초록 ▼

A vehicle mounted, navigation device is disclosed. This invention combines a global position system (GPS) with an image capturing system into a portable device that can be optimally mounted within a vehicle. The image capturing system detects and interprets visual information in the vicinity of the

A vehicle mounted, navigation device is disclosed. This invention combines a global position system (GPS) with an image capturing system into a portable device that can be optimally mounted within a vehicle. The image capturing system detects and interprets visual information in the vicinity of the vehicle to provide the vehicle operator with appropriate navigational guidance assistance and to compensate for the positioning errors embedded in commercial GPS signals. Additionally, the device has the capability to store consecutive frames of detected, visual information so as to enable the device to be used for accident aftermath analysis and the documentation of an event or scene that occurs within the vicinty of the vehicle. The device includes a mounting assembly which enables the device to be used in most automotive vehicles, with the device usually being mounted behind the vehicle's rearview mirror such that a set of directional turning indicators naturally fall within the vehicle operator's field of view.

대표청구항 ▼

[ I claim:] [1.] A digital in-vehicle device comprising:an image capturing device for continuously capturing actual road scene that comes within the vicinity of vehicle in real-time,a vision microprocessor coupled to said image capturing device for controlling the operation of said image capturing d

[ I claim:] [1.] A digital in-vehicle device comprising:an image capturing device for continuously capturing actual road scene that comes within the vicinity of vehicle in real-time,a vision microprocessor coupled to said image capturing device for controlling the operation of said image capturing device,a vision memory device coupled to said vision microprocessor,a persistent memory device coupled to said vision microprocessor, wherein said persistent memory device is a non-volatile storage device,means connected to said vision microprocessor for automatically triggering a permanent storage, in said persistent memory device, of a plurality of consecutive frames of captured visual scene that comes within the vicinity of said vehicle, wherein said permanent storage of a plurality of consecutive frames is achieved by means of prohibiting the current content in said persistent memory from being over-written by new images after a pre-programmed elapsed time period such that said plurality of consecutive frames stored are composed of a number of images captured so many seconds before and after said triggering occurs, wherein the number of said images stored is a function of the size of said persistent memory, wherein said persistent memory consisting of a finite number of storage elements overwritten repeatedly by said vision microprocessor in a first-in-first-out fashion so that a finite storage can be used to buffer up a plurality of said images continuously, andmeans connected to said vision microprocessor for manually triggering the said permanent storage, in said persistent memory device, of frames of said visual scene that comes within the vicinity of said vehicle, wherein said manually triggering can be an action selected from the group consisting of taking snap shots of visual scene, taking a sequence of continuous images of visual scene, and freezing the activity of said continuously capturing visual information so as to prevent existing said images in said persistent memory of being replaced by new images in order to preserve existing said images,wherein said stored frames can be used for various purposes, including accident aftermath analysis and documentation of the visual aspects of an event or scene that occurs within the vicinity of the vehicle.