Planet Arduino

The Garmin HUD+ was a small Bluetooth device intended for the dashboard of a car, meant to be used as a GPS heads-up display for data from Garmin smartphone apps. It used a bright VFD (vacuum fluorescent display) which was viewed through a clear reflector, and displayed GPS information and directions. It was discontinued in 2015, but [Doz] was fond of his and used it happily until a phone upgrade meant it no longer worked. Was it destined for a landfill? Not if he had anything to say about it!

The first thing [Doz] tried was using an alternate Android app, but since it also didn’t work, it was time to sit back and reflect on the scope of the issue. In [Doz]’s case, he really only wanted some basic meaningful data displayed, and decided he could do away with the phone altogether if he had the right hardware.

A u-blox GPS module and ESP32 board were the keys to making a standalone device to display meaningful data on the Garmin HUD+ over Bluetooth, thanks to the fact that the protocol used had been reverse engineered. After a lot of troubleshooting, [Doz] got some basic functions working: speed, time, satellite count, and a working compass arrow. The GPS receiver and ESP32 live in a small 3D-printed enclosure, and the HUD? It stays on the dash just like it always has, forever in 2015, blissfully unaware that the march of smartphone technology has left it behind.

His code is on GitHub and there is a video demonstrating the the unit embedded below, just under the page break. It’s always nice to see VFD displays given new life.

If you haven’t been paying attention, big wheel trikes are a thing. There are motor driven versions as well as OG pedal pushing types . [Flux Axium] is of the OG (you only get one link, now its on you) flavor and has written an instructable that shows how to achieve some nice looking on screen data that he syncs up with the video for a professional looking finished product which you can see in the video after the break.

[Flux Axium] is using an Arduino Mega in his setup along with a cornucopia of sensors and all their data is being logged onto an SD card. All the code used in his setup is available in his GitHub repository. [Flux Axium] was also nice enough to include the calibration process he used for the sensors which is also located in the GitHub download.

Sadly [Flux Axium] uses freedom hating software for combining the video and data, Race Render 3 is his current solution and he is pleased with the results. Leave it in the comments if you have an open source solution for combining the video and data that we can offer him as a replacement.