Simple WORKING! HUD Concept

[EJuggernaut]

I'll assume your thinking "OMG IS THIS REALLY POSSIBLE???" so let me tell you yes, it is possible, and it can be done pretty cheaply and easily.

If you want a HUD that is 'static' in other words, it doesn't change, just for looks ect, then go HERE.

If you want one that actually displays some info, and can change, than this is the thread for you.

I'll make this no secret: Custom electronics for controlling the screen are difficult. If you already have a screen on a device that shows what you want, then just hack 'n' mod it till the screen is in the right place. If you know a good bit about microcontrollers, than this will be a lot easier. If you don't have any experience, and you still want custom electronics, I suggest you start learning about microcontrollers with Arduino. They are more than willing to help and it is simple and easy to use. On the arduino forum, look pm me, my username is the same as it is here.

I helped a friend who had the halo reach helmet with the sensor thing on the side. We took the guts out of a cheap point and shoot cam, and put the actual camera in the sensor, and wired it to the camera's screen which was the basis for the HUD. this is prob the simplest way to create a hud setup, and add options like night vision cam, ect.

In the following pic:
green - screen
blue - lines showing the light reflecting onto the faceshield
purple - mirror

the golden area on the faceshield is where the hud will be projected, adjust the mirror's angle to change this.

AND NOW FOR THE MOMENT WE'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR:

THE CRAPPY PAINT IMAGE!!

 

[Ral Partha]

Sorry but this is not a tutorial. It's not even a proof-of-concept. You need to have the actual working helmet with of pics of the parts that you used, as well as the build stages as you put them together. Pics or this didn't happen.

 

[EJuggernaut]

Sorry but this is not a tutorial. It's not even a proof-of-concept. You need to have the actual working helmet with of pics of the parts that you used, as well as the build stages as you put them together. Pics or this didn't happen.

I do have the helmet and working hud, and the tut's not done. ill get pics ASAP.

 

[Agent Arizona]

Problem is, that you are reflecting light to the outside of the helmet through the visor. That means anyone on the outside will see this too. This makes another problem. After the image hit the mirror and goes to the visor, its just going to pass through for the most part, not reflct back to your eye. It might work just not as well as you think.

It would be better to just mount the screen to the front in my opinion. Thats just my opinion though. Its a good theory just need to be tweaked maybe.

 

[Boba Fett]

Plus, you'll probably end up blinding yourself in the process. It will really impair your vision, as there is a lot of light being reflected near your face. I'm not a master electrician/computer expert/engineer, but I see several more issues

1. Space: your head is already packed into a helmet, you'll need REAL compact mirrors and electronics to make it fit.
2. power source: where is all the electricity coming from?
3. How well will it reflect on the inside of the visor: Is it really going to show up all that well?
4. Distortion: You're gong to have some issues with curves, especially compound curves like on a Mk. VI helmet.

Not saying it can't be done, but I'm skeptical. If you can address these issues, I'll start believing more.

 

[EJuggernaut]

Problem is, that you are reflecting light to the outside of the helmet through the visor. That means anyone on the outside will see this too. This makes another problem. After the image hit the mirror and goes to the visor, its just going to pass through for the most part, not reflct back to your eye. It might work just not as well as you think.

It would be better to just mount the screen to the front in my opinion. Thats just my opinion though. Its a good theory just need to be tweaked maybe.

You could just mount the screen in there and look at it, but thats not as cool.
In terms of the light going through the faceshield, that is not entirely true. About 75% gets reflected back on a clear visor, if it has a mirrored (golden/silver) film/coating on the front, such a motorcycle faceshield, then 80 to 90% gets reflected back. What does go through gets fuzzed and distorted by the coating/film and from the outside, it looks like a slight glow inside, not so much as readable information.

Plus, you'll probably end up blinding yourself in the process. It will really impair your vision, as there is a lot of light being reflected near your face. I'm not a master electrician/computer expert/engineer, but I see several more issues

1. Space: your head is already packed into a helmet, you'll need REAL compact mirrors and electronics to make it fit.
2. power source: where is all the electricity coming from?
3. How well will it reflect on the inside of the visor: Is it really going to show up all that well?
4. Distortion: You're gong to have some issues with curves, especially compound curves like on a Mk. VI helmet.

Not saying it can't be done, but I'm skeptical. If you can address these issues, I'll start believing more.

Your entirely right.

1. There is not much space in the average helmet, but I'm just showing the simplest way to get one in there. it could be projected on the faceshield with a texas instruments picoprojector, which would be smaller, but more complex.
2. As for power, the electricity flows from my brain... ...JK a couple AAs last me all day.
3. As long as the light is hitting the visor/faceshield at ~45°, and the interior surface is shiny, then it reflects most of the light into your eyes.
4. Distortion is an issue, not as badly as you would think though, except on very curved faceshields. You can get around it in several ways:
1. have a second, flat faceshield inside the helmet
2. curve/flex/bend/warp the mirror to cancel the effects of the compound curves

 

[EJuggernaut]

There is another way to do this. Have your faceshield laminated with an OLED display, which is transparent except the pixels that are in use.

Perfect example here.

Could 405th find funding for OLED manufacturing equipment? lol

 

[Santicity]

Why didn't you finish the tutorial first, and then post it? This provides absolutely no information to users. I agree with Ral Partha, not a tutorial, not even a proof-of-concept whatsoever.

 

[Akademee]

I find that the entire premise of an actual HUD is pretty much impractical and impossible to make like a video game's. The fundamental problem with any set up like this is that your eye needs to focus on any sort of light source (yes, objects are light sources). Based on this, the human eye could not physically focus on the HUD and the surrounding environment at the same time. You would have to completely shift your focus from long distance to right-in-your-face. You would never, under any circumstances be able to achieve the "video game like" HUD display.

This concept is demonstrated by putting some reading material very close to one of your eyes and trying to see everything clearly, text and surrounding objects. You will find that you cannot.

I have tried LEDs, lasers, etching, luminescent wires and sheets, and I have not found an easy, practical, or financially feasible way of creating a working HUD.

Sorry guys, it was a dream of mine too...

 

[Boba Fett]

You could just mount the screen in there and look at it, but thats not as cool.
In terms of the light going through the faceshield, that is not entirely true. About 75% gets reflected back on a clear visor, if it has a mirrored (golden/silver) film/coating on the front, such a motorcycle faceshield, then 80 to 90% gets reflected back. What does go through gets fuzzed and distorted by the coating/film and from the outside, it looks like a slight glow inside, not so much as readable information.



Your entirely right.

1. There is not much space in the average helmet, but I'm just showing the simplest way to get one in there. it could be projected on the faceshield with a texas instruments picoprojector, which would be smaller, but more complex.
2. As for power, the electricity flows from my brain... ...JK a couple AAs last me all day.
3. As long as the light is hitting the visor/faceshield at ~45°, and the interior surface is shiny, then it reflects most of the light into your eyes.
4. Distortion is an issue, not as badly as you would think though, except on very curved faceshields. You can get around it in several ways:
1. have a second, flat faceshield inside the helmet
2. curve/flex/bend/warp the mirror to cancel the effects of the compound curves

the first 3 seem ok, but:
a second faceshield reduces visibility, and takes up a crapload of space. Curving a mirror would work, but it could NEVER move and each and every curve would have to be perfect, otherwise distortion is still an issue.
The OLED display actually sounds like the best idea yet, but you'd still have to curve it, and most importantly get your hands on one. Going to be quite a task, that or expensive so that it fits the project.

 

[Spartan247]

i just saw 2 pics it must have happend

 

[Trooper114]

I find that the entire premise of an actual HUD is pretty much impractical and impossible to make like a video game's. The fundamental problem with any set up like this is that your eye needs to focus on any sort of light source (yes, objects are light sources). Based on this, the human eye could not physically focus on the HUD and the surrounding environment at the same time. You would have to completely shift your focus from long distance to right-in-your-face. You would never, under any circumstances be able to achieve the "video game like" HUD display.

This concept is demonstrated by putting some reading material very close to one of your eyes and trying to see everything clearly, text and surrounding objects. You will find that you cannot.

I have tried LEDs, lasers, etching, luminescent wires and sheets, and I have not found an easy, practical, or financially feasible way of creating a working HUD.

Sorry guys, it was a dream of mine too...

I remeber seeing some where, i think if was the Air Force who where able to figure this out but had put it in goggles for SAR (Search And Rescue) troops, they had the ability to display info and also had something like the ODST's night vison feature that could switched on and off. Maybe it was a prototype,but either way i thought it was cool that the miltary is already on this.

 

[Upchuk]

I remeber seeing some where, i think if was the Air Force who where able to figure this out but had put it in goggles for SAR (Search And Rescue) troops, they had the ability to display info and also had something like the ODST's night vison feature that could switched on and off. Maybe it was a prototype,but either way i thought it was cool that the miltary is already on this.

If your referring to the commercial where the two PJs rescue the downed pilot, then thats all BS. So far we(the current military) doesnt have any type of goggle that would be as thick as normal ballistic goggles http://www.tacticaldistributors.com/si-ballistic-goggles-black-grey-lens and display IR or night vision. The smallest thing we have is the NV monocular that still sticks out about 2 and a half inches. The smallest IR device that i know of is still about as big as a large rifle scope. I know the Airforce has been working on helmet mounted HUDs, but have only recently made any progress.

 

[weeds]

My friend,
I think there are a few problems here;
1. I was expecting a tutorial (as suggested in the title). What is here is a concept sketch.
2. The link to the static HUD "tutorial" is about the same without even a sketch.
3. In the sketch, the light from the projector is nicely collimated, in a real device, I don't think this is the case and you would have light from it into your eyes.
4. The bottom of the visor where you have a mirror is not straight, this is a curve. Fitting a mirror to that will be an interesting challenge.
I'm suspect there are many more issues you will run into when you actually try to install this in a helmet.

 

[Agent Arizona]

Seems most people don't think this is going to work. Unless you already have a working model to prove us wrong...ehhh hard to say. Its sketchy.

 

[dsbass09]

Ok. For all the nay-sayers, here's my argument:


1. The point isn't to display a live feed of what is in front of you. That's what your eyes are for. Rather, in my opinion, the point would be to add something valuable to your vision, such as a rear facing view (we know how visually limiting these helmets can be), GPS (google just made gps goggles, as well as the possibility of exporting video feed from a phone with gps, etc.), or even a nightvision view. I know for a fact all these things are possible.

2. The argument that it's unrealistic to have to refocus on the display is just ridiculous. You're not in a battle situation, so time isn't of any importance. In fact, they make add-ons for motorcycle helmets that display your speed and other info RIGHT ON YOUR VISOR. Sometimes, the visor has this built in. So who cares if it takes .5 seconds to focus on, say, a nightvision display to ensure you don't fall in a ditch, etc. on Halloween?

3. The construction would be quite simple. Various companies make video glasses which give as large as 80-inch screen as viewed from 5-10 feet. The simple task of taking these apart, adding one eye display into the helmet slightly above the normal viewing range of your eyes, and stick them in the helmet. This would only require you to glance up to see the display. Another option would be to mount it below, around nose-height. Same idea, just a matter of preference. These can be found (in as high as 1080-p resolution) for a few hundred dollars, or even cheaper refurbished or on ebay (it is going in a helmet, no need to buy the best money can buy) The input is as simple as a normal small hdmi plug, similar to modern phone charger size. Moving components around such as the input jack, battery pack (some have ni-cad rechargable battery packs, others run off other disposable batteries), etc. could be done as easily as taking the things apart and extending wires (correct specs and all) to the desired places. They also make head-mounted computers which run in the 1,000-5,000 dollar range, but that's a bit pricy for me. Safety? Most of these screens are certified to emit absolutely no radiation to the eyes. No different than looking at a normal tv screen. Coupled with a pinhole camera mounted in the back of the chest piece, etc. would definitely benefit people, and it's 100% possible.

This may not be what OP was talking about, but it is possible to make something that would be functional for certain purposes. I did not post links to all this stuff, a quick trip to google will yield much info if interested.


p.s. this was not intended to be nasty or rude-sounding, rather just an explanation of my thoughts on something very similar in construction that would save lots of money but still serve the same purpose

 

[Boba Fett]

Well, ANYTHING can be done with the right amount of money. Problem is, to do what he's suggesting, you need to either: A. Have great engineering skills B. have a big pocketbook. Time, money or quality. Pick 2.

 

[Akademee]

As for the movie goggles, That would be great for the GUNGNIR (or whatever) helmets. But the reasone these things are worth 100s of $$$ is because we are not talking about two camcorder LCD screens taped to the inside of a pair of safety glasses. these are precision engineered devices that utilized ultra-high resolution micro luminescent screens with optimally oriented lenses that make the eye perceive that the screen is about an arm's length away and that the two screens come together into one inside your field of view.

The cheapest one I could find was $99.99 and it is an accessory exclusive to mac products. This product was also significantly smaller than more expensive glasses, which leads me to believe a potential sacrifice in quality/durability. Even so, to have the knowledge of how to convert an S-video signal from a pinhole or small IR camera into an HDMI signal in the confines of a helmet would be pretty hard to come by. This type of setup would almost be akin to the original prototype Mjolnir suits, they had to be directly wired to power plants!

 

[TheFlyingChris]

Well, to solve being hooked up to a giant battery, couldn't the wires be down the back and into the chest? That would be quite easy, wouldn't it? Just a couple of quick disconnects, and most of the bulky electronics can be thrown into the chest piece. Especially with the Reach armor, there is a lot of unused space.

 

[Toacrabman]

My basic approach is to add another layer behind the visor, that will act as a screen, and have the display project on this screen, back towards you, so that it isn't visible on the outside.