Data processing: measuring – calibrating – or testing – Measurement system – Orientation or position
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-27
2002-12-10
Shah, Kamni (Department: 2863)
Data processing: measuring, calibrating, or testing
Measurement system
Orientation or position
C701S035000, C340S815690, C340S438000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06493650
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to an automated measurement and documentation system, in particular, to a method and apparatus for automated measurement and documentation of crash scenes.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Crash scene analysis is performed to determine the causes and circumstances of crashes in order to make the transportation mode safer in the future, and to determine criminal and civil liability. The position and orientation of vehicles, vessels, aircraft, and their pieces relative to each other and the scene features is important in attempting to determine the crash dynamics and cause.
Currently, crash scene measurements are done manually with wheel and tape measures. The data are recorded by hand and the analysis is done through manual calculation. The results of the measurements and calculations are captured on hand drawn sketches. The scene elements can only be located relative to each other and any nearby landmarks. Scene measurements are two dimensional, providing only a projection of the scene on an artificially flat landscape. Usually it takes more than one person to survey a crash scene; a helper holds the end of the tape and helps record measurements. The hand drawn sketches are not in a standard format making it very difficult to correlate multiple incidents, store the data, and transmit the data. Although the crash scene researchers are well trained, the number of manual operations in the measurement and analysis are a source of inefficiency and errors.
To improve its processing of these important data, the present invention will automate the process, and provide accurate, rapid, crash scene measurement, analysis, and documentation. The present invention will require only one documenter and provide for much faster scene measurement and documentation, which will minimize the labor cost. The present invention will maximize measurement accuracy while minimizing measurement errors by automatically recording precise Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements and providing step-by-step process prompts to the user. Unlike manual scene documentation, the measurements are made in a universal coordinate system that has well known transformations to local datums. This allows the absolute position of the scene to be located even where there are no reference landmarks such as in the desert, and provides for the possibility of recreating the scene in the future at the proper position and orientation. The data are three-dimensional allowing much more accurate scene documentation. Unlike the manual methods, the present invention automates the scene position and dimension calculations, as well as the scene drawing so that it provides, in near real-time, the accident scene report and accurate graphical representations of the scene. This reduces analysis errors, report preparation time, as well as providing a standard report format and data file format. The standard data file format will provide for electronic storage, retrieval, and transmission to facilitate data analysis and multiple incident correlations.
The present invention has a user-friendly interface, and provides for data and report security. To reduce training costs the user-friendly interface incorporates procedure prompts, and check for data entry errors and missing data. However, as much as possible, the Graphical User Interface (GUI) is based on the current procedures to minimize researcher retraining. The present invention is designed to be a low cost augmentation to a potable computer (palmtop or laptop).
Similar but much different systems based on GPS have been designed for construction and land surveying. These previous systems are designed to work over a much larger area than the instant device, and are more cumbersome to use. The present invention is tailored to crash scene and similar applications requiring accurate, local scene measurement and documentation. It makes use of unique processing and interface software to maximize efficiency and accuracy.
The present invention's processing software does not require determination of the unmeasurable GPS carrier phase cycles between the reference module and the measurement module using a solution space search strategy or statistical selection as prior systems require. As determining these cycles is the greatest cause of processing error in these systems, the present invention has greater solution integrity and accuracy over its smaller operational area.
The present invention's processing software has a unique configuration that provides enhanced solution integrity by combining an extended Kalman filter with a least-mean-square initialization and figure-of-merit determination process. The configuration provides for unique, robust measurement validation and selection, as well as position accuracy enhancement. It also provides an automatic means of recovery in case the Kalman Filter begins to diverge from the true solution.
The present invention's unique multimedia user interface provides process prompts and error checking tailored to the crash scene application. For instance, the automotive crash scene system conforms to the US Department of Transportation's Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria for scene documentation. The user is prompted to take all measurements and other data required by this standard, and the report produced conforms to the standard. To aid the single user, the present invention's prompts and instructions are given both graphically and audibly. The present invention also can be configured to respond to spoken commands instead of keystrokes to keep the user's hands free.
The previous systems make use of expensive proprietary hardware and software. The present invention leverages low cost, commercially available hardware, and commercial Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) and word processing software to provide enhanced functionality at about one twentieth the cost of the previous total solution, survey systems on the market.
Such an invention is needed by automotive, marine, and aircraft crash investigators because of it is more accurate, efficient, and standardized than the current manual systems. It requires less personnel, saving labor costs, and its instructive and error checking interface reduces training costs and enhances measurement integrity. It also can be produced at a low cost that allows more high quality, crash scene research to be performed on the same budgets, ultimately improving the safety of all modes of transportation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention consists of two modules, the measurement and reference modules. The measurement module is used by the scene surveyor to measure the crash element points while the reference module's GPS measurements are used to remove common errors from the measurement data.
The reference module has a portable computer, either a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) laptop, palmtop, or pen computer. A COTS GPS receiver board is either integrated in the computer package or packaged separately. It communicates with the receiver through a digital I/O port, most often a serial port. The computer contains the turn-key invention software that uses a Graphical User Interface (GUI) and audio to guide the user through a scene measurement. The software also controls the GPS receiver, collects the GPS data, processes the data, builds a Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) scene file, calls a COTS word processing program and writes a report, and calls a COTS CAD program to draw the scene. The GPS receiver requires a COTS antenna for receiving the GPS signals. In the present invention, the antenna is mounted on survey stake with a bubble plumb/level or electronic level sensor, and is placed on points whose positions define the relative shape, orientation, and size of the scene elements.
The reference module consists of a COTS GPS antenna and receiver integrated with a microcontroller board and power supply. The microcontroller controls the receiver and stores the GPS reference data. The reference module is placed for convenienc
Greenlee Darrell Froncis
Rodgers Charles Edward
Optimus Corporation
Shah Kamni
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