Absolute acceleration sensor for use within moving vehicles
A communication system comprises a pointable range finder to calculate a distance between the vehicle and an object, a recorder for recording a status of the vehicle and a control device. The range finder sends a signal to the control device corresponding to the vehicle's distance from the object and the control device operates the recorder in a manner dependent upon the signal from the range finder. The recorder is able to record the event if the vehicle is an unsafe distance from the object. The unsafe distance is able to be a programmed distance. In some embodiments, the unsafe distance increases with an increase in speed of the vehicle. In some embodiments, the unsafe distance is determined by a programmable constant. In these embodiments, the unsafe distance is determined according to a speed of the vehicle, the vehicle's distance from an object and a pre-defined safe zone threshold value.
1. A communication system for a vehicle comprising:
a. a pointable range finder to calculate a distance between the vehicle and an object;
b. a warning device that generates an alert; and
c. a control device coupled to the rangefinder and the warning device, wherein the range finder sends a signal to the control device corresponding to the vehicles distance from the object and the control device operates the warning device in a manner dependent upon the signal from the range finder,
wherein the warning device issues an alert if the vehicle is an unsafe distance from the object, and wherein the unsafe distance is determined according to a constant value defined according to the speed of the vehicle and the distance between the vehicle and the object.
2. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the system further comprises a vehicle speed sensor that sends a signal to the control device corresponding to a speed of the vehicle and the control device operates the warning device in a manner dependent on the signal from the range finder and the speed of the vehicle.
3. The communication system of claim 2 , wherein the warning device generates an alert that the vehicle is an unsafe distance from the object based upon the speed of the vehicle.
4. The communication system of claim 3 , wherein the unsafe distance increases with an increase in speed of the vehicle.
5. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the unsafe distance is determined according to a pre-defined constant value.
6. The communication system of claim 5 , wherein the constant value is programmable.
7. A communication system for a vehicle comprising:
a. a pointable range finder to calculate a distance between the vehicle and an object;
b. a warning device that generates an alert; and
c. a control device coupled to the rangefinder and the warning device, wherein the range finder sends a signal to the control device corresponding to the vehicles distance from the object and the control device operates the warning device in a manner dependent upon the signal from the range finder,
wherein the warning device issues an alert if the vehicle is an unsafe distance from the object, and wherein the unsafe distance is determined according to a constant value defined according to the speed of the vehicle and the distance between the vehicle and the object and further wherein the constant value is programmed to increase the unsafe distance at a constant rate once the vehicle reaches a determined speed.
8. The communication system of claim 5 wherein the constant value is variable and increases the unsafe distance as the speed of the vehicle increase.
9. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the warning device generates an alert announcing “YOU HAVE ENCROACHED ON THE SAFE SEPARATION ZONE.”
10. The communication system of claim 1 wherein the object is a vehicle.
11. The communication system of claim 1 wherein the range finder comprises a laser rangefinder.
12. A communication system for a vehicle comprising:
a. a laser range finder to calculate a distance between the vehicle and an object;
b. a vehicle speed sensor that calculates a speed of the vehicle;
c. a warning device that generates an internal alert to a driver of the vehicle; and
d. a control device coupled to the rangefinder, the vehicle speed sensor and the warning device, wherein the range finder sends a signal to the control device corresponding to the vehicles distance from the object, the vehicle speed sensor sends a signal to the control device corresponding to a speed of the vehicle and the control device operates the warning device in a manner dependent upon the signal from the range finder and the speed of the vehicle.