Apparatus, system, method, and computer program product for registering the time and location of weapon firings

1. An apparatus for registering time and location of a weapon firing event of a weapon comprising:

a portable housing adapted to be removably mounted directly on the weapon;

a microcontroller disposed in the housing;

a pressure sensor disposed at the housing and adapted to determine pressure data based on air pressure in proximity to the weapon and provide said pressure data to said microcontroller;

an accelerometer located at the housing and adapted to determine acceleration data of the weapon based on movement of the weapon and provide said acceleration data to said microcontroller;

a location sensor located at the housing and adapted to determine a time and a location of the weapon and provide said time and said location of the weapon to said microcontroller; and

a memory disposed in the housing and coupled to said microcontroller,

wherein said microcontroller is adapted to;

determine if a potential weapon firing event occurred based on the acceleration data;

determine if the potential weapon firing event occurred based on the pressure data; and

determine the weapon firing occurred only when both of the acceleration data and the pressure data independently and concurrently indicate that the potential weapon firing event occurred; and wherein said microcontroller is adapted to retrieve and then transmit said acceleration data, said pressure data, said time, and said location of the weapon when the weapon firing occurred for storage in said memory.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

a momentary switch coupled to said microcontroller and adapted allow a user to communicate at least one of said pressure sensor, said accelerometer, said time device, said location device, and said microcontroller.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

a momentary switch coupled to at least one of said pressure sensor, said accelerometer, said time device, and said location device and adapted to turn at least one of said pressure sensor, said accelerometer, said time device, said location device, and said microcontroller on and off.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

an input/output (I/O) data port, wherein said data port is coupled to said microcontroller.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein said I/O data port comprises at least one of a wireless interface or a wired interface.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said microcontroller comprises digital signal processing (DSP) capabilities.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , further comprising:

a signal conditioning unit coupled to at least one of said pressure sensor or said accelerometer and adapted to condition said pressure data and said acceleration data before said pressure data and said acceleration data is provided to said microcontroller.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

a power supply.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein said power supply comprises at least of:

a battery;

a rechargeable battery;

a nonrechargeable battery;

a fuel cell; or

a hydrogen fuel cell.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said memory is further adapted to store a weapon firing signature including stored pressure and acceleration data for said weapon, and wherein said microcontroller is adapted to determine if the weapon firing has occurred by comparing said acceleration data and said pressure data to said weapon firing signature.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

a transceiver for transmitting said acceleration data, said pressure data, said time, and said location of the weapon when the weapon firing occurred for storage in said memory.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein said transceiver comprises at least one of a wired interface, a wireless interface, RS-232 interface, a wired USB port, a firewire port, an eSATA port, and/or a proprietary port, or a wireless USB device, Bluetooth device, or IEEE 802.11x standard wi-fi connection, and IEEE 802.16x wimax connection.

13. A method for registering time and location of a weapon firing of a weapon comprising:

determining pressure data with a pressure sensor based on air pressure in proximity to the weapon;

determining acceleration data with an accelerometer based on movement of the weapon;

analyzing said pressure data with a computer to determine if the weapon firing has occurred;

analyzing said acceleration data with the computer to determine if the weapon firing has occurred;

determining a weapon firing event occurred only when both of the acceleration data and the pressure data independently and concurrently indicate that the weapon firing occurred; and

if the weapon firing event has occurred:

determining a time of the weapon firing;

determining a location of the weapon firing; and

storing said pressure data, said acceleration data, said time, and said location in a memory.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

transmitting said pressure data, said acceleration data, said time, and said location to a device for storage.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein said analyzing step further comprises comparing said acceleration data and said pressure data to a weapon firing signature to determine if the weapon firing has occurred.

16. A method for registering time and location of a weapon firing comprising:

receiving pressure data from a pressure sensor based on air pressure in proximity to the weapon;

receiving acceleration data from an accelerometer based on movement of the weapon;

receiving a current time;

receiving a current location of the weapon;

analyzing with a computer said pressure data to determine if the weapon firing has occurred;

analyzing said acceleration data with the computer to determine if the weapon firing has occurred;

determining a weapon firing event occurred only when both of the acceleration data and the pressure data concurrently and independently indicate that the weapon firing occurred; and

if the weapon firing event has occurred, storing said pressure data, said acceleration data, said time, and said location in a memory.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

transmitting said pressure data, said acceleration data, said time, and said location to a device for storage.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein said analyzing step further comprises comparing said acceleration data and said pressure data to a weapon firing signature to determine if the weapon firing has occurred.