[Android Head-Units] 96carboard:
We are in the process of developing a *Mezzanine* board for 96boards CE SBCs. The purpose of this board is to implement the complete interface between the standardized SBC, and pretty much any car.

*Note: This is not a feature discussion thread, the features are set, the prototypes are built, painstakingly by hand over many hours.

The mezzanine board has the following (primary) features;

Quad-stereo ADC,

2 stereo DAC with programmable DSP (also has a header for up to 2 more DACs for up to 8 channel audio),

AMFM Radio,

OEM-style class AB automotive amplifier (4x52 watt @ 4 ohm, 4x85 watt @ 2 ohm),

ATSAMD21 microcontroller for SWI, fan control (fan is not mandatory), backlight control, etc.,

Physical interface to a conventional vehicle specific automotive pigtail.

This would be the additional component recommendation (and we are also considering a KIT):

1) 96boards CE SBC. We have a current working prototype using a Hikey960 (4xA73 + 4xA53, 4 GB), and are in the process of obtaining a Dragonboard 820C (2x Kryo big + 2x Kryo little, 3 GB). Note that some CE SBCs may not have full compatibility due to lacking the optional digital audio input pin. These two I've mentioned have *FULL* compatibility, and we are providing software support.

2) An HDMI monitor with USB touchscreen. There are tons of options for these, including ones packed in a DDIN chassis.

3) A USB GPS (you can get really good ones for as little as $10). Note that the dragonboard 820c has a built-in GPS, although I haven't tested its performance.

4) A pigtail (sometimes called a "wiring harness") for your specific vehicle.

** you can also add a USB HUB and any number of UVC cameras for dashcam and/or parking assistance.

96boards is a specification for SBCs developed by Linaro. Linaro is one of the big promoters and developers of Linux based operating systems, including Android/AOSP. So what you get with this, is the ability to build the complete operating system for your car radio **from source**. Hikey960's device repository is hosted by Google and is listed as an official "Reference Board". The Dragonboard 820C's device tree is in heavy development and is not quite ready to merge, but is available on Linaro's repositories, and from what I'm told, is functionally in a very good state.

In addition, since we are interfacing with SBCs having a standardized interface, when the boards we are currently working with become dated (as everything eventually does), you can easily replace the SBC with a new one that is completely up to date, while retaining the Mezzanine that actually interfaces with the car.

We have also developed additions to the Hikey960 kernel and Android device tree for supporting our mezzanine board and enabling the Automotive features of AOSP. And yes, our additions are all open source, which means that you can build it all yourself.

We have not yet set a price point for the board, but I can tell you that it will not come cheap. The component and manufacturing cost is quite extensive. Our objective, however, is to provide two things to make up for that, which you simply can't get anywhere else;

1) A "high end" experience that is significantly higher than the expensive mainstream car radios (kenwood, pioneer, etc.)

2) Full control over the software, including complete source code. No locks on the hardware. No or minimal blobs. The Hikey960 runs on a single blob for the Mali GPU. The Dragonboard 820C runs on NO blobs -- it uses the Freedreno graphics driver.

Features of our prototypes;

1) Navigation. Uses Google Maps / Waze or any other nav software.

2) Hands free calling.

3) AMFM Radio.

4) Bluetooth music.

5) Dashcam.

6) Its running AOSP 8.1 -- the sky is the limit.

Also worth mentioning:

*** Designed in Canada.

*** Made in Canada or USA. Depends on how the pricing works out.

So, who is interested? What would you pay?