Hud

[jfirios]

Has anyone thought of designing a Heads Up Display for the car? I was just thinking about something like that because it is being offered in a few new cars and don't know if it is something that can be done to ours. Might be pretty awesome to have.

[WelmoedJ]

There are some HUDs available, o.a. from Valeo.
However whatever HUD you're going to use, the signal needs to be digital.
Our cars don't produce digital signals for speed and the tacho signal can't be used (only engine rounds not wheel speed).

There are some a digital versions to replace the mechanical speedo with odometer, but that involves a different speed/odometer.
From then on you could use a HUD.

You also could use a special adapter in the mechanical cable to convert the rounds into a digital signal that can be used with a HUD.

There are various options (e.g. CableX etc), but costs will be rather high.

[Ozzie]

lol, for what it's worth, there a few iPhone apps (probably Android as well), that display a mirror image display of GPS mph information. The intent being that you secure the phone on top of the dash, with the display reflecting off the windshield. Probably works best at night, I suppose.

[WelmoedJ]

Windows (windshields) of military planes have special "glass" that makes projected images appear clearly enough to be viewed and still be able to see through.

Some more expensive cars have HUD systems for which the windows are also specially prepared.

A HUD system in a car that has been fitted with an "ordinary" windshield has to make use of a special layer on the inside of the windshield to make the image sufficiently visible.

There are more issues with HUD systems to take into consideration: temperature changes should not influence the projected image (distortion etc).

So once one decides to go for a HUD system, he/she has to be prepared and has do his/her homework, otherwise the result may be a disillusion with a rather high cost.