heads up display

13 Articles

HUD-Like Clock Is A Transparent Time Display

December 14, 2022 by 13 Comments

While we have all types of displays these days, there’s something special about those that appear to float in the air. This HUD clock from [Kiwi Bushwalker] is one such example.

The build relies on four 8×8 LED matrixes to display the four digits that make up the time, run by the MAX7219 driver chip. However, the LEDs aren’t viewed directly — that would be too simple. Instead, the matrixes shoot their light up at an angle towards a tilted piece of clear acrylic. This creates a “heads-up display” look where the numbers appear to float in the air.  The clock gets accurate time from an NTP time server over WiFi, thanks to the ESP32 microcontroller that runs the show.

It’s a straightforward clock build in many ways, but we particularly like the use of the heads-up display technique. It’s almost surprising we don’t see these projects more often, for things like car dashboard displays or targeting womp rats in a T-16 landspeeder. If you’ve been whipping up your own HUD projects, don’t hesitate to notify the tipsline!

Continue reading “HUD-Like Clock Is A Transparent Time Display” →

Garmin HUD Got Discontinued, But Not Trashed

October 30, 2022 by 8 Comments

The Garmin HUD+ was a small Bluetooth device intended for the dashboard of a car, meant to be used as a GPS heads-up display for data from Garmin smartphone apps. It used a bright VFD (vacuum fluorescent display) which was viewed through a clear reflector, and displayed GPS information and directions. It was discontinued in 2015, but [Doz] was fond of his and used it happily until a phone upgrade meant it no longer worked. Was it destined for a landfill? Not if he had anything to say about it!

The first thing [Doz] tried was using an alternate Android app, but since it also didn’t work, it was time to sit back and reflect on the scope of the issue. In [Doz]’s case, he really only wanted some basic meaningful data displayed, and decided he could do away with the phone altogether if he had the right hardware. Continue reading “Garmin HUD Got Discontinued, But Not Trashed” →

Arduino Car HUD Does The Job

June 3, 2020 by 17 Comments

Many cars these days come with a basic Heads Up Display, or HUD. Typically, these display speed, though some also throw in a tachometer or navigational graphics too. Of course, if your car doesn’t have one of these stock, hacking in your own is always an option.

[PowerBroker2] developed this HUD in a somewhat circuitous way, but it’s effective nonetheless. An ELM327 Bluetooth OBD-II reader is hooked up to the car, collecting data on speed and RPM. This data is passed to an ESP-32 and Teensy 3.5. From reading the code, it appears the Teensy is responsible for logging data from the CAN bus on an SD card, and running a small OLED display. The ESP32 is then charged with running the LED display that actually forms the HUD. It’s then combined with a 3D-printed housing, some plexiglass, and reflective windshield film to complete the effect.

It’s a build that probably packs in more hardware than is strictly needed to get the job done, but it does indeed get the job done. Other builds we’ve seen use LED strips as a quick and tidy way to get the job done. Video after the break. Continue reading “Arduino Car HUD Does The Job” →

Python And Pi Provide Heads Up Display For Your Experimental Airplane

May 10, 2019 by 9 Comments

You shouldn’t be looking at screens when you’re driving, but what about a heads-up display? A screen that could put relevant information in your field of vision would be great, even more so if it used a Raspberry Pi. That’s exactly what [John] did, only he did it with an airplane.

First up, the legality of this build. [John]’s plane is registered as experimental, which, provided you know what you’re doing, is pretty close to ‘anything goes’ as you would want in a manned aircraft. [John] has a sufficient number of hours in his log book, and he’s built a Zenith 701.

For hardware, the hard part of this build is constructing a heads-up display. Fortunately, aftermarket HUDs exist, and [John] is using a Kivic projector, a $200 piece of equipment that’s readily available on Amazon. If you need a HUD for your car, there you go. The software is another thing entirely, with the goal of having the software decoupled from the display and data sources. This is somewhat easy to accomplish with a Raspberry Pi; the display is actually just some minimal text-based blocky graphics built in PyGame. This build is also decoupled from the data sources by building this as a user interface for Stratux, an independent Raspberry Pi-based ADS-B receiver for pilots.

There are several views available with this HUD, with the AHRS + ADS-B providing information on the aircraft’s attitude and altitude, along with a few indicators of the nearest planes. The traffic view expands on the ADS-B data, showing the nearest eight or so aircraft in the air, with a range, bearing, and difference in altitude. There’s a diagnostic window, and since [John]’s plane is a backcountry STOL thingamado that can hover in a strong wind, there’s also a digital version of a norden bombsight. It’s for dropping bags of flour onto a grass strip. You can check out [John]’s entire AirVenture presentation of the build below, with all the code available here.

Continue reading “Python And Pi Provide Heads Up Display For Your Experimental Airplane” →

Hackaday Prize Entry: Pi-Driven Google Glass

August 3, 2017 by 11 Comments

[Ricardo Ferro] didn’t want to buy a Google Glass, so he made his own.

The Raspberry Pi Zero Prism consists of a 3D-printed headset the side-pieces of which hold a variety of electronic components, including a Pi Zero running Raspbian Jessie, a Pi Noir IR camera, a WiFi/Bluetooth module and a whole mess of SMD tactile push buttons. Video output is provided by a Kopin 922K display module. This module is usually used in smart goggles and uses a prism to reflect information into the wearer’s field of view.

One application [Ricardo] envisions for this Open Source Google Glass is using it in conjunction with facial recognition software and the YouTube-favorite IR camera trick of seeing through clothing. No, he’s not using it for that idea, and you should get your mind out of the gutter. [Ricardo] wants to identify masked criminals. Setting aside the technological challenges of making that technology work, we think that walking around with x-ray specs is likely to get those specs broken off your face by someone who wears clothes for modesty purposes. Still, it’s a fascinating project and we love the way the prism and video assembly comes together.

The HackadayPrize2017 is Sponsored by:

Heads-Up Display Turns Car Into Fighter Jet

July 20, 2017 by 31 Comments

While most of us will never set foot in a fighter jet, some of us can still try to get as close as possible. One of the most eye-catching features of a fighter jet (at least from the pilot’s point-of-view) is the heads-up display, so that’s exactly what [Frank] decided to build into his car to give it that touch of fighter jet style.

Heads-up displays use the small reflectivity of a transparent surface to work. In this case, [Frank] uses an LED strip placed on the dashboard to shine up into the windshield. A small amount of light is reflected back to the driver which is able to communicate vehicle statues without obscuring view of the road. [Frank]’s system is able to display information reported over the CAN bus, including voltage, engine RPM, and speed.

This display seems to account for all the issues we could think up. It automatically cycles through modes depending on driving style (revving the engine at a stoplight switches it to engine RPM mode, for example), the LEDs automatically dim at night to avoid blinding the driver, and it interfaces with the CAN bus which means the ability to display any other information in the future should be relatively straightforward. [Frank] does note some rough edges, though, namely with the power supply and the fact that there’s a large amount of data on the CAN bus that the Teensy microcontroller has a hard time sorting out.

That being said, the build is well polished and definitely adds a fighter jet quality to the car. And if [Frank] ever wants even more aviation cred for his ground transportation, he should be able to make use of a 747 controller for something on the dashboard, too.

ASTROGUN Is Like Asteroids On Steroids

July 27, 2014 by 50 Comments

Astrogun

As the Jerusalem mini Makerfaire approached, [Avishay] had to come up with something to build. His final project is something he calls ASTROGUN. The ASTROGUN is a sort of augmented reality game that has the player attempting to blast quickly approaching asteroids before being hit.

It’s definitely reminiscent of the arcade classic, Asteroids. The primary difference is that the player has no space ship and does not move through space. Instead, the player has a first person view and can rotate 360 degrees and look up and down. The radar screen in the corner will give you a rough idea of where the asteroids are coming from. Then it’s up to you to actually locate them and blast them into oblivion before they destroy you.

The game is built around a Raspberry Pi computer. This acts as the brains of the operation. The Pi interfaces with an MPU-9150 inertial measurement unit (IMU). You commonly see IMU’s used in drones to help them keep their orientation. In this case, [Avishay] is using it to track the motion and orientation of the blaster. He claims nine degrees of freedom with this setup.

The Pi generates the graphics and sends the output to a small, high-brightness LCD screen. The screen is mounted perpendicular to the player’s view so the screen is facing “up”. There is a small piece of beam splitting glass mounted above the display at approximately a 45 degree angle. This is a special kind of glass that is partially reflective and partially translucent. The result is that the player sees the real-world background coming through the glass, with the digital graphics overlaid on top of that. It’s similar to some heads-up display technologies.

All of the electronics fit either inside or mounted around a toy gun. The display system was attached with a custom-made fiberglass mount. The code appears to be available via Github. Be sure to watch the video of the system in action below. Continue reading “ASTROGUN Is Like Asteroids On Steroids” →