Automatic activation of an in-car video recorder using a GPS speed signal
An in-car video system and method are provided where a GPS speed signal is compared against a user-settable threshold value. If the vehicle speed exceeds the threshold value, an alarm is generated. The alarm is used by the in-car video system to automatically activate the record function of a video recorder. The alarm may be optionally sent to a remote location, such as a police agency's headquarters as an alert that the vehicle speed has exceeded a set threshold and that a possible high speed pursuit has commenced. Vehicle speed information from the GPS speed signal is generated into a form that is continuously displayable on an in-car video monitor or continuously recordable by the video recorder along with the video and audio information captured by the in-car video system camera and microphones.
1 . An activation controller for automatically activating an in-car video system that includes a car-mounted camera and video recorder into a record mode of operation, comprising:
an input for receiving a GPS signal that is indicative of a speed of a vehicle in which the in-car video system is installed:
a comparator for comparing the speed of the vehicle against an activation threshold;
an alarm generator coupled to the comparator for generating an alarm signal if the speed of the vehicle exceeds the threshold; and
an output for transmitting the alarm signal to a trigger input of an in-car video system so that the video recorder is activated into the record mode of operation upon receiving the alarm signal.
2 . The activation controller of claim 1 further including a selector for selectively adjusting the activation threshold.
3 . The activation controller of claim 2 further including a graphical user interface that is displayable on a display device for providing user-selectable control over the activation controller.
4 . The activation controller of claim 3 where the user-selectable control includes control over the selector to set the activation threshold to a setting desired by the user.
5 . The activation controller of claim I further including a character generator for creating a video overlay that includes a graphical representation of the speed of the vehicle.
6 . The activation controller of claim 5 where the activation controller is arranged so that video overlay is displayable on a video monitor and superimposed on a video image captured by the car-mounted camera.
7 . The activation controller of claim 6 where the activation controller is arranged so that the captured video and superimposed video overlay of the speed of the vehicle is recordable by the video recorder.
8 . The activation controller of claim I further including a transmitter coupled to receive the alarm signal for transmitting an indication to a remote location that the speed of the vehicle has exceeded the activation threshold.
9 . The activation controller of claim 8 where the transmitter comprises a wireless transmitter.
10 . A method of operating an in-car video system including a car-mounted camera and video recorder that is installed and operated in a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
receiving a GPS speed signal that is indicative of a speed of the vehicle; and
activating the in-car video system into a record mode of operation if the speed of the vehicle exceeds a threshold speed so that a video image captured by the car-mounted camera is recorded by the video recorder.
11 . The method of claim 10 further including a step of transmitting an alarm signal to a remote location to indicate that the vehicle has exceeded the threshold speed.
12 . The method of claim 10 further including a step of providing a user with an interface to adjust the threshold speed.
13 . The method of claim 12 where the interface comprises a graphical user interface displayed on a display device.
14 . The method of claim 10 further including a step of generating a video overlay that includes a representation of the speed of the vehicle.
15 . The method of claim 14 where the video overlay is combined with a video image captured by the car-mounted camera and provided to the video recorder as a recordable video stream.
16 . An in-car video system, comprising:
a video recorder mountable in a vehicle and arranged to be coupled to a camera mounted in a vehicle so as to receive video captured by the camera; and
a controller that is arranged to be coupled to receive a signal from a GPS receiver mounted in the vehicle, the signal indicative of speed of the vehicle, for triggering the video recorder into record mode when the speed of the vehicle exceeds a threshold speed.
17 . The in-car video system of claim 16 further including a metadata generator for generating metadata that is recordable by the video recorder.
18 . The in-car video system of claim 17 where the metadata includes vehicle speed data.
19 . The in-car video system of claim 16 further including a user interface coupled to the controller for providing user-selection over the speed threshold.
20 . The in-car video system of claim 19 where the user interface includes an on-screen menu that provides the user with a selection of speed thresholds in incremental units of speed.