In this chapter, we looked at how to fully integrate your custom hardware projects into Android on the BBB. We discussed how your custom device drivers should be built directly into your Linux kernel and how your custom Device Tree overlays should be compiled directly into the main Device Tree. This avoids having to include a special module and an overlay that loads commands in your init.{ro.hardware}.rc file.

We also explored how to customize the standard Android software framework to include support for your custom hardware projects. Existing Android managers can be extended to support custom hardware.

We looked at making your custom hardware design semipermanent using Proto Cape. This allows you to avoid accidentally disconnecting breadboard wires when moving your project around. It also allows for easier integration with commercially available BBB capes by avoiding the problem of blocking the P8/P9 connectors with breadboard wires. We also mentioned that there are many types of...