With the development of 5G communications, the automotive industry has entered a “big era” where cars are smarter than before and connected to everything. Car interactive products with a strong sense of technology, such as the head-up display (HUD), are gradually being valued.
Automotive HUD has been introduced into the automotive field for more than 30 years, but it has always been in a tepid position. There are very few models with HUD on the market. At present, the price of HUD products is high. It costs about $1400 for BMW to install a HUD. In the case of non-rigid demand, it is not easy to convince people to buy. From the perspective of car companies, HUD products have technical difficulties. Development costs and material costs are high. Moreover, the insufficient consumption capacity is bound to affect the investment confidence of car companies. As for the HUD itself, the big problem with HUD is that the on-board display flip device often affects driving safety due to the fact that it is not turned in the right place, the drive does not stop after turning in place, and the turning angle is not enough. Although HUD is good in some way, it is costly and not rigidly required. Without certain market guidance and education, the product value is not recognized by consumers, and the market share is difficult to improve.
To meet the intelligent flipping demand of the head-up display, Shenzhen ZHAOWEI Machinery & Electronics Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “ZHAOWEI”) puts forward a head-up display of the flip-screen gearbox solution. By analyzing the structure of the head-up display flip screen, the reversing mechanism of the display screen allows the gear reversing device to form two sets of transmission routes, one of which is the transmission system consisting of the input shaft, the commutator, the forward gear train, and the output gear. The other transmission system is composed of the input shaft, the commutator, the reverse gear train, and the output gear. When the forward gear train is involved in the transmission, the output gear rotates forward; When the reverse gear participates in the transmission, the output gear is reversed. The output gear steering can be changed through the conversion of the above two sets of transmission routes, so as to avoid damage to the gear due to excessive load, and enable position adjustment of the head-up display.
In order to meet the requirement of small size and high torque, and to meet the transmission torque of the head-up display for easy and intelligent rotation, the HUD transmission structure has two, three, and four-level transmission adjustments. The input speed, torque, and reduction ratio can be adjusted according to the design requirements of the head-up display micro switch motor.
In order to improve the service life and quality of the head-up display, ZHAOWEI uses kinematics simulation to verify the smoothness and local interference of the gear pair movement during the gearbox design stage. At the same time, finite element analysis technology is used to analyze and check the tooth surface strength of spiral teeth and bevel gears. In addition, ZHAOWEI detects changes in cavity pressure during the injection molding process through cavity pressure technology to monitor product quality.
In terms of reducing product noise, ZHAOWEI uses the gearbox design platform to realize the automatic parameter design of involute planetary gear systems, bevel gears, face gears and other mechanisms. By optimizing gear parameters, such as modification coefficient, tooth coefficient, pressure angle, center distance, etc., ZHAOWEI makes the meshing impact speed decrease, and the ratio of the meshing impact speed to the meshing impact speed is limited within a certain value range. The gear design method to reduce or mesh the pitch circle impact can meet the silent operation (weak noise) requirement.
HUD is a complex component that integrates optical design, structural design, and software algorithms. The technical threshold is high. For many start-up companies, even if these problems are solved, they still need to convince the core customer, main engine manufacturer from the perspectives of mass production and profitability. Nowadays, more and more manufacturers have invested in this field, and the market potential of HUD is obviously good. With the advent of electrification and the intelligence of automobiles, the acceptance of the HUD market is continuously improving. Based on the development of artificial intelligence technology, the Internet of Things (IOT) towards automobiles are rapidly penetrating. HUD is an important window for human-computer interaction with ADAS functions. In addition to visually presenting information about the instrument and the central control screen on the windshield, in the level 3 automatic driving, AR-HUD can give the driver intuitive feedback of information inside and outside the car, such as speed limit reminder, collision warning, ground navigation, etc., effectively alleviating the driver’s safety anxiety about automatic driving.
The HUD market is growing rapidly every year. According to the global market research company, IHS Markit, the HUD market is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 20%. In the current era of consumption upgrades, how to “travel efficiently” is a problem urgent to be solved. Traditional travel methods can no longer meet the needs of the current users. Under the guidance of the technological revolution and industrial transformation, the transformation of smart mobility has begun. In the future, under the impetus of artificial intelligence and other technologies, AR (augmented reality) HUD will become a new development trend. HUD has been put high expectations upon the arrival of automobile intelligence. ZHAOWEI will contribute to the process by optimizing and adjusting the HUD flip system in terms of micro-drive systems.
