Event recording system for a vehicle
First Claim
1. An event recording system suitable for use in a vehicle, said event recording system comprising:
- a forward-viewing camera mounted at a front windshield of a vehicle equipped with said event recording system;
said camera viewing forward of the equipped vehicle through the windshield;
said camera comprising a lens and an image sensor;
said image sensor comprising a plurality of photosensor elements arranged in a photosensor array having rows and columns;
an event recorder comprising memory;
an image processor;
wherein said image processor is operable to process image data captured by said camera for detecting objects in the field of view of said camera;
said image processor utilizing object detection software for detecting objects in the field of view of said camera;
wherein memory of said event recorder comprises random access memory;
wherein memory of said event recorder comprises non-volatile memory;
wherein, based at least in part on processing by said image processor of image data captured by said camera, a potential lane leaving event is determined;
wherein said potential lane leaving event comprises at least one of (i) when the equipped vehicle is heading towards a lane marking and (ii) when the equipped vehicle is within a certain distance of an edge of a lane marking;
wherein, based at least in part on processing by said image processor of image data captured by said camera, a potential collision event is determined;
wherein said potential collision event comprises the equipped vehicle heading towards an object present ahead of the equipped vehicle with the separation between the equipped vehicle and the object being less than a threshold;
wherein said event recorder receives vehicle data via a vehicle data bus of the equipped vehicle;
wherein vehicle data received at said event recorder comprises vehicle speed;
wherein image data captured by said camera and vehicle data received at said event recorder during a first pre-event time period immediately preceding said potential lane leaving event beginning is stored in memory of said event recorder;
wherein image data captured by said camera and vehicle data received at said event recorder during a first post-event time period immediately following said potential lane leaving event beginning is stored in memory of said event recorder;
wherein image data captured by said camera and vehicle data received at said event recorder during a second pre-event time period immediately preceding said potential collision event beginning is stored in memory of said event recorder; and
wherein image data captured by said camera and vehicle data received at said event recorder during a second post-event time period immediately following said potential collision event beginning is stored in memory of said event recorder.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicular event recording system suitable includes a camera and an event recorder having memory. An image processor processes image data captured by the camera for detecting objects. Based at least in part on processing by the image processor of captured image data, a potential lane leaving event or potential collision event or automatic braking event is determined. The event recorder receives vehicle data via a vehicle data bus of the vehicle. Captured image data and received vehicle data during a pre-event time period immediately preceding the determined event beginning is stored in memory of the event recorder. Captured image data and received vehicle data during a first post-event time period immediately following the determined event beginning is stored in memory of the event recorder.
85 Citations
24 Claims
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1. An event recording system suitable for use in a vehicle, said event recording system comprising:
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a forward-viewing camera mounted at a front windshield of a vehicle equipped with said event recording system; said camera viewing forward of the equipped vehicle through the windshield; said camera comprising a lens and an image sensor; said image sensor comprising a plurality of photosensor elements arranged in a photosensor array having rows and columns; an event recorder comprising memory; an image processor; wherein said image processor is operable to process image data captured by said camera for detecting objects in the field of view of said camera; said image processor utilizing object detection software for detecting objects in the field of view of said camera; wherein memory of said event recorder comprises random access memory; wherein memory of said event recorder comprises non-volatile memory; wherein, based at least in part on processing by said image processor of image data captured by said camera, a potential lane leaving event is determined; wherein said potential lane leaving event comprises at least one of (i) when the equipped vehicle is heading towards a lane marking and (ii) when the equipped vehicle is within a certain distance of an edge of a lane marking; wherein, based at least in part on processing by said image processor of image data captured by said camera, a potential collision event is determined; wherein said potential collision event comprises the equipped vehicle heading towards an object present ahead of the equipped vehicle with the separation between the equipped vehicle and the object being less than a threshold; wherein said event recorder receives vehicle data via a vehicle data bus of the equipped vehicle; wherein vehicle data received at said event recorder comprises vehicle speed; wherein image data captured by said camera and vehicle data received at said event recorder during a first pre-event time period immediately preceding said potential lane leaving event beginning is stored in memory of said event recorder; wherein image data captured by said camera and vehicle data received at said event recorder during a first post-event time period immediately following said potential lane leaving event beginning is stored in memory of said event recorder; wherein image data captured by said camera and vehicle data received at said event recorder during a second pre-event time period immediately preceding said potential collision event beginning is stored in memory of said event recorder; and wherein image data captured by said camera and vehicle data received at said event recorder during a second post-event time period immediately following said potential collision event beginning is stored in memory of said event recorder. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An event recording system suitable for use in a vehicle, said event recording system comprising:
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a forward-viewing camera mounted at a front windshield of a vehicle equipped with said event recording system; said camera viewing forward of the equipped vehicle through the windshield; said camera comprising a lens and an image sensor; said image sensor comprising a plurality of photosensor elements arranged in a photosensor array having rows and columns; an event recorder comprising memory; an image processor; wherein said image processor is operable to process image data captured by said camera for detecting objects in the field of view of said camera; said image processor utilizing object detection software for detecting objects in the field of view of said camera; wherein memory of said event recorder comprises random access memory; wherein memory of said event recorder comprises non-volatile memory; wherein image data is moved from random access memory to non-volatile memory wherein, based at least in part on processing by said image processor of image data captured by said camera, a potential collision event is determined; wherein said event recorder receives vehicle data via a vehicle data bus of the equipped vehicle; wherein vehicle data received at said event recorder is indicative of at least one of (i) brake activation, (ii) steering wheel movement, (iii) yaw rate change, (iv) vehicle deceleration and (v) vehicle acceleration; wherein image data captured by said camera and vehicle data received at said event recorder during a pre-event time period immediately preceding said potential collision event beginning is stored in memory of said event recorder; and wherein image data captured by said camera and vehicle data received at said event recorder during post-event time period immediately following said potential collision event beginning is stored in memory of said event recorder. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An event recording system suitable for use in a vehicle, said event recording system comprising:
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a forward-viewing camera mounted at a front windshield of a vehicle equipped with said event recording system; said camera viewing forward of the equipped vehicle through the windshield; said camera comprising a lens and an image sensor; said image sensor comprising a plurality of photosensor elements arranged in a photosensor array having rows and columns; an event recorder comprising memory; an image processor; wherein said image processor is operable to process image data captured by said camera for detecting objects in the field of view of said camera; said image processor utilizing object detection software for detecting objects in the field of view of said camera; wherein memory of said event recorder comprises random access memory; wherein memory of said event recorder comprises non-volatile memory; wherein, based at least in part on processing by said image processor of image data captured by said camera, an automatic braking event is determined; wherein said event recorder receives vehicle data via a vehicle data bus of the equipped vehicle; wherein image data captured by said camera and vehicle data received at said event recorder during a pre-event time period immediately preceding said automatic braking event beginning is stored in memory of said event recorder; and wherein image data captured by said camera and vehicle data received at said event recorder during post-event time period immediately following said automatic braking event beginning is stored in memory of said event recorder. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification