Synthetic Vision....for my car?

[ak49er]

First,
Brilliant! What a simple solution for most, I hope someone tries it and reports back.

I would never have thought of it.

I believe I phone Service Up here is spotty if not Grey Market, things I don't even understand....

But I am looking into the laptop, GPS method, and will report.

[mattevans]

You're insane.

Synth-vision is provided in planes to aid situational awareness ie help ensure pilots do not become disoriented in IFR flight when using standard IFR instrumentation.

You on the other hand are talking about using a pure synth-vision homebuilt solution to help you drive on presumably public roads with no other "IFR equivalent" back-up. God help the other users of those roads....

[ak49er]

Insane,..... perhaps.

Read the original post, this was to be used purely during emergency, no-visibility situations, such as a temporary blizzards created when a double-semi tractor passes in the oncoming lane, or when crossing a bridge over a tidal river that is foggy more than not.

It's not as if I had planned on doing a "Cross-Country" "Solo" with an "IFR Hood" on.

In fact it would be to the benefit of the other drivers, and my self to stay safely in control of my vehicle, keeping it in my lane of travel.

You are a bit reactionary, no?

[mattevans]

Insane,..... perhaps.

Read the original post, this was to be used purely during emergency, no-visibility situations, such as a temporary blizzards created when a double-semi tractor passes in the oncoming lane, or when crossing a bridge over a tidal river that is foggy more than not.

It's not as if I had planned on doing a "Cross-Country" "Solo" with an "IFR Hood" on.

In fact it would be to the benefit of the other drivers, and my self to stay safely in control of my vehicle, keeping it in my lane of travel.

You are a bit reactionary, no?

Possibly I am reactionary. Are you planning to test all of this wonderful tech on a private track where you have no chance of harming other people if it happens to be say 2 feet to the left inaccurate?

[coligny]

Possibly I am reactionary. Are you planning to test all of this wonderful tech on a private track where you have no chance of harming other people if it happens to be say 2 feet to the left inaccurate?

Go fight all the clowns watching DVD, using their phones or reading newspaper while driving. Then go back harrassing the guy who tries to reduce his road-blindness with homemade solution. He want to switch to a situation of 0 visibility to a situation were at least he know where the rad was supposed to be. It's not exactly the kind of thinking that justify a "won't somebody think of the children" moment.
I had the same problem when I put a side screen for a side front cam on my car to cancel the blind angle due to a massive A pillard. The smartest of the bunch were crying "distraction, it's dangerous to look at a screen when driving" yeah... sure... looking a screen showing me 120 degres of the road in the direction I'm going instead of letting me play "drive and guess". (the "I told you so" crowd, people who trives in others failure while not doing a lot by themselves)

Improving safety is not just about "doing nothing". Sometimes, safety is about standing up and daring to say, "this solution is rubbish from the factory, nearly anything can be an improvment over it"

[mattevans]

Go fight all the clowns watching DVD, using their phones or reading newspaper while driving. Then go back harrassing the guy who tries to reduce his road-blindness with homemade solution. He want to switch to a situation of 0 visibility to a situation were at least he know where the rad was supposed to be. It's not exactly the kind of thinking that justify a "won't somebody think of the children" moment.
I had the same problem when I put a side screen for a side front cam on my car to cancel the blind angle due to a massive A pillard. The smartest of the bunch were crying "distraction, it's dangerous to look at a screen when driving" yeah... sure... looking a screen showing me 120 degres of the road in the direction I'm going instead of letting me play "drive and guess". (the "I told you so" crowd, people who trives in others failure while not doing a lot by themselves)

Improving safety is not just about "doing nothing". Sometimes, safety is about standing up and daring to say, "this solution is rubbish from the factory, nearly anything can be an improvment over it"

"Improving safety" is also not just about using totally unproven solutions in a real world situation where you should just pull over and wait until visibility improve.

I couldn't really care less about distraction (and I actually think your blind spot cam is a good idea), my concern is that you appear to think that this "solution" is any better than "drive and guess" without any testing or evidence.

[coligny]

"Improving safety" is also not just about using totally unproven solutions in a real world situation where you should just pull over and wait until visibility improve.

I couldn't really care less about distraction (and I actually think your blind spot cam is a good idea), my concern is that you appear to think that this "solution" is any better than "drive and guess" without any testing or evidence.

Stopping on a road where there is no visibility is the typical case of "to be safe don't do anything" I'm referring to. And if you suggest stopping until the weather improve... on some parts of this planet that means staying at home 6 month a year.
Snow, traffic, bad visibility. The LAST THING YOU WANT TO DO is stopping and become a sitting duck on the side ready to be crushed by the other cars deporting to the right to avoid the incoming trucks who create the original mayhem.

I think we are here around people with aeronautical design methods (and, smart... I read "mycockpit in the URL, not digg). I don't know for the other but for me, each and every technical modification done to my car is done in several steps. Conception, on desk prototyping and stand alone testing, protocol of implementation on the vehicle, protocol for testing once installed. Static testing, in motion closed road testing (yeah, parking after dark as everybody else) including simulation of failure. Then after everything is proved to work or fail according to plan I start using it for daily driving.
Even for something as basic as selecting the place to put a GPS screen on the dash I went thrue most of this.
Screen had to be, near line of sight with the road, not obstructing the driving path view, correct angle toward the driver, correct angle to avoid sun glare, correct position to minimize reflection on the windshield.
The result is a GPS that can be used while still being able to follow the traffic ahead.
The sideview cam took quite some time too, selecting the proper FOV for the cam, proper position (choosing between more forward or more sideway view) even the height of the onboard screen was carefully tested.

All this work made me realize that, everything else in the car seems to have been designed by monkeys. All the aircon buttons have similar shapes and are too low, I don't have status lights for city and driving lights (just for fog and highbeams), the comodo for wipers and light selection are awefull in their feedback. And the hazard light button (used a lot in daily driving here for communication with other cars) is so out of reach that I'm in the process of putting a foot pedal switch to negate the risk of having to bend to reach it.
The gas refill and bonnet opening handle are under the steering together, and the bigger one open the bonnet (which is not something I do all the time) while the more used one for the fuel trap is smaller and harder to catch.

To be back on topic. I think (hope) that people coming up with ideas like this also know how to test their system before considering them foolproof for daily use. Usually, any solution is better than drive and guess. And if it's worse... It won't be twice. Now on this particular solution, testing of acuracy in good weather is dead easy... The only real parameter subject to variation would be the GPS precision degradation because of the bad weather, and this also can be safely tested.

[ak49er]

Well first off, I had planned on using the thechnology in my boat, at the lake that makes up my front yard, this fall. Then if succesful directly to real world implementation. observing and refining it unitl the day I actually need it.

Second, **** no, I will not make any attempt to pull over while blinded by snow flurries, but will contuniue to decelerate and attempt to hold my lane.

Yes, texters, cell phone users, on the road salesman, and those who choose to watch TV/DVD or surf the internet will remain the biggest hazard on the road.

BTW I love the side cam idea, you really nailed it, the A-Pillars on todays vehicles are ginormous and very obstructive. I find myself leaning very far forward to complete my view of my surroundings.

Hey Evans, have a beer and chill.....

[ANDYSMITH]

I am shure the first person to "fly blind" using the first prototype IFR instruments was shunned by nay sayers. don't get discouraged by other peoples inability to see the future..Andy

[Jackpilot]

The future in that matter depends on roadside equipment. Not on a variant of a $40 sim Soft.
Precision approach is still linked to ILS "ground" stations and GPS CAT III IFR landings are far from being approved.

A road is narrower than a runway and a runway is straight.

Good luck guys!