Question about collimated display systems.

[geneb]

Here's a link that shows what we got done this past Saturday:

http://www.diy-cockpits.org/coll/col...lay_page2.html

Hopefully the server won't fall over again today. (motherboard is fading I think)

It turns out the only active patent we have to worry about covers the "ears" that help form the mirror. I don't know that there is a practical way around that one, but we'll look into it further at some point.

g.

[Mike.Powell]

Thanks for the link and pix, Gene. GREAT work!

[geneb]

Thanks Mike. I've been looking into 1200x800 projectors and boy... ka-ching!

g.

[Matt Olieman]

Yes Gene, thanks for the pics. I tried to look for more, but you've got them well hidden

Projectors.... I don't know which ones your looking at, but they've come done quite a bit from a few years ago. Yes, I know, still a bunch. I thought they would be coming down quit a bit more by now.

I'm amazed at your workmanship..... WOW, you've got the touch!!!! I can't wait for more pics.

Matt Olieman

[rjvcarvalho]

I saw this yesterday on discovery, did not know that the projector had a mirror between it and the screen that reflects to the vacum mirror.

http://science.discovery.com/videos/...simulator.html

[geneb]

Thanks Matt. I'm looking at the Epson EX7200 right now. They can be had as low as $650, but it's still painful, specially if I need to throw in a new TH2G as well. If it turns out two more GTX260 video cards are cheaper than one TH2G....

I'm going to start the design work on the 225 degree mirror framework this evening. I'm going to be puzzle-piece'ing quit a bit of it. The design needs to be both portable and easily to assemble on-site at Wayne's house. It won't be nearly as deep as the 60 degree frame though. I'm going to design it so that the base is between 2 and 4 inches deeper than the spherical arc in order to keep it as small as possible. The back will be round instead of squared off like it is and there will be a couple of different vac points as well as a panel that I can access the interior with. I'm going to be experimenting with controlling the vacuum by Arduino and a barometric pressure sensor (did I mention this already?!). I'm also going to try a much smaller vacuum pump that has a very small CFM rating (cubic feet per minute) flow, but can draw down a higher vacuum. The Arduino would control the power to the pump via relay as well as a solenoid driven vacuum valve.

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[Joe Cygan]

Here's a link that shows what we got done this past Saturday:

http://www.diy-cockpits.org/coll/col...lay_page2.html

Hopefully the server won't fall over again today. (motherboard is fading I think)

It turns out the only active patent we have to worry about covers the "ears" that help form the mirror. I don't know that there is a practical way around that one, but we'll look into it further at some point.

g.

Very nice Gene!

[castle]

Fry's had a sale on two months ago on some Viewsonics PJ-551Ds for $495.

Resolution is 1280x1024, so I picked up two. Should check, but think that is native res and thery are DLPs, still in the boxes. Once I get the mounts and mirrors up and the mesh software working will fire them up. Maybe before Christmas..

Not fair you have all those neat tools like a CNC and cutting table to work with . I'm stuck with a table and band saw and a drill press..

Marvelous work, Gene

JW

[geneb]

Castle, the native resolution of that projector is 1024x768. It make take a high resolution input signal, but it'll scale it down to fit. You'll get the highest image quality if you feed it at its native resolution.

Here's the stats from the Projector Calculator:
http://www.projectorcentral.com/View...ulator-pro.htm

The screen was Wayne's trial by fire with AutoCAD. He did good.

g.

[geneb]

Just a quick update - this is what the mirror "solid" looks like;


This will be cut apart into the bits needed to make it into a framework. The top is 4" wide and the gap is about 68" wide. The mirror frame covers 225 degrees.

[Update! I screwed up - the arc should only be 190 degrees.]
g.