Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02530931 2005-12-20
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RECORDING INFORMATION RELATING TO A
VEHICLE
FIELD OF INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a system and method for video
information relating to
a vehicle.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Vehicle information recording and maintenance systems are widely known
as "black
boxes". Black boxes typically record information regarding the operation of a
vehicle, and
particularly information relating to incidents such as accidents.
[0003] The present application is directed to systems and methods relating to
recording and
maintaining vehicular information.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] In an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for
recording
information relating to a vehicle. The system comprises: a processor for
controlling recording of
the information; a sensor connected to the processor for obtaining sensed
information relating to
the vehicle; a motion detector connected to the processor for obtaining
acceleration information
relating to motion of the vehicle; and a memory connected to the processor for
recording
information, including the sensed information and the acceleration
information. The processor
controls starting the recording of the information to the memory in real time
on the basis of the
acceleration information.
[0005] The motion detector may be a three-axis accelerometer. The acceleration
information
obtained by the three-axis accelerometer may include longitudinal motion
information,
transverse motion information, and vertical motion information relating to the
vehicle.
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10006] The analysis of the accelerometer information may include the processor
determining
if the acceleration information suggests a motion change in the vehicle from a
stop position that
is greater than a sensitivity level, and if so, initiating recording of the
information.
[0007] The processor. may further control stopping the recording of the
information to the
memory in real time on the basis of the acceleration information. The analysis
of the
acceleration information may also include the processor determining if the
acceleration
information suggests a motion change in the vehicle due to impact that is
greater than the
sensitivity level, and if so, terminating recording of the information for
after a timed interval.
The analysis of the acceleration information may further include determining
that the
acceleration information does not suggest a motion change that should trigger
terminating
recording of the inforrnation, if the vertical motion information as compared
to the longitudinal
and traverse information suggests a change in a road surface condition instead
of impact.
[0008] The system may further comprise a plurality of input ports connected to
the processor
for receiving additional information relating to the vehicle.
[0009] The sensed information may visual information and the additional
information may
include on-board data (OBD)-II data. The OBD-II data may be used by the
processor to control
the recording of the information.
[0010] The memory may be non-volatile memory. The memory may be connected to
the
processor through a memory port, and the memory may be removable from the
port.
100111 The system may further comprise an auxiliary memory in a protected
auxiliary
casing. The auxiliary memory may be connected to the processor and the memory.
The
auxiliary memory may keep a copy of the information recorded by the memory.
The protected
auxiliary casing being may be removed a main casing housing the memory. The
protected
auxiliary casing may be heat and impact resistant, and may comprise a heat and
impact resistant
aluminium shell.
[0012] The sensor may be housed in a sensor casing removed from the main
casing.
[0013] The sensor casing may include a heat element controlled by the
processor, the heat
element for adjusting the temperature of the sensor during low temperature use
of the system.
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The sensor may be connected to the processor by a wireless connection. The
wireless connection
may be a Bluetooth connection.
[0014] The memory may be secured digital (SD) memory.
[0015] In another aspect of the invention, a method for recording information
relating to a
vehicle is provided. The method comprises: obtaining sensed information
relating to the vehicle
from a sensor connected to the vehicle; obtaining acceleration information
relating to the motion
of the vehicle from a motion detector connected to the vehicle; and recording
the sensed
information and acceleration information to a memory in real time, wherein the
recording is
controlled on the basis of the acceleration information.
[0016] The acceleration information may include longitudinal motion
information, transverse
motion information, and vertical motion information relating to the vehicle.
The sensed
information and the acceleration information may be wirelessly transmitted
before being
recorded in the memory.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] The foregoing and other aspects of the invention will become more
apparent from the
following description of specific embodiments thereof and the accompanying
drawings which
illustrate, by way of example only, the principles of the invention. In the
drawings, where like
elements feature like reference numerals (and wherein individual elements bear
unique
alphabetical suffixes):
[0018] Figure 1 depicts a vehicle information recorder system according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0019] Figure 2 depicts a sensor unit of the information recorder system of
Figure 1;
[0020] Figure 3 depicts a block diagram of the vehicle information recorder
system of
Figure 1;
[0021] Figure 4 depicts a flow diagram of a software module operating with the
recorder
system of Figure 1; and
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[0022] Figure 5 depicts a wireless sensor unit detachably attached to a user
in another
embodiment of a vehicular information recorder system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT
[0023] The description that follows, and the embodiments described therein,
are provided by
way of illustration of an example, or examples, of particular embodiments of
the principles of the
present invention. These examples are provided for the purposes of
explanation, and not
limitation, of those principles and of the invention. In the description,
which follows, like parts
are marked throughout the specification and the drawings with the same
respective reference
numerals.
[0024] Referring to Figure 1, there is shown an exemplary embodiment of
vehicular
information recorder system 100. System 100 includes sensor unit 102 for
obtaining
information, such as visual information, relating to a vehicle to which system
100 is connected
to. Sensor unit 102 is connected to recorder unit 104 via data cable 110.
Recorder unit 104
controls the operation of sensor unit 102 and receives information from unit
102 for processing
and recording. System 100 is for connection and use with a vehicle, such as an
automobile,
motorcycle or snowmobile. In operation, sensor unit 102 obtains information
relating to the
vehicle and provides the information to recorder unit 104 to process and
record the information
to a data storage.
100251 System 100 may be connected to a vehicle by attaching sensor unit 102
to, for the
example of an automobile, a dashboard of the automobile by connector 108 and
having recorder
unit 104 placed inside the glove-box of the automobile, or otherwise placed on
or secured to the
center console or dashboard of the automobile. For use in other vehicles, such
as a motorcycle,
sensor unit 102 may be attached at the handle-bars of the motorcycle, while
the recorder unit 104
may be secured to a storage area of the motorcycle. Since sensor unit 102
obtains visual
information, sensor unit 102 should be secured to the vehicle in such a way as
to provide a line
of sight towards an orientation to which visual information is to be recorded.
[0026] Having sensor unit 102 separated from recorder unit 104 tends to offer
greater
protection to the processing and memory circuits of system 100, since for
sensor unit 102 to be
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placed so as to obtain good visual information, it is typically placed in a
less protected area of a
vehicle, such as for example behind a windshield of an automobile. If recorder
unit 104 was not
separated from sensor unit 102, such placement at a less protected area of a
vehicle would tend to
increase the likelihood of the processing and memory circuits of recorder unit
104 being
damaged in case of an accident involving the vehicle. However, for the
embodiment the ability
to have place recorder unit 104 removed from sensor unit 102 tends to permit
recorder unit 104
to be placed in a more protected area of a vehicle.
[0027] Referring to Figure 2, additional details regarding sensor unit 102 is
shown. Sensor
unit 102 is attached to connector 108 that provides attachment to a vehicle.
For the embodiment,
connector 108 provides screw-holes 202 for screws (not shown) to be secured
therethrough for
attaching connector 108 to the vehicle. In other embodiment, other
attachments, such as an
adhesive, may be used.
[0028] Referring now to Figure 3, block diagram of components of system 100,
including
sensor unit 102, are shown. For the embodiment, sensor unit 102 includes image
sensor 204 for
obtaining visual information, and sensor unit 102 is typically mounted to a
vehicle such that
image sensor faces forward along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.
For the embodiment,
image sensor 204 is a colour CMOS VGA image sensor having two-piece liquid
crystal lens,
such as available from ST Microelectronics TM. Image sensor 204 is connected
to digital image
processor (DSP) 302 to digitize the visual information obtained from image
sensor 204 into
digital signals for transfer to recorder unit 104 through data cable I 10. DSP
302 may include
color processing and exposure control functions on the visual image
information. In otlier
embodiments, the visual image may be transferred with other signals, such as
non-digital signals.
[0029) Sensor unit 102 includes motion detector 304. For the embodiment,
motion detector
304 is a 3-axis accelerometer that observes motion along three orthogonal
axes, for example, in
the longitudinal, transverse, and vertical axes relative to the vehicle.
Acceleration information
observed from motion detector 304 is a] so provided to recorder unit 104
through data cable 110.
It will be appreciated that in other embodiments, motion detector 304 may be
housed separately
from imaged sensor 302, and it may observe motion along other axes.
[0030] Sensor unit 102 further optionally includes temperature sensor 306 and
heat elements
208. Temperature sensor 306 observes the temperature of sensor unit 102 and
provides
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temperature information to recorder unit 104 through data cable 110. Should
the detected
temperature be low enough to affect operation of sensor unit 102, recorder
unit 104 may send
control signals through data cable 110 to image sensor 102 to turn on heat
elements 308 for a
period of time so that the temperature of sensor unit 102 may be kept within
an operating range.
[0031] Referring still to Figure 3, recorder unit 104 includes connection
ports 310 to 320 for
receiving different connections to unit 104, including sensor unit connect
port 310 for connection
to data cable 110 for receiving information from sensor unit 102. For the
embodiment, data
cable 110 is a 5-pair cable with a T1000 network plug, which is selected to
provide reliable data
transfer over a cable distance of 6 feet between sensor unit 102 and recorder
unit 104. It will be
appreciated that other cables and connectors may be selected in other
embodiments by one of
skill in this art, having regard to the strength of signals to be transferred
and the length of cable
for the desired application. As described in greater detail below, in other
embodiments, a
wireless connection may be provided between sensor unit 102 and recorder unit
104.
100321 Unit 104 also includes power port 320 for connecting to power adapter
106 (shown in
Figure 1). For the exemplary embodiment used with an automobile, power adapter
106 is
connectable to a 12-volt cigarette lighter socket typically found in the
interior of the automobile
to provide power to the recorder unit 104. Back-up power is provided by
battery circuit 332 for
operation of recorder unit 104 when power is not supplied through power
adapter 106, such as
when the automobile has been in an accident and the car battery is cut off
from the cigarette
lighter socket. For the embodiment, battery circuit 332 includes a 9-volt
battery. Battery circuit
332 further provides interrupt-power when the power supplied to recorder unit
104 is interrupted,
such as when the automobile is jostled as it moves over an uneven surface and
a power
connection is momentarily broken. It will be appreciated that for use in
providing interrupt
power, in other embodiments one or more capacitors may be used. Battery
circuit 332 is
connected to control board 326 of recorder unit 104. Battery circuit 332 may
be connected to
power interrupt sensor 334, which is circuitry that detects when there is an
interrupt to the power
supplied from power port 320 and enables battery power to be provided by
battery circuit 332 to
control board 326.
[0033] Control board 326 is a PCB board on which buses and circuit connections
are made
available for connection to the various components of recorder unit 104, as
described above and
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below. For the embodiment, unit 104 include other ports, such as: on-board
diagnostics (OBD)
II compliant port 312 for connection to an automobile's diagnostic data; one
or more USB-2
compliant ports 314, 318 for connection to other optional USB devices; and a
video-out port 316
for allowing direct playback of data stored in unit 104 to a video display.
For the embodiment,
video-out port 316 comprises a RCA compatible connection for output of video
signals to any
display with a RCA-in connection. Ports 310 to 320 are connected to control
board 326 of
recorder unit 104. An audio output device 336, such as a sound speaker, may
optionally be
connected to control board 326 of recorder unit recorder 336 for providing
audio feedback to a
user as to the status of system 100.
[0034] OBD-II compliant port 312 receives data regarding an automobile to
which system
100 is connected via an OBD-II cable 130. OBD-II is a set of standards for
systems and signals
used in the electronic control and diagnosis of automobiles created by the
Society of Automotive
Engineers (SAE), which were adopted by the United States Environmental
Protection Agency
and California Air Resources Board for implementation in 1996. A large number
of cars and
light trucks today, including all cars built since January 1, 1996, have OBD-
II systems. OBD-II
systems monitors the electronics control of automobiles, and provides
diagnosis of engine,
chassis, and other functions and features of automobiles. An OBD-II systems of
an automobile
provides a continual set of information relating to the automobile that may be
examined by
connecting to the OBD-II cable 130 supplied with the OBD-II system of the
automobile. For the
embodiment, OBD-II cable 130 is connected to OBD-II compliant port 312, which
is in turn
connected to OBD-II control logic 322 in recorder unit 104. OBD-II control
logic 322 provides
decoding of information received from an automobile's OBD-II system and
provides the
decoded information through control unit board 326 to main processor 328 for
analysis. It will
be appreciated that the decoding of OBD-II information may be done by other
components in
other embodiments.
[0035) Data from sensor unit 102 received through sensor unit connect port 310
is also
provided through control unit board 326 to main processor 328. Main processor
328 provides
the main controls for the functioning of system 100. For the embodiment, an
IMX-21 processor
made by Motorola, Inc.'M is used, but it will be appreciated that other
processors may be used in
other embodiments. In the embodiment, as data, including visual information,
from sensor unit
102 and an OBD-II system of an automobile, is received at recorder unit 104,
processor 328
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analysis the data and directs storage of the data to a removable memory device
connected to
memory port 114. For the embodiment, a secured-digital (SD) flash memory card
112 (shown in
Figure 1) is connected to memory port 114 for storing the data. Selected
information received
from OBD-II compliant port 312 is added to the digitized video data received
from sensor unit
102, and stored as MPEG4 video information to the SD card. For the embodiment,
the selected
OBD-I1 data (such as relating to vehicle speed, engine speed, throttle
application, brake
application, and air-bag deployment) are inserted by processor 328 as visual
information to the
bottom of visual images received from sensor unit 102. The recorded visual
information
therefore includes both the visual images received from sensor unit 102 and
selected OBD-II
from an automobile's OBD-II system. For use in a vehicle without OBD-II data,
only
information from sensor unit 102 will be stored in the recorded visual
information. It will be
appreciated that other data formats and storage devices or methods may be used
in other
embodiments.
[00361 The recorded visual information, as processed by processor 328, is
provided through
control board 326 to memory card 112 in memory port 114 for recording and
storage as digitized
video in MPEG-4 format. In other embodiments, other memory and storage
arrangements may
be used. Processor 328 utilizes the storage memory in memory card 112 in a
continuous loop.
As such, the recorded visual information stored in memory card 112 tends to
represent data from
a period of time right before recorder unit 104 stops recording information,
since in the
continuous loop memory usage scheme the oldest data in memory card 112 is
overwritten with
new information as the maximum storage capacity of memory card 112 is reached.
Depending
on the size of memory card 112 and a selectable visual image quality for
recording the recorded
visual information, memory card 112 may store different information relating
to different lengths
of time prior to recording being stopped. Processor 328 may also be programmed
to
automatically adjust the image quality to always provide a fixed period of
recording regardless of
the storage capacity of memory card 112, in addition to a user-definable
period of time after an
incident occurs. For the exemplary embodiment, processor 328 and memory 112 is
configured
by default to provide 25 minutes of continuous recorded visual information,
which includes 5
minutes of recording after the occurrence of an incident, as described in
greater detail below. It
will be appreciated that for the embodiment, the recording of information to
memory card 112 is
in real time. This tends to be more advantageous than systems in which data is
first recorded to
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volatile memory, and then later written to non-volatile memory for storage. If
an incident occurs
during which system 100 is damaged, data will not be lost because it was not
placed into storage
memory in real time, as may occur in non-real time recording systems.
[0037] Processor 328 is provided with one or more software modules that are
loadable into
program-use memory provided with processor 328 for execution on processor 328.
For the
embodiment, the software modules causes processor 328 to operate system 100 as
described
herein. Processor 328 is configured to boot from a SD memory card 112 in port
114 first, and
only if a bootable program is not found on card 112, will processor 328 boot
from its program-
use memory. In this way, the embodiment permits software modules to be loaded
into program-
use memory associated with processor 328 via an upload from a SD memory card
112 inserted
into memory port 114 at power-on of system 100.
[0038] For the embodiment, the software modules provide the control for the
operation of
system 100 include a software module 400 that is graphically depicted as a
block-diagram
flowchart in Figure 4. Therein, software module 400 initializes and begins
operation at step 401,
which step is started with the depression of power button 124 (shown in
Figures 1 and 3), which
is connected to processor 328 to turn on system 100. Once system 100 is
initialized, at step 401
module 400 determines if recording should begin. In step 401, a stop capture
flag is examined to
evaluate if the flag is set. As described in greater detail below, this flag
provide an indication of
whether the data currently stored on memory card 112 is flagged for storage
and not to be
overwritten. If the flag is set, then system 100 remains powered on but does
not proceed to step
402 to begin recording information. An audio signal may then be optionally
sent to audio output
device 336. If the stop capture flag is not set, however, then step 402 is
taken and the
accelerometer information received from accelerometer 304 is analyzed to
determine if the
vehicle to which system 100 is connected is in motion, such as by determining
if there is motion
along the longitudinal or transverse axes. If so, then recording begins and
module 400 proceeds
to step 404. Otherwise, step 402 waits for motion to be detected before
beginning recording and
proceeding to step 404. If at step 402 no motion is detected after a time-out
period, then module
400 powers down system 100.
[0039] At step 404, information from accelerometer 304 is analyzed again to
determine if an
incident has occurred, and at step 406, it is determined whether manual
capture push-button 116
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(shown in Figures 1 and 3) has been depressed. At step 408, a determination is
made as to
whether the recording of data is to be terminated, based on whether an
incident has been
determined to have occurred or if manual capture button 116 has been
depressed. If neither are
true, then module 400 continues recording and returns to step 402. If either
an incident is
deemed to have occurred, or if manual capture button 116 has been depressed,
then step 410 is
taken to initiate termination of recording of information,
[0040] Further details on steps 404, 406, 408 and 410 are now provided. In
step 404,
acceleration, or accelerometer, information from motion detector 304 is
analyzed to determine if
an incident has occurred. An incident may be an accident in which sudden
impact is observed
through accelerometer 304. For the embodiment, motion detector 304 is a 3-axis
accelerometer
that provides a third axis along a vertical orientation relative to the
vehicle to which system 100
is connected, which tends to assist in filtering out "false" incidents that
might otherwise be
determined with observation merely along the longitudinal and transverse axes.
For example,
during impact most often associated with an accident, the motion observed by 3-
axis
accelerometer typically tend to be along the longitudinal and transverse axes,
with a relatively
minor component along the vertical axis. However, during vehicle operation and
typically due to
an uneven surface over which the vehicle is traversing, there may be impacts
experienced along
the longitudinal or transverse axes that are greater than the sensitivity of
system 100 that is set by
the system or a user (described below), but which are not true incidents since
the vehicle may
simply be travelling, for example, over a pot-hole. In these circumstances,
although the impact
registered along the longitudinal and transverse axes are significant, they
tend to be relatively
minor compared to impact registered along the third, vertical axis. As such,
step 404 of module
400 may be utilized to filter out impacts experienced by the vehicle that are
not indicative of an
incident that leads to a termination of the recording of information, such as
when the vehicle is
traversing a pot-hole but is not involved in an accident. As described in
greater detail below,
once an incident is determined to have occurred, recording of information will
be scheduled to
stop in step 410. Optionally, step 404 may trigger an audio notification to be
issued from audio
output 336, such as a beep or a series of sounds, to notify a user of system
100 that an incident
has been detected and that recording will be scheduled for termination.
[00411 For the embodiment, an incident may also includes a situation in which
the
acceleration information received from motion detector 304 indicates that the
vehicle to which
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system 100 is connected has been stationary for a period of time. This tends
to indicate that the
vehicle has been parked but a user may have forgotten to power down system 100
by pressing
button 124. Module 400 may be programmed such that if no motion was detected
for a period of
time, then an incident is deemed to have occurred such that recording of
information is to be
terminated, as described below with respect to steps 408 and 410.
[00421 In step 406, module 400 determines if manual capture button 116 has
been depressed.
For example, should a user of system 100 decide to save the information just
recorded by system
100, or to obtain and save information that is about to happen, the user may
depress capture
button 116. As described above, for the embodiment there is by default a 25-
minute recording
period. As described in greater detail below with respect to steps 408 and
410, once capture
button 116 is depressed, system 100 will be scheduled to stop recording after
a preset period of
time, so that the over-writing of oldest data is terminated and system 100
provides a recording of
information for the period of time before recording was stopped. For the
embodiment, system
100 continues to record information in the normal course for 5 additional
minutes after button
116 is pressed before terminating recording (and the overwriting of older
recorded data) so that
information relating to the 20 minutes prior to the button 116 being pressed,
and information
relating to the 5-minute period after button 116 is pressed, is recorded onto
memory card 112.
As with the detection of an incident, once button 116 is depressed, step 406
may optionally cause
a sound to be emitted from sound output device 336. It will be appreciated
that other recording
time schemes may be employed in other embodiments.
[0043] In step 408, module 400 examines if either an incident was deemed to
have occurred
at step 404, or if the manual capture button 116 was determined to have been
depressed at step
406. If neither has occurred, then module 400 returns to step 402. If either
has occurred, then
step 410 is taken to schedule termination of recording of information by
system 100.
[00441 In step 410, module 400 analyzes which of whether an incident has
occurred or if the
manual capture button 116 was depressed. If an incident was deemed to have
occurred, then it is
determined whether the incident is one for which no motion of the vehicle was
detected by
motion detector 304 for a period of time, as described above. If so, then step
410 may terminate
recording of information immediately, and power down system 100. Thereafter,
system 100 and
module 400 may be re-started to continue recording information by pressing the
power button
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124 of recorder unit 104, as described above. Optionally, step 410 may make no
distinction
between different incidents and schedule system shut down and powering off
according to a
single scheme of delay, as described below. It will be appreciated that
different power-off
schemes may be employed for different incidents in other embodiments.
[00451 Considering step 410 for the embodiment, if it is determined that the
capture button
was depressed, or that an incident that is not "no motion" was detected by
motion detector 304,
then module 400 schedules stopping recording of information after a period of
time. For the
embodiment, this period of time is five minutes. After this period of time has
elapsed, then step
410 stops recording of the information, sets a stop capture flag, and powers
down system 100. It
will be appreciated that for the embodiment, the recording of information to
memory card 112 is
in real time.
[0046] The stop capture flag is a Boolean variable indicating that recording
has stopped due
to a non-time-out incident occurring or that the capture button 116 was
pressed. As described
above, when this flag is set, module 400 does not continue recording
information that might
overwrite information stored on memory card 112 until reset button 122 is
depressed, which
clears the stop capture flag. With reset button 122, when a user of system 100
wishes to continue
recording on a memory card 112, such as after the data on card 112 has been
reviewed, copied
elsewhere for archival, or if card 112 is replaced with another card, then
reset button 122 may be
pressed to re-start system 100 to record information again.
[00471 Software module 400 may operate with other modules to provide for
sensitivity and
image quality adjustments to be made manually or automatically. For example,
in the
embodiment sensitivity buttons 118 and 120 are provided to adjust the level of
motion detected
by accelerometer 304 that would deem an incident as having occurred, with
button 118
decreasing the sensitivity and button 120 increasing the sensitivity of system
100. Additionally,
module 400 and other modules provide other controls, such as for observing
information
received from temperature sensor 306 and providing control signals to turn on
and off heat
elements 308 in sensor unit 102. It will be appreciated that processor 328 is
programmed to
perform and control the functions described herein by use of software module
400 and other
software modules and routines. Since the description of these controls and
functions, and of
module 400 above is sufficient to enable a person of skill in this art to
program processor 328,
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the exact programming techniques that may be employed are not described in
further detail. It
will also be appreciated that the functions of module 400 and other software
modules may be
implemented on hardware circuits, or a combination of hardware and software,
in other
embodiments.
100481 Referring again to Figures 1 and 3, for the embodiment optional
attachments may be
connected to system 100 through the ports connected to control board 326 of
recorder unit 104.
For example, a USB camera 126 may be connected to USB port 314 to provide in
conjunction
with sensor unit 102 visual information in two directions, such as forward and
rearward
depending on the placemen of sensor unit 102 and camera 126 with respect to a
vehicle to which
system 100 is connected. In other embodiments, still more sensor units 102 and
USB cameras
126 may be connected to system 100 to record information from other
directions. An external
memory unit 128 may also be connected to USB port 318 to keep a second copy of
the data
recorded in memory card 112. For the embodiment, external memory unit 128 is
configured so
that data is written to it at the same time as it is written to memory card
112, so that memory unit
128 has an exact copy of the data on card 112 at all times. External memory
unit 128 may have a
casing and memory circuits that are thermo-shielded and impact resistant, so
as to protect the
data recorded therein from damage in case of an incident involving high
physical stress or
temperatures. In an embodiment, the casing of external memory unit 128 may
comprise bullet-
resistant machined aluminium, heat resistant polymers and asbestos lining. It
will be appreciated
that in other embodiments additional ports, USB or otherwise, may be provided
to connect to
other peripherals.
[0049] For the embodiment, recorder unit 104 further includes a digital to
analog video
converter 338 for outputting the recorded visual information on memory card
112 or externai
memory unit 128 through video out port 316. Unit 104 may further comprise a
wireless
transceiver 342 to provide wireless connectivity between recorder unit 104 and
other peripherals,
such as one or more wireless camera units that provide information to recorder
unit 104 for
recording to memory. For the embodiment, wireless connectivity includes
Bluetooth
connectivity, and on-board digital control logic for Bluetooth wireless
connectivity is provide by
control logic 344. Optionally, cellular transmitter 340 may also be provided
with recorder unit
104 for additionally information to be received or transmitted, including for
example automatic
calls to be made to an emergency number when a high-impact incident is
detected. Additionally,
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global positioning system (GPS) data may also be received from a GPS system
(not shown)
connected to system 100 for recording on memory card 112 and external memory
unit 128 in the
same manner that OBD-II data is recorded, as described above.
100501 Still additionally, an audio input device 340 may be provided with
recorder unit 104.
Audio signals may also be continually recorded as digitized signals onto
memory card 112 and
external memory unit 128, or be recorded only for a period of time upon
detection of particular
sound signals, such as sirens of emergency vehicles. Optionally, system 100
may be configured
to terminate recording of information after a period of time, as described
above, in response to
such audio signals.
[0051] It will be appreciated that in another embodiment, the physical
arrangements of the
components of system 100 may be separated onto multiple units that are
connected together by
wire or wirelessly.
[0052] Referring to Figure 5, an alternate embodiment is shown in which sensor
unit 502 is
provided with user 504. Sensor unit 502 is similar to sensor unit 102
described above with
respect to Figures 1 to 3, with the exception that it has its own internal
power source and has
wireless connectivity, such as Bluetooth, to a recorder unit associated with
sensor unit 502. As
shown, sensor unit 502 may be detachably attached to a user 504, such as for
example by a clip,
or a hook and loop attachiuent, for recording visual information generally
seen by user 504.
Depending on the application, sensor unit 502 may not have an accelerometer
associated
therewith, but may have a button operating in the same way as stop capture
button 116 described
above that wirelessly controls stopping of information recording. One
exemplary application for
sensor unit 502 and its associated recorder unit would be for a user 504 who
is a police officer.
In such an application, sensor unit 502 may be wirelessly connected to its
associated recorder
unit aboard the police officer's vehicle, so as to provide a visual record of
information witnessed
by the police office even when the police office is away from the police
vehicle. In such an
application, sensor unit 502 may also be adapted to be attached to a badge 506
of the police
officer.
[0053] It will be appreciated from the above examples that a myriad of
components and
methods may be used to implement embodiments of the invention.
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[0054] Although the invention has been described with reference to certain
specific
embodiments, various modifications thereof will be apparent to those skilled
in the art without
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as outlined in the claims
appended hereto.
TDO-RED #8292988 v. 3
