Comma.ai has introduced a PCIe Gen4 x4-to-USB4 dock with open-source C firmware for the ASM2464PD USB4/Thunderbolt-to-NVMe bridge controller.
Comma.ai has launched the Chestnut Dock and Tiny Chestnut eGPU Dock with open-source firmware. The firmware is written in C and is available on GitHub, where developers can access the source code and modify the low-level firmware running on the dock. It targets the ASM2464PD USB4/Thunderbolt-to-NVMe bridge controller.
The dock series focuses mainly on increasing computational power for comma.ai’s driving assistance system; however, the Chestnut Dock may connect to a normal computer to use it as a USB4 dock along with supporting Tinygrad applications. In the case of automobiles, these docks are created to enable increased computational power for bigger driving models. Comma.ai claims that the Chestnut Dock expands the available compute power from 10 W to up to 100 W. The Tiny Chestnut can also be paired with an external AMD Radeon RX 9060 GPU with 8GB of memory.
The open-source firmware makes the dock more accessible for developers who want to understand or modify its operation instead of relying solely on proprietary firmware. By publishing the C-based firmware for the ASM2464PD controller, Comma.ai provides developers with access to the firmware for USB4, Thunderbolt and PCIe-connected hardware.
The Tiny Chestnut eGPU Dock is priced at $249, while the Chestnut with the Radeon RX 9060 is priced at $799. The combination of open-source firmware and PCIe Gen4 connectivity makes the hardware suitable for external computing and GPU acceleration beyond coma.ai’s vehicle-focused use case.
