I'm working on creating a "gauge block" for a motorcycle project, with the goal of being as (aesthetically) minimal as possible. I know how to do all the electrical bits and calculate things like speed an RPM. I also have a very basic 3D model mockup for how I want it to look.
However, now I'm stuck on trying to find some sort of LED display that will fit my needs. Here is how I want the gauge to look (eventually will be CNC aluminum:
The two top bars will be the speedometer and tachometer, sort of as a "progress" bar (i.e speedometer showing 0-100mph from one side to the other). I'd have markings cut showing the actual RPM/MPH values.
The colored bits at the bottom are the LED indicator lights (high beam, turn signal, oil level, neutral) .
What I'm looking for is some sort of long and thin LED display that will work to illuminate the tach/speedo bars in a way that can be controlled. The length of the entire unit will probably be 8-10 inches. The cover for the tach/speedo will be some sort of smoke semi-transparent plastic.
Right now I'm looking at using neopixels with the highest possible LED density, however I'm not sure if they will be bright enough to show up in daylight, or if they will be high density enough without "bleeding" light so much that it's difficult to tell how far the bar is lit up.
Anyone have other suggestions for a way to fill the speedo/tach bars incrementally with some sort of display?
The blue, yellow and red LED should not be any problem. The matter is to make it sustain the environment. (I'm a biker and know too well what "environment" can be like).
For the green light there are bars available but a piece of plexiglas an, let's say, 2 or 3 green LEDs could work.
The speed- and RPM- displays calls for a vertical bar function. Graphical display wold fix it but the dimension You ned is a bit odd, wide but vertically limited. Let's se if some old fox turns up with a product!
Yeah, an actual graphical display would have the best "resolution" but would really physically fit in this application. That's why I initially thought of using a neopixel strip with a high density, but before I tried that (neopixels are expensive!) I thought I'd see if anyone had a better idea.
I just got an idea. Suppose You buy one graphic display that shows the speed in the one (upper?) part of the display and RPM in the other (lower?) part of the display. Don't bother about the unused middle of the display.
I thought about using a regular display, I think that would work (if I could find one long enough to stretch across the bar without being too tall), but it would have to be very close to the plastic cover on the surface.
Adafruit carry a 10 segment light bar LED display. It looks as if you could place several side by side and maintain the same spacing per LED, or at least close to it. They look about the right size too. The question I would have is to whether they are bright enough.
Huh, I really like the aesthetic of those. If they're bright enough, I might even just re-design the bars in my model so that I can include the segment displays flush with the surface with no cover.
Although it does look like each individual LED would need to be controlled, so I'd need some sort of driver with multiple segments.
You should look at the resolution You want in the display, how many pixels, bars, You need and the width it takes in the display. Maybe You can replace the steering bar with an ALU block and have a 3 feet wide display.... No, I don't think You want Your bike to look like an UFO.
My inspiration for the display came from seeing the indicator lights that the Honda Shadow 750 uses (a few indicator bulbs in the steering head). I want something that looks clean like that, but also a display for speedometer/tachometer that wasn't a dial display, and was as minimal as possible.
The Swedish car maker Volvo once used a thermometer type of speed indicator....
I'm a Yamaha guy, one AS1 125 cc, a 535 cc Virago and now an 1100 cc Drag Star Classic....
Cool, the bike I'm planning on installing this on is an 88' Virago 750. If it looks good enough, I have two other Viragos I may install it on. I do a lot of electrical wiring work so all of these bikes will have brand new wiring I'll be making anyway.
bluejets:
Surely a great row of bright lights would be a right PIA.
It wouldn't be a ton of lights, only bar a few inches wide. It would be smaller than most LED screens.
Railroader:
Considering a little motor, stepper, to pull like a curtain along the window? What depth can You provide for that unit? Visibility would be unmatched.
I actually thought about doing something with motors, but there's no space. The whole thing would only be like 8x4x1 inches.
