Custom Digital Display Interface
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Member
Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 45
From: Strongsville, OH
It all sounds good, but would it be affordable. H2s aren't everywhere. They're not being produced either. They do have big followings it Japan and some other countries. It would almost have to be done as a hobby or research for other gm vehicles. It's pretty awesome tho. Lol, way above my skill level!
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Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 45
From: Strongsville, OH
C57... it's about price and desirability and Rotech has already given it the WOW factor.
Add a few killer features, like maybe Bluetooth, WIFI, GPS tracking, Apple/Android app, ODB2 diagnostics, TPMS, back-up camera (as mentioned) plus it's replacing all those mechanical Servo's, what's not to like?
Being digital LCD/OLED opens the door to many opportunities and possibilities .....
Add a few killer features, like maybe Bluetooth, WIFI, GPS tracking, Apple/Android app, ODB2 diagnostics, TPMS, back-up camera (as mentioned) plus it's replacing all those mechanical Servo's, what's not to like?
Being digital LCD/OLED opens the door to many opportunities and possibilities .....
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Joined: Jun 2021
Posts: 87
I understand that. It's a lot of money. I think somee of the shops that are selling them for 60-$70,000 would be interested in them as selling points to help them sell more vehicles. I guess when you get it all figured out, we'll take a gander at them.
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Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 45
From: Strongsville, OH
Oceanbrave - did you change your avatar to an anigif recently or I have just never noticed that? lol
Yes I mentioned early in the thread that the same cluster is also used in other full size GM trucks and SUV's (Silverado, Sierra, Tahoe, Yukon, Escalade). I think without that additional potential market a project of this nature will be able to better take advantage of economies of scale in order to keep the cost reasonable. That will be a huge factor in acceptance. Most vehicle owners are going to be reluctant to spend anything over $1000 for eye candy and even $500 is a tough sell but that price point is doable as proven by places that specialize in custom clusters like US Speedo. So additional capabilities would be a huge upsell point. One Oceanbrave mentioned - OBDII diagnostics would be huge. To have something sort of like Torque built in would be a game changer. Possibly instead of something totally proprietary and custom maybe even look at a flavor of Android as the underlying OS to take advantage of all of the existing libraries of code that are already created and working.
Lots of potential but lots of pitfalls. Of course if it works and takes off the Chinese will quickly rip it off as well so one must also take that into consideration. I hope to see it come to fruition.
Yes I mentioned early in the thread that the same cluster is also used in other full size GM trucks and SUV's (Silverado, Sierra, Tahoe, Yukon, Escalade). I think without that additional potential market a project of this nature will be able to better take advantage of economies of scale in order to keep the cost reasonable. That will be a huge factor in acceptance. Most vehicle owners are going to be reluctant to spend anything over $1000 for eye candy and even $500 is a tough sell but that price point is doable as proven by places that specialize in custom clusters like US Speedo. So additional capabilities would be a huge upsell point. One Oceanbrave mentioned - OBDII diagnostics would be huge. To have something sort of like Torque built in would be a game changer. Possibly instead of something totally proprietary and custom maybe even look at a flavor of Android as the underlying OS to take advantage of all of the existing libraries of code that are already created and working.
Lots of potential but lots of pitfalls. Of course if it works and takes off the Chinese will quickly rip it off as well so one must also take that into consideration. I hope to see it come to fruition.
I'm not worried about knockoffs. They're poor quality and have poor customer service. They won't sell many.
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Member
Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 45
From: Strongsville, OH
Thread Starter
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Member
Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 45
From: Strongsville, OH
It's just going to boil down to do you want it or need it. After being on this forum and reading comments/suggestions seems like this is a need and should have been address decades ago. Yet no one wanted to tackle this problem. I'm sure it was the price point that made companies not want to waste their time to sell 50 or 100 units. The cost to develop a digital cluster is not cheap and most companies are paying their designers/programmers over $10k per month. Not to include the costs of hardware development and the current shortage of microchips. For me its easier to develop as I'm developing this unit for my own H2. If I sell none I'll be fine.
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 3,204
From: BX NY North East
why not use the button that comes through the cluster already? and replace it for a rotary encoder with push button. then you can cut costs by reusing the original housing and navigate GUI through the cluster plus have a use for the hole in the cluster. much simpler then integrating into steering controls although the original already uses steering controls. if you use the existing "retrofit" housing prototyping will go faster then designing a whole new cluster housing.... you can save that for version 2.
Last edited by bronxteck; Sep 18, 2022 at 12:47 PM.
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 1,635
From: Birmingham (UK)
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 1,635
From: Birmingham (UK)
As MixManSC says "From a legal point of view, as far as I am aware as long as the replacement cluster displays and tracks mileage correct there is no legal issue with replacing it."
FYI this ebay seller seems to have dealt with the legal issues, perhaps this is the way...
FYI this ebay seller seems to have dealt with the legal issues, perhaps this is the way...