Windshield NeoPixel HUD

Inspiration

Have you ever been driving down the road and either realize that you have no idea what the speed limit is or you just think there should be a better way to monitor your speed without taking your eyes off of the road? We had an idea! We have come up with a solution to both of your problems.

What it does

This is a visual display that monitors your current speed and compares it to the posted speed limit of the road you are currently on. It utilizes the colors green, yellow, and red to indicate to the driver whether or not their speed is becoming unsafe.

How I built it

We used an ESP-12S WiFi Module paired with a NeoPixel LED strand. The Arduino IDE was used to program the ESP-12S.

Challenges I ran into

Finding a useful API that speed limits can be extracted from for the entirety of the US seemed to be the most daunting task of the entire process.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

Utilizing an ESP-12S WiFi module and programming a NeoPixel LED strand. Connecting the ESP-12S to a WiFi network and obtaining an IP address. Similarly we are proud of the concept and hopefully plan to continue working past a simple demo version.

What I learned

Before this competition we had never heard of both the NeoPixel or the ESP-12S. Also we learned all about shields that can connect to arduinos (display screens, GPS, WiFi) that add additional functionality to the device. We also learned a lot about API's as neither one of us had ever worked on implementing one before.

What's next for Windshield NeoPixel HUD

We are hoping to add both a RESTful API that can fetch the speed of a given road and a GPS locator to give our idea a little more usefulness and life.

Built With

• arduino
• neopixel