INTEGRATED STILL IMAGE, MOTION VIDEO AND SPEED MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

• US 20090079960A1
• Filed: 09/23/2008
• Published: 03/26/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kama-Tech (HK) Limited, Laser Technology Incorporated (Laser Technology)
• Original Assignee: Kama-Tech (HK) Limited, Laser Technology Incorporated (Laser Technology)
• Inventors: Chung, Jiyoon
• Granted Patent: US 7,920,251 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 356/28
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/10 using transmission of interrupted, pulse-modulated waves determination of distance by phase measurements G01S17/32
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/58 Velocity or trajectory determination systems; Sense-of-movement determination systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/86 Combinations of lidar systems with systems other than lidar, radar or sonar, e.g. with direction finders
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/054 photographing overspeeding vehicles

Abstract

Devices capable of capturing still and motion imagery are integrated with an accurate distance and speed measuring apparatus. By measuring the changing distance of the target over that time, a target'"'"'s speed can be determined. At substantially the same time as the target'"'"'s speed is determined, imagery of the target is captured in both a still and moving format. Using a queuing mechanism for both distance and imagery data along with time stamps associated with each, a target'"'"'s image, both in motion and still, can be integrated with its speed. In situations in which a still image is unavailable, a target'"'"'s speed can be associated with a portion of a continuous stream of motion imagery to a point where a positive identification can be captured with a still image.

Claims

1. A unitary system for integrating image and speed determination data, the system comprising:

a common processor block;

an image sensor coupled to said common processor block and operative therewith to capture images of a target;

a laser subsystem coupled to said common processor block and operative therewith to determine a distance and speed of said target relative to said system; and

a memory block coupled to said common processor block operative to store said images of said target received from said image sensor and data representative of said distance and speed of said target received from said laser subsystem.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said common processor block, said image sensor, said laser subsystem and said memory block are disposed within a handheld housing.

3. The system of claim 2 further comprising:

a battery pack disposed within said handheld housing for supplying operating power to said system.

4. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a display device communicatively coupled to said common processor block and operative to display at least one of said images of said target and associated speed data.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein said system is operative to determine a number of time stamps and to associate individual ones of said time stamps with corresponding ones of said images of said target and said speed of said target stored in said memory block.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein said system is further operative to determine that a higher resolution image of said target can be acquired and then capturing and storing said higher resolution image of said target in said memory block.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein said system is further operative to correlate one of said time stamps with said higher resolution image of said target and said speed of said target.

8. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a global positioning system coupled to said laser subsystem.

9. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a global position system coupled to said common processor block.

10. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

an inclinometer coupled to said laser subsystem.

11. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

an inclinometer coupled to said common processor block.

12. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a wireless link module coupled to said common processor and operative to wirelessly communicate integrated image and speed data to an external database or remote display device.

13. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a wireless link module coupled to said common processor and operative to wirelessly communicate integrated image and speed data to a remote display device.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein said images of said target and said speed of said target are determined substantially concurrently.

15. An apparatus comprising:

a speed measurement device for determining a speed of a moving object at a first distance; and

an image capture mechanism integrated with said speed measurement device for storing a sequence of images of said moving object from said first distance to a second lesser distance, said apparatus associating an instantaneous speed with at least a subset of said sequence of images and wherein said moving object is probabilistically uniquely identifiable in at least one of said images at said second distance.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein said speed measurement device comprises a laser rangefinder.

17. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein said image capture mechanism comprises a video camera.

18. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein said image capture mechanism comprises a discreet image sensor.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 further comprising:

a display device providing a visual indication of said moving object and said speed.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 further comprising:

a battery pack for powering said speed measurement device, said image capture mechanism and said display device.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 further comprising:

a handheld housing substantially encompassing said speed measurement device, said image capture mechanism, said display device and said battery pack, said housing enabling manual aiming of said apparatus at said moving object.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein said image capture mechanism is activated upon said moving object exceeding a settable threshold velocity.

23. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein said image capture mechanism is activated prior to said moving object exceeding a settable threshold velocity.

24. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein said apparatus comprises a vehicular traffic enforcement device.

25. A method for integrating object image and speed data, the method comprising;

determining a speed of a moving object using a speed measurement device;

capturing video images of said moving target with an image sensor and storing said images in a memory block with associated instantaneous speeds of said moving object; and

capturing a higher resolution still image of said moving target with said image sensor and storing said higher resolution still image in said memory block, wherein said video images and said higher resolution still image of said moving target are associated with at least one of said determined speeds of said moving object.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein said moving object is uniquely identifiable in said higher resolution still image.

27. The method of claim 25 further comprising:

displaying one of said video images or said higher resolution still image with an associated speed of said moving object on a display device.

28. The method of claim 27 further comprising:

transmitting said video images, said higher resolution still image and said associated speed of said moving object to an external device.

29. The method of claim 27 further comprising:

establishing a time stamp associated with said determining of said speed of said moving object and capturing said of said video images and said higher resolution still image.

30. The method of claim 27 further comprising:

initiating said method upon said moving object exceeding a settable threshold velocity.

31. The method of claim 27 further comprising:

initiating said method prior to said moving object exceeding a settable threshold velocity.

32. The method of claim 27 further comprising:

manually aiming said image sensor at said moving object.

33. A method comprising:

determining a speed of a moving object utilizing a laser rangefinder;

sampling a plurality of received laser pulses returned from said moving object over a period of time; and

determining said speed of said moving object utilizing a sliding sample window of a set of said received laser pulses.

34. The method of claim 33 further comprising:

incrementally moving said sliding sample window along said received laser pulses; and

determining said speed of said moving object once a qualifying sample of said received laser pulses is identified.