | Inertial wind and vario activated |
| Sense Airplane | Airspeed to 250 kts / 460 km/h, 25 Hz GNSS with SBAS (WAAS, EGNOS, QZSS), AHRS, high-accuracy OAT |
| Sense Airplane Pro | Adds an angle-of-attack pressure sensor |
| Sense Airplane Pro HS | Airspeed to 500 kts / 920 km/h |
All variants offer optional field pressure calibration.
Displays — the panel
| Size | Resolution | Brightness | Body | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display 12 | 11.6″ landscape | 1920 × 1080 · 190 PPI | 1600 nits | 273 × 165 mm · 200 g |
| Display 7 | 7.0″ portrait | 1200 × 1920 · 323 PPI | 2500 nits | 113 × 169 mm · 150 g |
| Display 4 | 4.0″ square | 720 × 720 · 255 PPI | 1200 nits | 86 × 88 mm · 120 g |
| Indicator 57 | 2.5″ | 320 × 240 · 167 PPI | sunlight readable | 57 mm cutout · 150 g |
Displays 4, 7 and 12 each take 1 Gbit PoE plus WiFi, Bluetooth, USB and serial, and carry anti-reflective, anti-glare coating. The Indicator 57 drops into a standard 57 mm cutout and connects wirelessly or over serial.
Traffic — the lookout
One receiver for the whole traffic ecosystem: FLARM, ADS-B, Mode-S, FANET, SSR, ADS-R and TIS-B, with three configurable data ports, merged into a single 360° picture on every display. This matters more than it sounds: two traffic screens showing the same aircraft as two targets is worse than one screen showing it once.
UPS — the safety net
Uninterruptible power for the panel: 63 Wh of battery, 18.5 V system voltage, up to 130 W delivery, more than an hour of backup. It exists for the failure mode that takes out everything at once — the ship battery or its wiring.
EMU — the engine watch
Engine parameters streamed live onto the displays, visualised, logged and watched by alerts. Temperatures, pressures and fuel on the same network as everything else.
Grip — the interface
The hand control: heated, leather, with vibration alerts and the voice assistant one thumb away.
Navia OS — the soul
One interface for cross-country, glider, competition, VFR and IFR flying, designed to reduce workload rather than to show off how much data a modern panel can display. It also runs in a browser, so you can fly the software before any of this hardware exists — see Navia OS in your browser.
How power flows
This is the part worth understanding before ordering.
- The Hub distributes 48 V over the Ethernet cabling, with a 100 W total PoE budget across all connected devices.
- Each device draws what it needs from its own port. Nothing is daisy-chained, so no device sits at the end of a long shared feed losing volts to everybody in front of it.
- The UPS backs the system at 18.5 V with 63 Wh, delivering up to 130 W — enough to keep a working panel alive for over an hour.
- Budget the total against the 100 W: a large display, a Core, a Sense, a Traffic and an EMU all draw from the same pool.
Compare this with the classic 12 V panel, where every instrument is fed from the same bus and the last one in the chain feels every amp the others take. That comparison is the whole argument for the architecture.
Wiring rules
- One CAT 6 cable per device. Data and power together.
- Zero solder joints in the installation — connectors are designed for it.
- Standardised 4″ device width and a mounting rack behind the panel, so Core, Sense, Traffic and the other rack units stack into one serviceable assembly.
- The 80 mm rack holder mounts rack units into a standard 80 mm (3.125″) cutout using the classic 4 × M4 screw pattern.
- The LTE antenna is external, for Core Pro's built-in global SIM.
- Keep cable runs tidy and supported. Ethernet is robust, but a connector working loose under vibration is still a connector working loose.
Planning a system
- Start with Sense. What you fly decides the variant — glider with a TE probe, or airplane, with or without angle of attack, and at what airspeed range.
- Then the displays. Measure the panel. A Display 7 in portrait fits panels that will never take a Display 12; the Indicator 57 covers the standard round hole.
- Add Traffic if you want one merged picture rather than several partial ones.
- Add EMU for a powered aircraft.
- Size the power: total device draw against the Hub's 100 W budget, then decide on the UPS.
- Plan the rack and the panel cutouts together — the rack is what makes the installation serviceable later.
- Use the configurator on lxnavigation.com to build and check the combination before ordering.
Open by design
The hardware is open and the communication protocols are documented. If you are integrating something of your own, or building on top of the platform, start from the documentation in the LX download center rather than from reverse engineering — and talk to us.
Where to go next
- Device pages and specifications: the NAVIA section of lxnavigation.com.
- Manuals, firmware and protocol documentation: the LX download center.
- Background theory: the LX Academy articles on the CAN bus and panel networks, traffic systems and who can see you, and angle of attack.