Accident evidence recording method
First Claim
1. A system for receiving and recording data representing three-dimensional coordinates of selected points of objects at an accident site, comprising:
- (a) a GPS device including a receiver;
(b) a computer coupled to the receiver; and
(c) a prompting program stored in the computer for causing a module associated with the computer to prompt a user to sequentially position a portion of the GPS device in close spatial relationship with a plurality of points of each of a plurality of items or features at the accident site and to cause corresponding GPS coordinate data produced by the GPS device to be stored in a memory associated with the computer.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A mobile accident recording system (40) includes a GPS receiver-pole (41) and a computer (14) which prompts investigator to place a tip of the receiver-pole on identified position points of evidence items at an accident site to measure and record coordinates of the position points. Data including the recorded coordinates and stored database information for each evidence item are processed to reconstruct a graphical three-dimensional representation of the accident site which is displayed to the investigator from any desired advantage point selected by the investigator.
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Citations
58 Claims
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1. A system for receiving and recording data representing three-dimensional coordinates of selected points of objects at an accident site, comprising:
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(a) a GPS device including a receiver;
(b) a computer coupled to the receiver; and
(c) a prompting program stored in the computer for causing a module associated with the computer to prompt a user to sequentially position a portion of the GPS device in close spatial relationship with a plurality of points of each of a plurality of items or features at the accident site and to cause corresponding GPS coordinate data produced by the GPS device to be stored in a memory associated with the computer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A system for receiving and recording data representing three-dimensional coordinates of selected points of objects at an accident site, comprising:
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(a) a GPS unit;
(b) a first computer and a link coupling the first computer to the GPS unit; and
(c) a prompting program stored in the first computer for causing a display associated with the first computer to prompt a user to sequentially position the GPS unit in close spatial relationship with a plurality of points of each of a plurality of items or features at the accident site and to cause corresponding GPS coordinate data produced by the GPS unit to be stored in a memory associated with the first computer. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A system for receiving and recording data representing three-dimensional coordinates of selected points of objects at an accident site, comprising:
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(a) a GPS receiver unit and a member supporting at least a GPS antenna of the GPS receiver unit;
(b) a first computer supported by the member and a link coupling the first computer to the GPS receiver unit; and
(c) a prompting program stored in the first computer for causing a display associated with the first computer to prompt a user to sequentially position a selected part of the member in close spatial relationship with a plurality of points of each of a plurality of items or features at the accident site and to cause corresponding GPS coordinate data produced by the GPS receiver unit to be stored in a memory associated with the first computer. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method for receiving and recording data representing three-dimensional coordinates of selected points of objects at an accident site, comprising:
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(a) providing a GPS device including a receiver;
(b) communicating GPS data produced by the receiver to a computer; and
(c) prompting a user by means of a module associated with the computer to sequentially position a portion of the GPS device in close spatial relationship with a plurality of points of each of a plurality of items or features at the accident site and to cause corresponding GPS coordinate data produced by the GPS device to be stored in a memory by causing the computer to execute a prompting program.
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34. A method for receiving and recording data representing three-dimensional coordinates of selected points of objects at an accident site, comprising:
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(a) providing a GPS unit and a first computer;
(b) communicating data produced by the GPS unit to the first computer; and
(c) prompting a user by means of a module associated with the first computer to sequentially position the GPS unit in close spatial relationship with a plurality of points of each of a plurality of items or features at the accident site and to cause coordinate data produced by the GPS unit representing coordinates of the plurality of points to be stored in a memory associated with the first computer by causing the first computer to execute a prompting program. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A method for receiving and recording data representing three dimensional coordinates of selected points of objects at an accident site, comprising:
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(a) supporting at least a GPS antenna of a GPS receiver unit on an upper end portion of a pole, and providing a measurement point tracking device in fixed relation to a lower end portion of the pole;
(b) communicating data produced by the GPS receiver unit to a first computer; and
(c) prompting a user by means of a module associated with the first computer to sequentially position the tracking device in close spatial relationship with a plurality of points of each of a plurality of items or features at the accident site and to cause coordinate data produced by the GPS receiver unit representing coordinates of the plurality of points to be stored in a memory associated with the first computer by causing the first computer to execute a prompting program. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A tilt correction system for converting coordinate data produced by a GPS receiver in response to GPS signals received by a GPS antenna supported in fixed relation to a first point along a longitudinal axis of a member, comprising:
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(a) a tilt sensing system at least part of which is attached in fixed relation to the member, the tilt sensing system producing correction signals representative of inclination of the member relative to the direction of gravitational force; and
(b) a computing device coupled to receive the correction signals from the tilt sensing system and coordinate data produced by the GPS receiver, the computing device being operative to correct the coordinate data in response to the correction signals to produce tilt-corrected coordinate data representing coordinates of a second point located in fixed relation to a predetermined point located on the longitudinal axis a predetermined distance from the first point. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53)
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54. A GPS receiver-pole for receiving and recording data representing three-dimensional coordinates of selected points of objects at an accident site, comprising:
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(a) a GPS receiver unit and a pole supporting at least antenna coupled to a GPS receiver unit;
(b) a computer and a link coupling the computer to the GPS receiver;
(c) a prompting program stored in the computer for causing a module associated with the computer to prompt a user to sequentially position a selected part of the pole in close spatial relationship with a plurality of points of each of a plurality of items or features at the accident site and to cause coordinate data produced by the GPS receiver unit to be stored in a memory associated with the computer; and
(d) a tilt correction system for producing correction signals representative of tilt of the member relative to the direction of gravitational force at the accident site and correcting the coordinate data produced by the GPS receiver unit to produce x,y,z coordinates signals that precisely represent the location of selected part when it is positioned in the close spatial relationship with the plurality of points, respectively. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58)
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Specification