WO2008056094A1

WO2008056094A1 - Vehicle history recorder

Info

Publication number: WO2008056094A1
Application number: PCT/GB2006/050379
Authority: WO
Inventors: Herd Rogers
Original assignee: Herd Rogers
Priority date: 2006-11-09
Filing date: 2006-11-09
Publication date: 2008-05-15

Abstract

Video and speed recordings using digital technology to compile speed history of vehicles and drivers and video recordings of accidents. The recordings can be used by insurance companies, hire car companies, police, employers and parents and other vehicle owners to review how vehicles have been handled. Recording in association with GPS data can determine where speed limits have been broken.

Description

VEHICLE HISTORY RECORDER

External Video Camera ("EVC") Footage

[1] A digital camera will record video footage of the road, other vehicles, lights and pedestrians on and to the side of the road. Power for the camera will come from the car battery system and the recording will continue as long as the car is running. The recording will be written to a digital video hard drive "DVHD", and be copied to a portable video hard drive "PVHD" at the User's discretion. Such PVHD options will include Rash memory cards and sticks, possibly carried on a keychain or in a Driver's pocket. Power for the hard drives will also come from the car battery. The recording on the DVHD will overwrite previous recordings according to a configurable setting according to Driver, Owner, Insurance Company and Manufacturer preferences (Recorded Video Period - "RVP"), probably of the order of 5 minutes. A further setting can configure the recorder to that if the car is stationary for a time period equal to the RVP then the camera will temporarily stop recording until the wheels begin to turn again.

[2] Cameras can be placed at various points around the vehicle - to get a view of the road. Placements will include front, side and rear. Within the lights housing or grill are possible placements for the cameras. Camera will have wide angle lenses to widen the angle of view, with focal lengths changeable by the driver, but likely set to optimize clarity between 10 meters and 30 meters from the vehicle. One to four cameras will cover recording requirements.

Speed, Distance And Time ("SDT") Recording

[3] History of the vehicle's speed and mileometer reading graphed against time will be recorded by a computer processor to a digital data hard drive "DDHD", and be copied to a portable data hard drive "PDHD" at the Driver's or Owner's discretion. Power for the recorder and hard drives will again come from the car battery. The recording will overwrite its previous recording according to a configurable setting accoding to Driver, Owner, Insurance Company and Manufacturer preferences (Recorded Speed Period - "RSP"), probably of the order of 1 year. The recording will be going as long as the car is running.

History Download

[4] The vehicle Owner will be able to remove the portable hard drives, PVHD and

PDHD used for Recording the EVC of SDT history at his discretion.

[5] Drivers will have the option to copy the SDT recording of his own driving history from the DDHD at his discretion. This can be done by copying the history to portable hard drive hardware, such as Rash memory drives. Such memory drives can be carried on a keychain or in a User's pocket.

Optional User Categorization

[6] The Speed, Distance and Time Recoding will have an option to distinguish who is the driver of the vehicle. The User setting can function in a number of ways: (1) Manual setting; (2) Personal Micro-chip insert setting (3) Fingerprint recogition setting.

Optional Tamperproof Encryption

[7] Each EVC and SDT recording device can have encryption options for the recordings on the hard drives, DVHD and DDHD, within each unit's hardware that only authorized personnel have access to. This will facilitate Insurance Companies, authorized Manufacturer dealers and Government authorized personnel obtaining the historical data of the vehicle (or Driver if applicable) that they can have confidence has not been altered in any way.

Optional Global Positioning Satellite "GPS" Recoding

[8] There can be an option to include GPS data readings in the SDT recording.

Background Art

[9]

Disclosure of Invention

Lack of driver informatiom for Insurance risk assessment

[10] To better assess the risk associated with particular drivers, insurance companies use information they feel appropriately categories drivers, such as age and previous claims. But so far Insurance companies have been unable to get a complete picture relating to how a driver drives.

Use of personal SDT recordings

[11] By using SDT recordings a driver may allow his Insurance company to obtain a complete picture of how he drives. Data such as time at the wheel, continuous driving periods, average speed data, acceloration and deceloration data, excessive speed data, and in conjunction with GPS exceeding speed limit restrictions, can be used by Insurance companies to categorize a driver to give an insurance quote.

Advantageous Effects

[12] Drivers who feel they are likely to be low incurance risks due to careful driving habits may be able to obtain lower insurance quotes. Insurance companies for quoting particular categories may insist on historical driver data. Disclosure of Invention

Lack of accident diagnosis

[13] Police and insurance companies have to rely on eye witness accounts and deduction for diagnosing accidents and attributing fault. Such accounts and deductions can be very subjective and liable to inaccuracy.

Accident video recording

[14] The EVC recoding can be used to determine the precise circumstances surrounding an accident.

Objective data

[15] The EVC recodings will provide objective and easily reviewable data to determine what happened in the time period leading up to an accident. Disclosure of Invention

Temporary driver history

[16] Hire car companies, car lenders and companies with employees who drive as part of the employment do not know how particular drivers handled their vehicles.

SDT data improves driver information

[17] The recording from the SDT recordings can give vehicle Owners more information as to how their vechicles were handled.

Vehicle Owners better assess driver behaviour

[18] By using the SDT recordings, vehicle owners can better assess how their vehicles have been handled. Data such as continuous time on the road for employees and excessive driving speeds can be reviewed to determine whether vehicles were handled according to Owners' wishes.

Description of Drawings [19]

Light conditions [20] The prevailing lighting conditiong may affect the quality of the EVC recordings.

Advanced features such as automated aperture mechanisms on the camera may be used to control the camera's exposure settings and improve recording quality

Camera lens obstruction

[21] Cameras can be housed within secure housings, such as driving light housings, to give a good vantage point of the road. Warning sound alerts to the Driver can be automatically sounded when the digital recording matches pre-defined qualities designed to identify when the external surface of such housings have become dirty to the extent that it may affect recording quality.

Optimal configuration

[22] The best mode for the EVC recorder to work is with enough cameras to give a 360 view around the vehicle at driver eye height. This may be impractical in many vehicles and so driving light housing level may siffuce. [23] To keep the hard drive size down, the camera should wire over its history every 5 minues, giving ample time for the recording of an accident, but with safeguards such as auto-stop when stationary for 5 minutes to ensure accidents while sitting in stopped traffic or at traffice lights are recorded. [24] The focal point/ focus of the cameras should be set to record the most helpful field of view in an accident - the 10 meter to 30 meter range for top clarity. [25] To give information for annual insurance quotes, the SDT should be set to record a year's worth of data and can then be sent to the insurance company and peridically verified by authorised personnel. [26] The SDT recorder should be set to distinguish between different drivers, at its optimum by recognizing fingerprints on the steering wheel or a fingerprint button by the steering wheel. Authorized personnel can see which Drivers are associated with each period in the SDT data and confirm this data with the insurance companies assessing individual drivers. [27] The premanent hard drives, DVHD and DDHD, should use encryptionn software so that insurance companies and police can have full confidence that the data has not been tampered with. [28] SDT recorder to work is in conjuction with a GPS or similar tracking device to be able to compare speeds to local driving limits.

Mode for Invention [29] Using data digital technology in prescribed manner in to record vehicle history and video digital technology to record events leading up to an accident.

Industrial Applicability [30] These recording devices can be incorporated into vehicle manufacture as standard or optional items. They could also be manufactured and installed separately to applicable vehicle models.

Sequence List Text [31]

Claims

[1] A tamper-proof digital video recording mechanism for a vehicle to video the circumstances leading up to an accident.

[2] A tamper-proof digital speed recording mechanism for a vehicle and/or driver to compile a reviewable history of the vehicle's or driver's speed, possibly used in conjunction with GPS or similar tracking device.