New 7-Segment Display

I just received my new Serial 7-Segment Display in the mail!

Sparkfun's updated version of this display features a more compact design, and comes with an ATMega328 preloaded with the Arduino bootloader, which I'm going to use to program my HUD without the need for the physical Arduino.

Figuring out the programming using an FTDI breakout board

Without the Arduino, the display unit will take up less room and be easier to mount than in version 1.0.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Car HUD Version 1.1

I've updated the design of the heads-up display, with everything mounted with suction cups over the dashboard.

Some problems with the previous version (1.0) that I aimed to fix are the following:

• My knee would often hit the Arduino
• The combiner was rather high in my field of vision
• My hand sometimes obstructed the display when using my turn signal

So the Arduino is now on the passenger side and the lens is right above the radio:

Whole setup

One thing I don't like about the new setup is that my bad engineering skills created a suction cup right in the middle of my field of vision:

Driver's view, notice left suction cup considerably higher than the right

Arduino and Lens

Lens

Arduino in a cardboard case

Support for the combiner mount provided by
white plastic rods (cut from plastic hangers)

I'm not convinced that this design is better than version 1.0, but it does get the job done.

Be on the lookout, version 2.0 is in the building stage right now with lots of upgrades!

-Bill