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Heads up display — Parallax Forums

Heads up display

Sigma XSigma X Posts: 38
edited 2010-08-25 13:44 in Propeller 1
Hi all I'm in need of some help I am trying to develop a heads up display
but I have no idea where to start any and all input is welcome

Comments

  • jazzedjazzed Posts: 11,803
    edited 2010-08-20 12:34
    Sigma X wrote: »
    Hi all I'm in need of some help I am trying to develop a heads up display
    but I have no idea where to start any and all input is welcome
    I like the C5 Corvette heads-up display: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oPqDeMZD94

    Find a very bright display with high contrast ... bright blue characters. Make it display characters that you can read in a mirror. Then mount it on your dashboard. You will see the display "projected" on your windshield.

    --Steve
  • Sigma XSigma X Posts: 38
    edited 2010-08-20 12:47
    I seen that though I wish to try something like making my effects in after effects
    and have the propeller and some hardware to send the data to a projector a mini one I have
    and then control what ever I have for example have a robot wired with sensors and send the data to my pc
  • Invent-O-DocInvent-O-Doc Posts: 768
    edited 2010-08-20 12:51
    Check out the custom home flight simulator community. (www.simpits.org) and similar sites. I have seen some projects along these lines and that might be a good place to start.
  • Sigma XSigma X Posts: 38
    edited 2010-08-20 13:26
    the link doesn't work thanks anyway
  • wjsteelewjsteele Posts: 697
    edited 2010-08-20 15:14
    I have lots of experience in this arena. My little company sells several different types of HUDs. What kind of HUD are you thinking about and what is the application?

    The basics of a HUD are simple. 1.) You have an image source. 2.) You have optics to change the focal point to make the image appear near or at infinity and 3.) You have a combiner - the piece of glass that you use to "combine" the outside world with your data.

    My company, VirtualHUD, in one example, developed one that elimated #2 and #3 by projecting the image onto the back side of a spinning propeller, which is already focused near infinity. (Technicallly, the propeller IS the combiner.)

    We also have done several "classic" style HUDs, like military fighter units. (Oh yeah, and they're all powered by Propeller chips!!!)

    BTW, if this is for a flight simulator, you don't need to spend a lot of money... you can simply use a nice LCD or better yet an OLED display and reflect it off of a piece of acrylic. It won't have the infinite focus, but in a sim you don't really need it.

    Bill
  • Invent-O-DocInvent-O-Doc Posts: 768
    edited 2010-08-20 17:30
    Yeah, that link works from here.
  • PJAllenPJAllen Banned Posts: 5,065
    edited 2010-08-21 05:39
    There ought to be a "Just Brainstorming Forum" for this sort of stuff. A half-dozen Replies so far with zero discussion of the Propeller.

    Post Edit -- Fine, have it your way; I'm easy. Strike that "zero discussion" remark and place "practically no discussion".
  • wjsteelewjsteele Posts: 697
    edited 2010-08-21 07:48
    PJ Allen wrote: »
    A half-dozen Replies so far with zero discussion of the Propeller.
    wjsteele wrote: »
    (Oh yeah, and they're all powered by Propeller chips!!!)

    These statements seem to conflict! :-)

    Bill
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2010-08-21 07:58
    Yeah, I'm still trying to imagine:
    "...projecting the image onto the back side of a spinning propeller..."
    
    :)
  • Sigma XSigma X Posts: 38
    edited 2010-08-21 11:12
    my plan is to have a propeller send data made to a hud made by me in adobe after effects
    for example take the data from a compass sensor and send it too a hud dial on screen
    i'm still looking for any information how to do this mainly something compact
  • wjsteelewjsteele Posts: 697
    edited 2010-08-21 11:39
    Heater. wrote: »
    Yeah, I'm still trying to imagine:
    "...projecting the image onto the back side of a spinning propeller..."
    
    :)

    Here's a picture of it projecting onto a fan (simulating the prop). :-) The fan is actually too small (compared to a real propeller) to display the full image, but you get the idea with it.

    Bill
  • wjsteelewjsteele Posts: 697
    edited 2010-08-21 11:41
    Sigma X wrote: »
    my plan is to have a propeller send data made to a hud made by me in adobe after effects
    for example take the data from a compass sensor and send it too a hud dial on screen

    So... a small LCD VGA monitor reflecting off a piece of acrylic sounds like it would work for you, doesn't it? You can easily drive the LCD with the a Prop.

    Bill
  • Sigma XSigma X Posts: 38
    edited 2010-08-23 08:43
    Actually that may work but I have no idea how to make the graphics for the hud I was thinking about using adobe after effects but I don't think that the propeller can run a program like that on a lcd

    can a mini projector on acrylic can that work too?
  • RaymanRayman Posts: 14,889
    edited 2010-08-23 09:14
    mini projector for HUD is an interesting idea...

    I've seen you can get those projectors for not too much $$$.

    If the focusing could be done right, I'd think that would be the best solution for a car...
  • wjsteelewjsteele Posts: 697
    edited 2010-08-23 11:23
    In order to get a mini projector to work correctly, you'll need to project onto some form of material to diffuse the light, otherwise, you will wind up with a "hot spot" where the user is looking directly into the output of the projector, which can be blinding.

    The other problem with the current crop of projectors is that they project using an LED as a light source. The issue with that is that they always project every pixel, even the black ones. So, just like a LCD screen, you'll see every pixel, whether it is lit or not (even the black ones are backlit.)

    The best solution is to use an OLED display to reflect off the glass. An OLED doesn't activate the black elements, so they do not reflect... thereby giving you only the elements of the screen you need.

    Another options, although much more expensive, is a laser scanning based projector. That's what we use in our systems, but it requires a lot more tuning than a simple projector or OLED display.

    As for the graphics part, you can take any of the samples that use the Graphics.spin library or it's modifcations (like Rayman's LCD driver) to generate graphics quite easily. One perfect example of a game for a HUD is the BattleZone clone game which uses vector graphics.

    Bill
  • wjsteelewjsteele Posts: 697
    edited 2010-08-23 11:25
    BTW... I'll bring one of my prototype HUD displays to the show this weekend!

    Bill
  • RaymanRayman Posts: 14,889
    edited 2010-08-23 11:57
    wjsteele wrote: »
    In order to get a mini projector to work correctly, you'll need to project onto some form of material to diffuse the light, otherwise, you will wind up with a "hot spot" where the user is looking directly into the output of the projector, which can be blinding.


    Ok, that might be a problem...

    OLED sounds good...

    Wish I could make it to the expo :(
  • markaericmarkaeric Posts: 282
    edited 2010-08-23 15:34
    Bill, the image being projected on the fan looks really crisp. Projecting the image onto a spinning propeller is a very interesting technique. Nice work!
  • Don MDon M Posts: 1,653
    edited 2010-08-23 17:45
    It just so happens I have one of those mini projectors that I would like to sell. New in the box. It is called EyeClops. I'd sell it for $40 plus shipping if anyone is interested. I'll bring it along this weekend in case someone wants it. I'll try and attach a photo of it....

    It uses a standard video input.
    800 x 600 - 68K
  • Sigma XSigma X Posts: 38
    edited 2010-08-25 13:27
    Thanks for the help guys but wjsteele has a point I would like to try it his way
  • Sigma XSigma X Posts: 38
    edited 2010-08-25 13:44
    wjsteele I sent you a pm check it out
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