I'm seriously thinking of tackling an "above my weight" project in order to integrate a nice dashboard into a custom motorcycle.
I've been mostly using LCDs until now and the library make it really simple to display characters so this is more complicated than any graphic output (and programming) I've done so far.
So here's the project in two words :
I want to use a large (4 or 5") color display to mimic a simplified version of the Saab Aero-X display (concept-car)
Here's the picture :
I only want to retain two informations : RPM and mph. I really like the "ribbon"/"drum" style speedometer so I'd like to have the speedometer in the center of a circle, the rest of the circle being the RPM meter.
Now I know there are a number of GUI libraries that I could use to display the values but I'd really like to polish the aesthetics so I will have for example to use this font or this font.
In order to give the "drum speedometer" look I also have to make the readings move with the speed.
Also, the RPM meter could be red bars appearing around the circle when the RPM goes up.
So well, as you probably noticed, I am pretty much nowhere on this project so if any of you have any guidance or axis that I can follow, it'd be greatly appreciated!
Marc
P.S : I was thinking of displaying several .bmp files according to the values that I want to display but I guess that'd be VERY memory heavy! And also, I wouldn't know how to do smooth transitions between the values without having a VERY large number of frames! And that is considering that the display rate would be fast enough...
Do you have a particular display which is readable in sunlight?
The Arduino is very slow at updating most displays because it has to draw individual pixels with long commands. The best I know of is the RA8875 based displays that have enough memory to store graphic elements off-screen so you can place characters on the screen with simple copy commands.
In your picture it looks like everything on that screen is moving, which will be impossible with an Arduino.
Check that whatever display you choose display is still going to function if left in the summer sun for several hours. Will it still work in freezing temperatures?
Yes indeed, environmental issues are difficult to tackle but it won't be a daily-driver and if I can make it work with a regular display, I'll put myself in search of the right display for the job...
@MorganS : I only need two parameters RPM and speed.
Well, that still makes it a lot but let's say we display a picture for each "state" (displaying only 100RPM by 100RPM and mph by mph), that makes it 100x100 : 10 000pictures... Ok that's a lot...
And if you tell me Arduino cannot display that fast, what are my options left? Should I upgrade to a more powerful platform or is there a more rational way of displaying nice characters than just 10000 pictures!?
marc426:
Yes indeed, environmental issues are difficult to tackle but it won't be a daily-driver and if I can make it work with a regular display, I'll put myself in search of the right display for the job...
No, because once you find that the display you've spent 6 months working on in the basement is useless in the sunlight then it's very difficult to spend another 6 months working on the display that you ruled out earlier because it cost $50 more.
And if you tell me Arduino cannot display that fast, what are my options left? Should I upgrade to a more powerful platform or is there a more rational way of displaying nice characters than just 10000 pictures!?
The best I can say is the RS8875 based displays. I've got them doing 2,000 pictures per second updating numbers on the screen with an Arduino Micro but it won't ever look as nice as the picture you showed.
Or use something with a graphics coprocessor, like a Rasberry Pi or a Beaglebone.
