Compact speed measurement system with onsite digital image capture, processing, and portable display

A method of measuring a speed of a moving vehicle and capturing a digital image of the same moving vehicle, comprising:

• positioning a speed detector and a camera at a location selected for targeting vehicles moving through a target area;
• operating the camera on an ongoing basis to capture still images of the vehicles passing through the target area and store the still images at least temporarily in memory;
• determining the speed of a targeted vehicle with the speed detector;
• transmitting speed data comprising the speed from the speed detector to a portable field processor;
• processing the speed data with the portable field processor and in response, transmitting a trigger signal to the camera;
• at the camera, receiving the trigger signal, retrieving a still image corresponding to the targeted vehicle from memory, and transmitting the still image in a digital image file to the portable field processor;
• and
• placing at least apportion of the digital image file and the speed data on a display screen of the portable field processor and displaying the display screen to an operator of the targeted vehicle.

A system for determining a speed of a moving vehicle and ensuring capture of a digital still image of the same moving vehicle, comprising:

• a speed detector positioned for targeting the moving vehicle in a target area and operating to determine at a speed measurement time a speed rate of the moving vehicle and generate a signal corresponding to the speed rate;
• an image capture device for storing during an image timing cycle a digital still image of each vehicle passing through the target area, wherein the image capture device is responsive to a trigger signal to capture the stored image in a digital image file and to transmit the digital image file;
• and
• a field processor apparatus for receiving the speed rate signal and in response, transmit the trigger signal to the image capture device, wherein the trigger signal is timed such that the image field device captures the stored image during an image timing cycle at least partially coinciding with the speed measurement time.

A speed measurement system for use in measuring speeds of vehicles and capturing images of select ones of the vehicles, comprising:

• a speed detector for determining a speed of a vehicle in a target area and in response, generating a speed signal;
• a vehicle classification sensor for sensing a vehicle classification characteristic for the vehicle and in response, transmitting a vehicle classification signal;
• and
• a portable field processor communicatively linked with the speed detector and the vehicle classification sensor for receiving the speed signal and second receiving the vehicle classification signal, wherein the portable field processor is configured for processing the vehicle classification signal to select between two or more speed limit parameters and for determining whether a vehicle speed in the speed signal is greater than about the selected speed limit parameter.

A compact speed measurement system for field or onsite use in measuring speeds of vehicles and capturing images of select ones of the vehicles, comprising:

• a laser-based speed detector for determining a speed of a vehicle in a target area and in response, generating a speed signal;
• a camera aligned with the speed detector for capturing and storing a digital-format still image of the vehicle in memory, wherein the camera is adapted for responding to an image capture signal to generate and transmit a digital image file including the still image of the vehicle;
• a portable field processor communicatively linked with the speed detector and the camera for first receiving the speed signal and second receiving the digital image file, wherein the portable field processor is configured for processing the speed signal from the speed detector and in response, transmitting the image capture signal to the camera;
• and
• a vehicle classification sensor for sensing a characteristic of the vehicle and in response transmitting vehicle identification data to the portable field processor;
• wherein the processing completed by the portable field processor includes comparing the speed signal with a capture speed level corresponding to the vehicle identification data.

A method of measuring a speed of a moving vehicle and capturing a digital image of the same moving vehicle, comprising:

• positioning a speed detector and a camera at a location selected for targeting vehicles moving through a target area;
• operating the camera on an ongoing basis to capture still images of the vehicles passing through the target area and store the still images at least temporarily in memory;
• determining the speed of a targeted vehicle with the speed detector;
• transmitting speed data comprising the speed from the speed detector to a portable field processor;
• processing the speed data with the portable field processor and in response, transmitting a trigger signal to the camera;
• at the camera, receiving the trigger signal, retrieving a still image corresponding to the targeted vehicle from memory, and transmitting the still image in a digital image file to the portable field processor;
• entering a first capture speed limit and a second capture speed limit into memory;
• and
• classifying the targeted vehicle into a first group of vehicles corresponding to the first capture speed limit or a second group of vehicles corresponding to the second capture speed limit;
• wherein the processing includes comparing the speed in the speed data with the first or second capture speed limit based on the classifying.

A method of measuring a speed of a moving vehicle and capturing a digital image of the same moving vehicle, comprising:

• positioning a speed detector and a camera at a location selected for targeting vehicles moving through a target area;
• operating the camera on an ongoing basis to capture still images of the vehicles passing through the target area and store the still images at least temporarily in memory;
• determining the speed of a targeted vehicle with the speed detector;
• transmitting speed data comprising the speed from the speed detector to a portable field processor;
• processing the speed data with the portable field processor and in response, transmitting a trigger signal to the camera;
• at the camera, receiving the trigger signal, retrieving a still image corresponding to the targeted vehicle from memory, and transmitting the still image in a digital image file to the portable field processor;
• and
• transmitting a wireless signal comprising at least a portion of the digital image file and the speed data to a remotely located receiver.

A compact speed measurement system for field or onsite use in measuring speeds of vehicles and capturing images of select ones of the vehicles, comprising:

• a laser-based speed detector for determining a speed of a vehicle in a target area and in response, generating a speed signal;
• a camera aligned with the speed detector for capturing and storing a digital-format still image of the vehicle in memory, wherein the camera is adapted for responding to an image capture signal to generate and transmit a digital image file including the still image of the vehicle;
• and
• a portable field processor communicatively linked with the speed detector and the camera for first receiving the speed signal and second receiving the digital image file, wherein the portable field processor is configured for processing the speed signal from the speed detector and in response, transmitting the image capture signal to the camera.

A method of measuring a speed of a moving vehicle and capturing a digital image of the same moving vehicle, comprising:

• positioning a speed detector and a camera at a location selected for targeting vehicles moving through a target area;
• operating the camera on an ongoing basis to capture still images of the vehicles passing through the target area and store the still images at least temporarily in memory;
• determining the speed of a targeted vehicle with the speed detector;
• transmitting speed data comprising the speed from the speed detector to a portable field processor;
• processing the speed data with the portable field processor and in response, transmitting a trigger signal to the camera;
• and
• at the camera, receiving the trigger signal, retrieving a still image corresponding to the targeted vehicle from memory, and transmitting the still image in a digital image file to the portable field processor.