9. HUD Auto Dash (1996,1999)
Hardware: DIY ISA bus logic interface to Sharp credit card sized Intel 80386 microcomputer
Software: MS MASM Macro Assembler for the Intel 8086 family
This was the successor to the original 1994 LCD-based motorcycle dashboard.
This had two iterations. The first, 1996, was to use a colour TV with a 4 x 4 overlaid infrared touch screen, which I began to build, but was overtaken by the later HUD version.
The 1999 HUD Auto Dash was a speech controlled, head up display dashboard for a motorcycle.
This was a twin computer system, with one on the bike and one on the helmet, that communicated by a 2.4GHz RF link which also carried video.
The helmet mounted computer consisted of a Sharp credit card sized but complete 386-based PC, together with SMPSU, speech recognition hardware and video processing.
The bike mounted computer had an identical Sharp PC, SMPSU and various interfaces to the bike controls and indicators.
Features included:
User specific speech controlled operation of the following:
Engine start
Indicators
Select camera view
Engine timing parameter display selection
Engine timing modification within predefined safe limits
The helmet was fitted with a tiny CRT which was an ex-camcorder viewfinder, mounted on the side. A right Angle Prism directed its light into the visor and the right eye. For safety reasons the left eye (my dominant eye) had an unobstructed view of the road, but also an overlaid transmissive colour LCD with characters conveying the motorcycle dash indicators: speed, tacho, indicators, oil level, choke percentage, engine temperature, acceleration time out. The right eye had a similar overlay to control the system, as well as graphical representations of engine parameters which could be modified and stored in dedicated files for later recall and comparison.
The motorcycle had a forward facing IR sensitive camera for enhanced night imaging and a rear facing camera. Either could be selected under speech control. Part of the reason for a forward facing camera was so I could turn my head to look (essential on a motorcycle) when turning left or right, but still be able to see what was in front of (or behind) me.
The HUD dash accompanied a new carbon fibre design for the fairing, which this time was to consist of horizontal louvres. The new carbon fibre fairing was to be cold cast in the same manner as conventional fibreglass, unrelated to the high pressure high temperature moulds that are required for stressed
carbon fibre parts.
The earlier glass fibre fairing had acted as a huge wind sail, so the new louvre design was intended to allow as much airflow as possible laterally through the motorcycle. The louvres were split into two sections, one forward that was fixed, and one at the rear with variable angle geometry louvres to act as an aerofoil to throw more weight onto the rear wheel for acceleration, much the same as the rear sail on F1 sports cars. I planned on painting the carbon fibre fairing with liquid crystal paint so the bike would change colour according to temperature.
The design was intended to be based on a Bimota Tesi with a hub centre steered chassis:
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimota_Tesi
The fairing was similar to the earlier glass fibre design, but this time the hump over the petrol tank was to be the injection system plenum chamber, with a motorised door above it to permit the helmet to be stored there when the bike was parked. A flexible membrane (mechanically raised when the engine was on) isolated the inlet tract from the helmet, ensuring no dust or dirt entered the engine.
Another refinement was a motorised self-locking centre stand with a mechanical safety interlock to ensure it could only operate when the engine was off.
I looked in vain for a company who might be interested in investing in the design for industrial or military use as a wearable computer unrelated to motorcycles.