
Proceedings Paper
The use of optical waveguides in head up display (HUD) applicationsFormat | Member Price | Non-Member Price |
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Paper Abstract
The application of optical waveguides to Head Up Displays (HUD) is an enabling technology which solves the critical
issues of volume reduction (including cockpit intrusion) and mass reduction in an affordable product which retains the
high performance optical capabilities associated with today’s generation of digital display based HUDs. Improved
operability and pilot comfort is achieved regardless of the installation by virtue of the intrinsic properties of optical
waveguides and this has enabled BAE Systems Electronic Systems to develop two distinct product streams for
glareshield and overhead HUD installations respectively.
This paper addresses the design drivers behind the development of the next generation of Head Up Displays and their
compatibility with evolving cockpit architectures and structures. The implementation of large scale optical waveguide
combiners capable of matching and exceeding the display performances normally only associated with current digital
display sourced HUDs has enabled BAE Systems Electronic Systems to solve the volume and installation challenges of
the latest military and civil cockpits with it’s LiteHUD® technology.
Glareshield mounted waveguide based HUDs are compatible with the trend towards the addition of Large Area Displays
(LAD) in place of the traditional multiple Head Down Displays (HDD) within military fast jet cockpits. They use an
“indirect view” variant of the display which allows the amalgamation of high resolution digital display devices with the
inherently small volume and low mass of the waveguide optics. This is then viewed using the more traditional
technology of a conventional HUD combiner. This successful combination of technologies has resulted in the LPHUD
product which is specifically designed by BAE Systems Electronic Systems to provide an ultra-low profile HUD which
can be installed behind a LAD; still providing the level of performance that is at least equivalent to that of a conventional
large volume glareshield mounted HUD.
In many current Business Jet and Air Transport cockpits overhead mounted HUDs employ a conventional optical
combiner to relay the display from a separate projector to the pilot’s eyes. In BAE Systems’ Electronic Systems QHUDTM
configuration this combiner is replaced by the waveguide and the bulky, intrusive overhead projector completely
eliminated. The result is a significant reduction in equipment volume and mass and a much greater head clearance
combined with a substantially larger Head Motion Box. This latter feature is a fundamental outturn of waveguide optical
solutions which removes the restrictions on pilot eye positioning associated with current conventional systems.
LiteHUD®, developed by BAE Systems, Electronic Systems achieves equivalent optical performance to in-service HUDs
for less cost, mass and volume.
Paper Details
Date Published: 4 June 2013
PDF: 14 pages
Proc. SPIE 8736, Display Technologies and Applications for Defense, Security, and Avionics VII, 87360E (4 June 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2014513
Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8736:
Display Technologies and Applications for Defense, Security, and Avionics VII
Daniel D. Desjardins; Kalluri R. Sarma, Editor(s)
PDF: 14 pages
Proc. SPIE 8736, Display Technologies and Applications for Defense, Security, and Avionics VII, 87360E (4 June 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2014513
Show Author Affiliations
Malcolm Homan, BAE Systems (United Kingdom)
Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8736:
Display Technologies and Applications for Defense, Security, and Avionics VII
Daniel D. Desjardins; Kalluri R. Sarma, Editor(s)
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