HUD system PCB?

[MicaHusky]

Hey y'all!

I've been working on a system to have a HUD display in-suit that displays valuable info about your environment, in a somewhat compact package. I'm designing a PCB to have manufactured that will (potentially) integrate:

• ESP32 microcontroller to run the whole show (has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, so there's the potential for allowing customization of the display with your phone)
• RTC with a battery backup to keep time (a clock in your helmet!)
• Temperature and humidity sensors (both internal inside the helmet, as well as optional external temp sensor to measure outside temp or your body's core temp)
• Magnetometer (compass)
• CO2/VOC sensor (how much CO2 is in your helmet, and are there VOCs around (like paint fumes, bondo, epoxy, etc etc. nasty stuff)
• Small OLED display mounted somewhere in the helmet; which can be reflected off a mirror to have the right focal distance so you can actually focus your eyes on it and glance at it.
• LiDAR Time-Of-Flight distance sensor (mount this to the back of your helmet with a little 2mmx4mm hole for it to see through, and you have an idea if there's something/someone behind you and rough distance to it; A REAL MOTION TRACKER!)

Here's a basic layout so far:

I haven't finalized the layout (I'm definitely going to be smushing the parts way closer together to make it as small as possible to fit in the helmet) but this is the basic idea. I put together a proof-of-concept in my MK6 helmet to have an okay depiction of what this will end up looking like. The one here is a 1.51" transparent OLED display from WaveShare; used because it was easier to mount it like this to not have it need to be mirrored in software (just flip the display around, you can see the lit pixels from both sides!)

You'd be focusing on the mirrored display on the bottom which gives you the equivalent of a display that is 6-8" away from your eyes; PLENTY of distance to comfortably glance down at.

The idea here is to have this built and then potentially make this something I could distribute. Estimated cost when all is said and done (all the sensors, the display, the PCB and manufacturing) would be about $45-50.

Does anyone have suggestions on what kinds of sensors/features you'd like to see in something like this? Give me input! This will be my 3rd major custom-PCB project I've had manufactured so I've done stuff somewhat like this before.

 

[KaeSpoon]

Though I have not looked at his thread in-depth, RandomRanger was working on a helmet HUD: Ranger's HUD (v2) || Ranger's HUD Progress || HUD element images
Perhaps you could gather some inspiration and information from his work..?

Best of luck.

 

[MicaHusky]

Though I have not looked at his thread in-depth, RandomRanger was working on a helmet HUD: Ranger's HUD (v2) || Ranger's HUD Progress || HUD element images
Perhaps you could gather some inspiration and information from his work..?

Best of luck.

I've actually got one of those VuFine displays kicking around, that was my original idea but I figured because you need a proper raspberry Pi to run the whole show it'd be nicer to just have a small microcontroller. You should be able to run my entire system with a single MicroUSB cable and it'd draw maybe 250-500mA. a little less involved and less like a "linux computer in your helmet" and more of a self contained HUD/sensor system on a single board.

 

[EchoCosplay]

This is such a cool idea and I'd be interested just to have a clock easily visible without having to continually ask someone else or dig out my phone while in costume.

 

[ProfugoBarbatus]

Awesome! I look forward to seeing how the LIDAR pans out - I've got some non-halo projects on the plate that have severe visibility limitations in their helmets, so ranging rather than piles of cameras would be really useful for general awareness.

 

[PerniciousDuke]

ArcSol and I are interested. Keep the updates coming! I also second the Time suggestion.

 

[Legend 113]

This us looking sick mate! I know that hacksmith got a motorbike masterchief helmet and set up a HUD display. It worked on identifying threats and such, but it might be worth checking out. AND A REAL MOTION TRACKER!!!! That's insanely awesome. Best of luck mate.

 

[Jocko03]

I like this a lot.

 

[MarrowofStar]

Id LOVE to have the time and external temp on a lil hud like that omg. What about a north/south compass? I assume that there is a way to some how change the time on the clock as well since I know some people travel between time zones (me, I'm people). Maybe a way to set an alarm where once it hits a certain time a little light blinks or it has a little speaker? Just ideas

 

[MicaHusky]

Id LOVE to have the time and external temp on a lil hud like that omg. What about a north/south compass? I assume that there is a way to some how change the time on the clock as well since I know some people travel between time zones (me, I'm people). Maybe a way to set an alarm where once it hits a certain time a little light blinks or it has a little speaker? Just ideas

So the magnetometer is a literal compass, so the plan is definitely to have it show a little compass on the corner of the screen or something.

if you look at the PCB, it has 3 buttons - Hour, Minute, and Timezone by default I'll likely have it cycle between the 4 main North American time zones but I'm sure if people want it I could switch that behavior to all timezones. I could also just avoid the timezone button altogether and have you use the hour button..

 

[MicaHusky]

Got some updates!

I've interfaced an OLED display with a sensor and even drawn the 405th logo on the screen pixel-by-pixel

The temp and humidity are real-time data from a sensor, but the time, CO2 PPM, and compass direction are currently static placeholders, waiting on the actual sensors to arrive today!

 

[ItsRaven]

ok well that's super cool lol

 

[MicaHusky]

I have more updates!

I've got the CO2/VOC, smaller more miniaturized Temp/Humidity sensor, LiDAR rangefinder, Battery-backed clock, and compass all interfacing with the controller! now I just have to write the code that displays everything which shouldn't take very long.

Along with this update, have a funny sensor reading. this is from the CO2/VOC sensor. the area outlined in blue is immediately after i breathed directly on the sensor. Not only does this mean that it's definitely picking up CO2, it's picking up VOCs from whatever i had for dinner hahah

 

[SgtSaint]

it's picking up VOCs from whatever i had for dinner hahah

Is it installed in a helmet yet? Could it be from adhesives... resin used for seams... paint... etc.

 

[Bloxxer]

Watching! This is sick! Would definitely be interested in adding this to my helmets!

 

[SamuelHan]

Dude this is crazy! I'm excited to see the customization options once you've gotten to that point. Also those stars look familiar

 

[MicaHusky]

More updates, again!

I've designed and ordered the first rev of the PCBs. This is by no means going to be one that is made to be put in the helmet at all, it's just a test board to make sure i have all the wiring correct so when I DO order the rev 2 I don't have bodge wires and cut traces all over the place. This rev has absolutely everything labeled and even has pads and holes all over the place for the bodge wires I KNOW for a fact i'll have to run.

This PCB is also an experiment to see if I can get the special feature of the ESP32-S3 variant of the controller to do something neat: Native USB support without a USB to Serial converter chip, which simplifies the heck out of the design. otherwise I'd be either building in a serial chip onto the board (costs little money but every dollar counts), or having to flash these with an external programmer. If this works, it will allow me to offer software updates after-the-fact to the end user, cause you'll be able to plug it straight into a PC. USB will also be a fairly easy way to power the thing. The final rev will likely switch to USB-C but I'm keeping it Micro-USB for testing purposes since it's WAY easier to wire up. (USB-C needs all sorts of wacky resistors and capacitors to even get a PC or battery bank to give it power for some reason since type-C is "smart"...)

Please take a moment to look at my rats nest of a PCB and the little things i have built onto it to make debugging and fixing flaws in my design easier!

Boards should be here Wednesday, fully assembled; waiting on the sensors to be socketed or soldered on by me

 

[MicaHusky]

The boards are here, and they work! I didn't have to do any cutting of traces or run any bodge-wires to make them work, they just...DO.
The native USB works great. plug it into a PC and it shows up as a COM port that my programming software is totally happy with.

I even got the Hour + Minute buttons to start cycling the time, which after you've cycled it to the correct time, it will save the time to the RTC which is battery-backupped (the little yellow coin cell there - final design will have a battery holder integrated on the main PCB so you can replace it down the line)

I'm trying out two different OLED panels to see which I end up liking more.

The CO2/VOC sensor is giving me a little bit of issues not wanting to cooperate with the other sensors when combined with them. it always works while alone on it's own board (like on the board with the skinner OLED panel) but doesn't seem to want to cooperate when it's sharing an I2C bus with some other stuff. I've got an alternative CO2/VOC sensor on the way to test and see if it seems to be more accurate/reliable/behaving with other sensors.

One thing I'd like to mention - these little sub-boards sticking up out of the main PCB will have all their components integrated onto the main PCB for the final revision (saving a heck of a lot of space); this was a testing platform using off the shelf sensor breakout boards from amazon to see if the proof-of-concept worked as I expected. (spoiler: it does!)

I've got a lot ahead of me on this project, but the first prototypes look fantastic! Take a look below

 

[SeaSickle]

Man, this project is looking great! I'm excited to follow along as you improve the design!