Hud Project Re-Visited

[tarquin]

Hi all

Some members may remember i was toying with the idea of a Heads up display.The trouble for me was i don't like boxes stuck on my dash board and even more of a dislike is having cables running across it. When I last time i looked at this project,I found a unit that looked good but came in a really naff sort of home made enclosure (sorry if you bought one) The one i bought had Green LED display made up of individual LED's forming the seven segment display. The way the circuit worked i was unable to simply replace the single LED's with standard 7 segment displays.

I put it to one side because i was busy with the radio station etc. Had another look and changed all the Green LED's to blue. (much nicer)

I came up with an idea to fit the HUD into the top cover of the satnav unit. I took it apart and it is in 3 sections. From the pic you can see I had to remove some of the plastic cross member in one of the sections to make room for the circuit board. I marked out and drilled out a panel on the top cover and mounted the circuit board with 2mm screws, countersinking them into the top plastic to make them flush. Because of the depth restriction in that area, I had to remove the Ethernet socket from the circuit board and hard wire direct to the board.The circuit board came with a foam covering to stop the circuit board solder and tracks reflecting on the windscreen. It also came with the opaque filter on the original enclosure which as you can see is now fitted to the outside of the satnav cover. It looks very neat. The cable is threaded down to a ethernet coupler and connects to the RS232 interface which houses the OBD11 plug. This can simply be plugged into the diagnostic socket. So this unit can be hidden and not protrude out of the OBD11 socket, i have fitted the original plug into a small box and taken away 9 leads via a 9pin D plug. Pin 16 is the + power lead and is normally connected to the permanent live of the OBD11 socket, but i have routed this away and fed it to a ignition live feed via a Blue switch which enables me to switch the HUD on and off and also kills the power to it when the ignition goes off in case there are any issues with it draining the Battery if left for a long time.The remainder of the 9 wires are spliced onto the existing OBD11 socket so it can be used as normal.

Obviously, at night it is very good, but difficult to see in bright sunlight. For me it is a gadget. I am sure people will have likes and dislikes about it. Anyway here it is.

David

[s44gtw]

Wonderful work as always.

I like very much.

Just looking now to see if there are any places for rent near you,

as i would like to be your troublesome neighbour always around getting a little job done.

george

[tarquin]

Ha Ha George

David

[craggle]

Silly question but what does it display, Speed?

Craig.

[Soeley]

Very nicely installed David. :)

[dash]

Very subtle; that's a class installation !!

Dave

[Guest]

Looks brilliant. Like the way you've changed from red to blue led's too. I imagine even red would be a little difficult to see on the screen during the day, unless there is the darker patch -stick on plastic- for it to be shown on. Do you have one of those rear window stickers that says, "Genius at the Wheel?"

[tarquin]

Thanks Guy's for the nice comments, appreciated.

Craig, If you look closely at the pic with the 16mph displayed, you can see the start of a Green bar under it, this is the rev counter. It starts in green then Yellow then OH MY GOD Red, Its very difficult to take photo's in the car with 35mm profiles. The kind of double image you see is the display reflected through the windscreens lamination.

David

[Bahrain_iQ]

Very nice indeed.

[master-yoda]

nice job and good mod !

[acetip]

Was thinking of fitting a HUD myself but mounting the unit and concealing the wiring neatly was a problem

the unit projects onto a little stick on patch on the screen ,which is a major problem as no matter where this patch is fitted it comes within the area that the Wiper Blades cover which makes this MOT failure.

I know the patch is tranparent but when i checked at a local MOT station they confirmed it. They would fail a car with one fitted.

I suppose you can remove it for a test or even the projection maybe good enough to get away without the patch altogether.

But i gave up the idea in the end.

[tarquin]

This particular HUD doesnt require a sticky transparent sticker. Also, the angle from the top of the satnav cover puts the display just below the rearview mirror so no MOT issues

By the way it displays MPH,Rev's and fuel level switchable from a touch button on the consul.

David

[acetip]

Hi Dave .needing no transparent sticker is good.

seeing it projects straight on the screem wherever it will not effect the MOT

Nice one.

Was there much problem setting up the MPH. Did you use a Satnavs MPH as a reference.

[Guest]

Hi David, Just been looking at your HUD installation pics again... it is so good an installation I bet Toyota wished they had installed one that good. I've been looking again at those available and if someone sold one, with that kind of workmanship, I might go for it, cost dependant. The reason is, I am getting increasingly frustrated at having to keep looking down at the speedo to check I'm not going over the limit. However, I don't like taking my eyes off the road, hence the interest in the HUD. Recently I did just that and this silly cow had pulled out from a side road when I was almost at the junction. If I didn't have good peripheral vision and that sense of impending doom, it would have been an accident. Of course, this just doesn't happen in towns/cities, even on our rural roads the standards of driving are pretty abysmal these days. It's the same for everyone I know, but I often wonder how many accidents are caused by having to keep a check on your speed. It only takes a glance, to either look at the speedo, or hit some soft git pulling out without looking before they pull out.

One of my wifes sons lost a mate of his to a silly cow pulling out at a junction as he arrived there on his motorbike... unfortunately for him it killed him. I wonder what she will get away with? Certainly not life imprisonment for causing a death by careless driving. I mean, if you think about it, everyone on the road is driving with the intent to kill, if they hit someone that is. Yeah, I know it's (not normally) never intentional but if people paid more attention when in the driving seat, all the better. The things you see people doing as they drive.

"I was trying to save time by doing it whilst I drove officer." Famous last words of the potential killers on the road who can't be bothered to drive properly.

How hard is it to indicate for example? Car makers make it as easy as possible by providing an indicator stalk to move up or down and yet, you see so many a-holes who just don't think they need to let other road users and pedestrians where the hell they are going.

Rant over. The reasons for a HUDdy are clear to see.

[tarquin]

Hi acetip

The circuit is fed from data from the OBD11 socket and i have spliced into the wiring so the original diagnostic socket for MR T is still available. Also when no data is being updated for a while (5mins or car turned off) it goes into standby drawing minimal current. You can set the rev display in coloured bands just for your personal choice. Because the data is taken from the sensors via the ECU, its accurate to a tolerance. Checked against TomTom its all but spot on.

David

[tarquin]

Bob

Hoe you doing. All my sentiments my sister is the worst driver i have ever seen. Due to her hesitancy, she does things that other road users are not familiar with or generally not the non spoken road code is. Like breaking hard with people behind her to let a person out, even though that person is waiting for the line of traffic to pass. ( as per normal) what usually happens then is the car behind her nearly goes in to her boot and the car she is now expecting to come out doesnt because he doesnt understand whats going on. Then she raises her fist at him in despair because he hasnt come out and the car behind is on the horn. Its painful to be in the car. She also shouts at cars coming towards her for not pulling over even though the road is well wide for 2 cars passing each other. Its dreadful. Its like driving miss Daisy x10

David

[Guest]

Hi David, doing fine mate, and you and your wife are good? Ready for christmas then?

I think the answer to our driving woes is robots, or rather, robot cars. They teach everyone exactly the same way, no difference between a spotty erk of a teen and a woman who dresses like she's on the pull. Same for the test too. Maybe then, and only then, will standards improve enough that everyone will be a courteous driver and drive sensibly, not boringly, but sensibly and safe for everyone.

Standards have got so bad over the years it's like driving in a foreign country. I have driven on the roads of Paris, Riyadh, Jeddah, Florida, British Columbia, The Falklands, Belgium, Luxumbourg, Switzerland, France, Washington State, Alberta, Germany, and The Netherlands -that I can remember, and in none of those countries, states or provinces did I feel like I was being hunted down by other drivers -well, except in Saudi Arabia. I mean, they are up your chuff and this is because we drive a small car I reckon. To me, if someone is driving at or pretty close to the speed limit, where's the problem? You know, most of these people are working too, so why drive so fast? Why risk your licence for work? Did your company pay for your driving lessons, test, insurance, car, fuel? I don't get it. Maybe it's just age.

Another rant over with. Next!

[tarquin]

I think its temperament. There are naturally occuring aggressive people and placid and timid people. There are rich people and not so well off people. There are people in a hurry, and people who have all day. Van drop drivers forced to complete a round. People react differently in cars. I have left a shop carrying things and the door was held for me by a guy who 3 mins latter cut me up swearing.yet nice as pie holding the door open. A lot of people with BMW's, Audi, Mercedes look down on you and dont want to share the road and will take every available space whether your in it or not. If you are too placid or timid people by their nature will take advantage of you. This mentality extends to all walks of life and the class system we have in this country

David