Update August 2021: Out of stock. This was the last batch, and will be retired. But all design & manufacturing files are available to make your own, see links below.

What is it?

This is an aluminum chassis designed to fit in many automotive double-DIN openings for head units/radios. It follows the double-DIN standard (International standard ISO 7736) and has been successfully tested with Subaru, Toyota, and Ford vehicles over the years. This is the 5th and likely final iteration of the design.

Why did you make it?

Back in the day, playing MP3s in your car was difficult. We had CD and tape. There was a movement to put small PCs in vehicles to handle playing MP3s, that grew to handle GPS navigation and many other things. With the rise in smartphones over the past 10 years, the need to add computers into your car has diminished and although not as popular, there is still interest to put a computer like a Raspberry Pi in your dash.

What makes it special?

The design is solid, tested and open-sourced. They are made in the USA using CNC punch press machine and a forming machine by a local, small business sheet metal fabricator and it is made from domestic aluminum.

Last year I decided to open source the mechanical design, so anyone can adapt it to almost any sized LCD that will fit in your dash. The bezel that holds the LCD can be 3D printed, but getting a one-off sheet metal part is expensive as most sheet metal shops would rather run them in batches.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2669155/files https://grabcad.com/library/mechatroniks-chassis-r5-1