Apparatus and method for capturing and displaying images of the undercarriage of vehicles including one or more scene cameras
CAFCFirst Claim
1. A method for capturing and displaying vehicle undercarriage images, the method comprising:
- detecting a vehicle'"'"'s presence;
acquiring an undercarriage image of an undercarriage of the vehicle using a single line scan camera;
acquiring scene images associated with the vehicle using one or more scene cameras, wherein the line scan camera and the one or more scene cameras are controlled by an under vehicle imaging (UVI) module and a power and communications unit (PCU), and wherein the UVI and the PCU are connected to a network;
transmitting the undercarriage image and the scene images to one or more operator workstations through the network;
storing the undercarriage image and the scene images in a relational database connected to the network; and
displaying the undercarriage image and the scene images to an operator.
1 Assignment
1 Petition
Accused Products
Abstract
A portable undercarriage vehicle inspection system (UVIS) (100) uses an under vehicle imaging (UVI) module (110) to capture an image of the undercarriage of a vehicle. The UVIS also includes multiple scene cameras (120) that capture the associated vehicle scene images. The scene cameras are easy to view and manipulate. The undercarriage image and the associated vehicle scene images are provided to a power and communications unit (PCU) (140) through a network (130) such as Ethernet. These images may be stored in a database repository connected to the network. A notebook computer will serve as an operator workstation (150, 152, 154) for display of real-time, as well as historical, vehicular records. An operator viewing the images can enter additional information related to the images, such as comments and remarks, and archive all of the information for future reference and comparisons.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. A method for capturing and displaying vehicle undercarriage images, the method comprising:
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detecting a vehicle'"'"'s presence; acquiring an undercarriage image of an undercarriage of the vehicle using a single line scan camera; acquiring scene images associated with the vehicle using one or more scene cameras, wherein the line scan camera and the one or more scene cameras are controlled by an under vehicle imaging (UVI) module and a power and communications unit (PCU), and wherein the UVI and the PCU are connected to a network; transmitting the undercarriage image and the scene images to one or more operator workstations through the network; storing the undercarriage image and the scene images in a relational database connected to the network; and displaying the undercarriage image and the scene images to an operator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. An apparatus for capturing and displaying vehicle undercarriage images, comprising:
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an under vehicle imaging (UVI) module, comprising; one or more sensors that detect a vehicle'"'"'s presence; a single line scan camera that acquires an undercarriage image of an undercarriage of the vehicle; one or more scene cameras that acquire scene images associated with the vehicle; an embedded imaging controller (EIC) that controls the line scan camera and the one or more scene cameras; an illumination control module (ICM) that is connected to the one or more sensors and controls one or more illuminators, wherein the illuminators illuminate the undercarriage of the vehicle when the line scan camera acquires the undercarriage image; a power and communications unit (PCU) connected to the UVI module, wherein the UVI and the PCU are connected to a network, and wherein the undercarriage image and the scene images are transmitted through the network to one or more operator workstations; and a relational database connected to the network for storing the undercarriage image, and the scene images. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A computer readable medium providing instructions for capturing and displaying vehicle undercarriage images, the instructions comprising:
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detecting a vehicle'"'"'s presence; acquiring an undercarriage image of an undercarriage of the vehicle using a single line scan camera; acquiring scene images associated with the vehicle using one or more scene cameras, wherein the line scan camera and the one or more scene cameras are controlled by an under vehicle imaging (UVI) module and a power and communications unit (PCU), and wherein the UVI and the PCU are connected to a network; transmitting the undercarriage image and the scene images to one or more operator workstations through the network; storing the undercarriage image and the scene images in a relational database connected to the network; and displaying the undercarriage image and the scene images to an operator.
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Specification