Head up display systems have been around for decades in military airplanes and have started to emerge into the cockpits of business jets in the past few years. While some companies have tried to introduce the system into light aircraft, the effort has yet to see any success. This may change with a new system currently in development at MyGoFlight, which produces aviation bags, iPad and iPhone mounting equipment, screen protectors and more, targeted for the aviation market.
The concept for the new HUD is a portable product that would mount with a quick release system. MyGoFlight’s revolutionary idea is to project images from an iPad or iPhone onto the HUD screen via WiFi. The company is already offering a separate screen that links via WiFi to the iPad or iPhone for a additional viewing source in the cockpit, but the HUD would allow the pilot to fly while seeing the image from the iPad projected in front, focused on infinity.
Unlike traditional HUDs, which are limited to green colors, the MyGoFlight HUD will offer a full color spectrum. It will also have an autodim feature, to reduce the brightness in low light conditions, and the pilot will be able to dim the projection manually as well.
While the views from current tablet apps can be projected as is, Charles Schneider, CEO and co-founder of MyGoFlight, is working with app providers to create views that are specially targeted for the HUD concept, such as track up approach charts and airport views.
At AirVenture today, we checked out MyGoFlight’s battery-powered prototype, which combines a projection unit, a combiner and a wireless interface. While the screen portion does not appear to distort the forward view, the multi-colored HUD image was easy to see in bright daylight conditions. Schneider said the production version will likely be less than a foot long, five inches wide and an inch thick, making it easy to mount above or below the windshield.
Schneider expects to be able to offer the product for under $10,000 and hopes to have a production prototype ready by the end of the year.
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