16 years in powersports audio — motorcycles, UTVs, snowmobiles — with proprietary multi-channel BT, A2B bus, and Android Automotive OS experience that almost no other contractor has
Built a full Android Automotive head unit from scratch: custom AAOS build, CAN HAL, A2B audio driver, Qt/QML HMI — one of two software engineers who owned the entire stack
Best matched to founders building serious audio or infotainment hardware — minimum $25K engagement, evenings and weekends, up to 20 hours per week
Founder-facing summary
Dennis is one of a very small number of engineers who has built production audio systems for the harshest environments in the industry — powersports vehicles operating across extreme temperature ranges, vibration profiles, and electrical noise environments that consumer audio hardware cannot survive. He has built a full Android Automotive OS head unit from scratch, designed multi-channel Bluetooth audio systems for simultaneous helmet and phone streaming, and runs his own automated firmware test infrastructure with oscilloscope-measured audio QA. Best matched to founders building connected audio, infotainment, or vehicle-adjacent hardware who need someone who has seen these problems in production and knows exactly where they break.
GitHub reviewed
GitLab reviewed
Written Q&A completed
Demo video provided
Employer reference only — no prior clients
01By the numbers
16yrs
At current employer building powersports audio
4ch
Simultaneous BT streams — 2 phones + 2 helmets from a single chip
120MHz
Single-core M4 running AAC, SBC, radio, USB, CAN simultaneously
02Technical stack
Primary — core specialisation
Audio DSP & Codec Integration (AAC, SBC, A2DP)Analog Devices A2B Automotive Audio BusAndroid Automotive OS (AAOS)ESP32 / ESP-IDFEmbedded Linux (custom builds)Qt / QML (automotive HMI)Bluetooth — multi-device A2DP, BLECAN Bus & SocketCANC / C++
Additional skills
I2S / TDM8 multi-channel audioAndroid HAL developmentGitLab CI/CD (self-hosted)KubernetesGitHub ActionsPython test automation (Pytest)EMI immunity & noise hardeningOscilloscope-based audio QAMobile app developmentRaspberry Pi
03Notable projects
Android Automotive Head Unit — Full Stack Build
Custom AAOS build from scratch (not a pre-made image), custom CAN service adapting to the Android Automotive CAN HAL via SocketCAN USB dongle, custom audio driver for an Analog Devices A2B chip transmitting source audio to downstream amplifiers, and a full Qt/QML HMI application communicating over CAN to control audio system parameters. One of two software engineers who owned the entire stack. Designed as a platform to validate proprietary audio boards before vehicle integration.
AAOSA2BCAN HALQt/QMLLinuxInternal
Multi-Device Bluetooth Audio System — Motorcycles
Simultaneous A2DP streaming to 2 phones and 2 helmets from a single Bluetooth chip. Identified that the chip's advertised assisted streaming mode was insufficient in production. Coordinated escalation through vendor support → contracted BT engineers → chip firmware team in Israel over several months to resolve the issue at the chip firmware level. Running on a 120 MHz single-core M4 also handling AAC/SBC decoding, radio tuner, USB, and CAN simultaneously.
BT A2DPAAC/SBCCortex-M4CANShipped
Automated Firmware Test Infrastructure
Self-hosted GitLab instance on a Kubernetes cluster with CI/CD for automatic firmware build and test. Pipeline covers protocol correctness, regression testing, audio performance measured on analog outputs via oscilloscope, and an accelerated application lifecycle test that caught state machine bugs causing field failures that couldn't be reproduced on demand. Supplemented by a manual validation checklist for temperature, vibration, EMI, and power supply edge cases.
Internal demo of the AAOS-based head unit running on custom hardware. Shows the Qt/QML interface communicating over CAN with the A2B audio system. Built as a validation platform for proprietary powersports audio boards.
When a chip vendor's assisted A2DP streaming failed in production, Dennis systematically escalated: application layer ruled out → vendor support → contracted BT engineers → chip firmware team in Israel. Months of collaboration to get a production-viable build. Recognised that the only faster path — encoding AAC/SBC himself — wasn't feasible on a 120 MHz M4 already at capacity.
EMI immunity in firmware
Solved an EMI immunity requirement in powersports hardware by leveraging an existing voltage sensor to detect when EMI events were pushing voltage above safe levels, then implementing a software "off switch" to protect hardware during the noise event. Turned a hardware electrical problem into a controlled firmware response.
AAOS from scratch
Built a full Android Automotive OS image — not a pre-made image — with a custom A2B audio driver, CAN HAL via SocketCAN, and a Qt/QML HMI. Honest about the current state: audio HAL was "duct taped" for testing purposes, and describes exactly what a production-grade vehicle HAL integration would require. That gap between what he built and what he knows it should be is a strong signal.
Oscilloscope-based automated audio QA
CI/CD pipeline includes automated audio performance measurement on analog outputs via oscilloscope — not just pass/fail build tests. Also runs an accelerated application lifecycle simulation that catches state machine edge cases causing field failures that couldn't be reproduced on the production target display.
06How he works with founders
First conversation on any infotainment project
His first questions are: who is it for, what makes it special, why not an off-the-shelf solution? Then: what's it connected to — and he will immediately warn founders that CarPlay and Android Auto (phone projection) are completely different from Android Automotive OS, require a dedicated team of 5-10 engineers, and take many months to certify. He defines measurable goals (boot time, response latency) that drive hardware selection, and asks about production volume because low volumes may limit access to the specialised hardware the spec requires.
Architecture change requests mid-project
Responds by asking for measurable differences — SNR, latency, frequency response — not marketing claims. Weighs certification risk, schedule slip, and team capacity explicitly before evaluating any change. Will hold firm if certification is in flight or the objective measurements don't justify switching. His framing: "there's always the next generation."
Investor demo requests
Thinks in terms of Kanban trade-offs: what feature can slip to make room for this one, and is that worth a better demo day impression? Enthusiastic about demos when the feature is meaningful and the cost is understood. Flags ripple effects that may not surface until months later.
07Contract, pricing & availability
Rate
$150–200 / hour
$1,000–1,500 / day. Higher end for architecturally heavy work.
Minimum engagement
$25,000 preferred
$10K absolute minimum. Below $25K the ramp-up cost isn't justified.
Availability
~20 hrs / week
Evenings and weekends. Day calls possible with 30–90 min notice.
Note on references: Dennis has spent 16 years at his current employer. He has no prior independent clients. Employer references are available and have been confirmed as an acceptable substitute given his career background. Founders should factor this in when evaluating risk on larger engagements.
Contract approach
Measurable SOW with change budget
10–20% pre-agreed change bucket before renegotiation. Interface contracts, acceptance criteria, and milestone dates in writing before work begins.
Payment method
Escrow.com
Milestone-based. Funds held by neutral third party. Neither side carries risk.
Working style
Async, milestone-gated
Documented deliverables. Strongly prefers projects with real hardware constraints and technical depth.
08Project fit
Best fit for
Connected audio products — Bluetooth multi-device, A2B, multi-channel I2S/TDM
Android Automotive OS builds and infotainment platforms
Custom embedded Linux with audio or HMI components
Powersports, automotive-adjacent, or harsh-environment hardware
Products requiring vehicle data integration (CAN bus)
Founders who need both firmware and HMI (Qt/QML) in one engineer
Engagements with real hardware constraints and technically defined requirements
Not the right fit for
Dashboards, admin panels, internal tools, or backends
Machine learning (unless on-device or audio-related)
Pure software with no hardware or interfacing constraints
Pixel-perfection UX — he gets things working, not polished
Projects with undefined or constantly shifting requirements
Engagements below $10K — not worth the ramp-up
Founders without a clear technical picture of what they're building
09Background
~16 Years — Present
Embedded Systems Engineer
Powersports audio manufacturer — Full-time
One of two software engineers owning the full audio firmware stack for motorcycles, UTVs, three-wheelers, and snowmobiles. Work spans multi-device Bluetooth audio, Android Automotive OS head unit development, A2B automotive audio bus, CAN integration, Qt/QML HMI, and self-hosted CI/CD infrastructure with automated audio QA.
Active
Open source contributor & personal projects
GitHub: ftab / GitLab: ftab
ESP-IDF work including I2S TDM8 examples, UART speed testing, Qt experiments. Self-hosted GitLab on Kubernetes, learning GitHub Actions CI/CD. Active in embedded Linux and audio communities.