Thread: Infrared night vision on the 2.0T

Oh, forgot to mention the switch box I'm wiring up for this. 4 on/off switches- IR fog light, IR camera, LCD monitor, and a tail-light killer[why not?]. tail light killer will be wired into the fuse box and will perform the equivalent function of "pulling" the fuses on the tail light assemblies.

thats quite the project if you're a spy or a stalker.

you should look into that HUD monitor to overlay your windshield, that way your eyes are always on the road and it not being backlit is actually safer.

I had a buddy who did this on his 1000+ hp Camaro and he enjoyed it. Not sure I'd ever want to be caught in a situation where I'd need to use that type of gear!

The system is installed, and is a success! ...though not the level of success that I was looking for. The IR cluster I had started using worked ok, but the beam only spread about 10ft wide at a distance of 60ft- didn't quite cut it. I had softof expected this and already had new IR led's on order and a new plan for placement of the IR camera.

I have a total of 16, 1.6watt 850nm(dim red glow) IR LED's on the way. These will combine for a total of 25watts and will be installed across the upper grill. This will project an even beam across the road surface, just like headlights.

The 850nm LED's aren't ideal, because they have a visible red glow, but they were all that was available for instant shipping and will definitely do the trick. I did find 100, 1.4w 950nm(military spec, no visible glow) IR LEDs for $17.00, those are on backorder for 7 weeks. Thinking that ought to be PLENTY of IR illumination haha.

As for the camera- it's getting moved inside the car for a few reasons. Primarily, because of the depth of field is skewed having it off-center. Almost impossible to keep the car between the left and right painted lines when you can see the left line starting 3 ft ahead and the right hand line about 15-20ft ahead. Another thing I noticed was that this camera would fog up when driving at night, due to the exchange of cool air outside and warm temp inside the camera. I also like my cars to look stock, so having this camera in the front end takes away some of the sleeper look and feel.

FYI- if anyone has a project that they might need to hack the blanking insert for, go ahead, they are only $15 at the dealer.

I'm building a bracket for the camera and will be mounting it in the car, near the rear view mirror. This will not only make it fully adjustable, but will also eliminate the fog issue and keep the lens clean and bug/snow/rain free. The view from this angle should closely match the view I have from the driver's seat.

So, snoopy0812, I was thinking about your HUD suggestion, and I've done a little research. Seems it is possible to turn my windshield into an HUD after all. I found paint and film which allow you to project an image onto them- so I'm going to do some testing with each to see if either the film or paint will be acceptable for windshield application. I've heard that the paint dries somewhat opaque- thats an instant no-go for windshield, though the film may be an option. Worst case I guess I can custom fabricate a system that will use a secondary piece of glass/plexi to project an image onto, activated only when needed. I'll be using a Pico Projector on the HUD once I've figured out how to project the image properly.

I'll post some pictures of the IR cluster I'm assembling, as well as installation and post-install pictures.

I have lots of time, tools, materials and help available to me for this project, so expect some seriously cool results.

look into what Corvette does for theirs, or Lexus, both brands have a HUD, the Lexus though does what you're doing, it overlays night vision on the windscreen right infront of the driver, very low illumination for a more natural/anti-glare display. I am interested in the results, I'm interested in all things "gizmo" (even the gremlin thing)

This is sweet.
Very interested in what's to come.

Where do you live, btw?