Visual incremental turn detector
First Claim
1. A visual gyroscope, or yaw detector system for detecting the travel of a vehicle along a route, regardless of whether the vehicle makes turns or heads straight during such travel, comprising:
- visual image detecting means mounted on said vehicle, for producing successive digitized image data strips including information relating to features of scenery about said vehicle at successive locations or landmarks along the route, respectively;
means for extracting two of the successive image data strips;
means for rotating the second occurring image data strip until it matches the first occurring image data strip, and for measuring the amount of rotation of the former to obtain a match with the latter such that the measured amount of rotation is indicative of the turn direction and of the degree the vehicle turned in the time interval between the two successive image data strips.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A visual gyroscope system for detecting turns and straight line travel of a vehicle includes a visual image detector mounted on the vehicle, for producing sequential and successive digitized image data strips containing information identifying scenery about the vehicle at associated successive locations along the route travelled, A processor is programmed to extract from image detector each successive pair of image data strips, and rotate the second occurring strip of each pair until it matches the first occurring strip to obtain the incremental rotation and direction of rotation of the vehicle in its travel between strips. The incremental rotations between strips are accumulated and summed to obtain the total rotation upon completion of a turn, and along with the direction of rotation, identification of a right turn, left turn, u-turn, or straight line travel. Dead reckoning navigation is also provided via the inclusion of an odometer, for providing distance readings for the distance travelled between each successive image data strip.
158 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A visual gyroscope, or yaw detector system for detecting the travel of a vehicle along a route, regardless of whether the vehicle makes turns or heads straight during such travel, comprising:
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visual image detecting means mounted on said vehicle, for producing successive digitized image data strips including information relating to features of scenery about said vehicle at successive locations or landmarks along the route, respectively; means for extracting two of the successive image data strips; means for rotating the second occurring image data strip until it matches the first occurring image data strip, and for measuring the amount of rotation of the former to obtain a match with the latter such that the measured amount of rotation is indicative of the turn direction and of the degree the vehicle turned in the time interval between the two successive image data strips. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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Specification