Invention Reference Number
How fast is a vehicle traveling? For different reasons, this basic question is of interest to other motorists, insurance companies, law enforcement, traffic planners, and security personnel. Solutions to this measurement problem suffer from a number of constraints. Some approaches require calibration against the vehicle being measured or the scene through which it travels. Other methods illuminate the target when a passive approach would be preferred. Limited range is a pervasive issue, as are obstructions along the line of sight from sensors to target vehicles.
The current invention avoids many limitations of other measurement techniques. It uses a single visual image from a moving data collection platform to infer the instantaneous speed of a vehicle. The methodology can work as long as one wheel of the target vehicle is visible. By examining how motion blur varies across a wheel and using information about the collection platform's own motion, the technique can output the dimensional speed of the target. The camera taking the image can be at any orientation with respect to the vehicle. Another embodiment of the invention can ascertain the speed of a statically mounted rotating disc.
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