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Does anyone know about USB or Sata or Video or GPS?

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karenhornby

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Hi all and many thanks for all the help in the past,

I now have a new project in mind, and what gave me the idea was I was driving down the motorway(freeway for the Americans/Canadians) when A police car passed me driving erratically, pulled in front of me, slowed right down forcing me to slow, and stayed right in front of me, then after someone else had overtaken me he pulled out again and overtook that and then did the same, all the time weaving about like he was drunk and forcing people to slow and brake hard.
the road was clear, it was sunny and he had no lights or siren on, he was just being an as**ole.
Also I've been cut up by many drivers in the past also.

Right back to my project

What I'm thinking of is maybe a small camera module either in the front of the car on the outside or inside pointing forward, and possible one facing backwards, I need to record this video, but also importantly I'd like to superimpose on the video date time and speed, if possible also gps co-ordinates.
The recording device would ideally be a USB or SATA Hard drive, or maybe even a memory card whichever is easier but able to record vido of 8 hours length.
I sometimes travel across the country and it takes 4 hours each way, so If I said a maximum recording time of 8-10 hours, the ability to wipe the recording by button press, or save/copy/record/transfer onto dvd if needed for evidentual purposes ( YES I WOULD report a police driver for being an as**ole and bring a private prosecution if nessesary) they have NO rights to drive any different from you or me unless they are on an emergency call.

I think interfacing a GPS module would allow the calculation of speed, distance gps co-ordinates, time date etc
it's just how do I superimpose this onto the video (cheap video camera module as used in webcams or cctv surveillence at home) and how do I actually record onto the hard drive or recording medium?
I DONT want to use a computer because it's too much for what I want, I want something small I can hide away inside the car but access if needed and simple to use, I.E. press a button to recrod, a button to stop and another for playback and delete.

Any ideas or suggestions? any and all ideas welcome but please DONT suggest using or making a PC for the car, it's not going to happen.
Possibly a PIC chip to work the buttons to record and playback etc, but other than that I have no idea how to start or what direction to start working.

By the way, before anyone mentions I'm leaving myself open to prosecution by recording my own speed i know, but I'm willing to take that chance (beside's I'm a woman, and we never speed or drive erratically :p :)

Oh one last thought, I DONT want to time step the video,i.e. only record every other or every 3rd frame to save space etc, I want proper real time recording, doesn't need to be in high definition but does have to be proper real video minimum 30 frames per sec, or 625 line depending on what way you look at it, or use it
example of the kind of camera I will be using although this ISNT the actual one ( one of the following maybe?)
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
just to make it clear, these are only examples of the kind of camera I MAY end up using, It's ideas on how to record and interface the gps I need thanks
 
Wow Karen

That's a great idea. I think I'll also try to make one.
I think the easiest way to record the data would be solid state memory, HDD could be complicated, I've never interfaced to one.
Solid state memory have really become cheap theses day, relatively being the key word.
If I remember correctly you do get cameras that provides data digitally, this could possibly make things easier, otherwise one might have to do an A-D conversion. Then again those are expensive, I've seen some of the normal black and white jobbies with a decent lens and day/night capability advertised not long ago. They're not too expensive these day.
The PIC can probably handle everything, but I'm worried about the image conversion, you need quite a bit of crunch for that.
Wonder if anyone on the forum have done similar.
I'll start another post to find out.
The gps board might be a bit expensive as well, here in SA, I doubt whether one can get it for less than R850, that's a lot of money.
It will be an expensive project, there goes my hope of making this.
anyway, lets see what the real brainiacs say.
 
I'm looking for a website a friend gave me that shows USB is just a port. It can be accessed directly but here is a little back ground information for you: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB

Space man, are you sure USB is not a bus?

Karen, you'll need 250GB at least to store 8hours b&w, I think solid state just saw its backside, maybe my math is rusty, someone will point it out if I'm wrong.
 
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Thankfully :)
I was afraid everyone would think I was mad trying to think of something like that.
The GPS modules are actually no problem, they are available over here in the uk but in the US they are even cheaper, this Module(clicky) is only US$99 and others are way cheaper even as low as $40 or less.

I thought the data might mount up to around 250-300GB that's why I said hard drive, and I believe a USB one would possibly be easier to interface, although it might need a sata to usb adaptor, that wont be a problem as they are easily available, and long as it ends up working lol

500GB hard drives are now available for less than UK£50 and 1TB hard drives arent overly expensive either, but I believe a 500GB would be sufficient, or maybe 750 to play safe and have extra capability.

But I'm still stuck for ideas on how to get the whole lot together, get them talking and doing what I want.
Least I know now that the idea is theoretically possible :)
 
I agree with 3V0 why are you shooting down a PC? Biscuit PCs or the micro ATX form factor and you have a PC that will fit in a shoebox or smaller footprint. You can do some pretty sophisticated stuff with a PC like a moving buffer instead of just bulk recording the whole trip you could use a single buffer of 1 hour that is constantly overwriting itself, that way you just hit a button after the event occurs and the buffer is locked coppied and then resumed. Also exactly what do you intend to do with this video once you have it? The cameras you've listed so far aren't enough to ID a license plate, the resolution is WAY too low. These kinds of cameras are good for logging events in police cars when an officer needs to bolster their case against someone and the audio is usually the really damning evidence but as stand alone evidence against anyone they're pretty useless, though it makes good TV footage; Try picking out a plate with 320 lines of resolution =) In theory yes the idea is not just possible it's a good one, but as far as what you can legally do with the results of it? Contact a lawyer first this kind of system is useless without a very solid legal backing of it's implementation. If you don't start with a lawyer first and get some legal knowledge about how such a system could be used you're just barking at the wind like just about every other driver.
 
This is a good project idea, since I wish I had something like this in my car, but it is a big project. If you are doing this for the experience, then great, but if you just want the end result, consider buying one ready made. There are many available, although I don't think it is so common to include the GPS data. But you could simply park a GPS nav screen in view of the camera and leave it running.
 
For starters, you do not need to take it to a lawyer, etc.
A good radio station or tv station, second one not applicable to SA, will take this story and tear it to pieces. Radio stations here love such stuff.
The thing is you need the plates, and even 640x480 will be hard pushed for clear ID, then there is the distance thing of the camera, most cameras have a fixed focal point, 12/15/30/60 meters. So that might make reading your plate even more of a challenge. Only playing with an actual camera setup will reveal real world results I think.
Obviously if money is not an issue, you can spend top dollar for serious kit.
The moving buffer is actually a good idea, that can open the door for solid state memory.
I still think your major challenge will be processing the huge amount of video data frame for frame, having one done in time before the second arrives, you'll need serious processing power.
I also thought maybe splitting the workload between multiple mcu's, but your background admin will be more, and somehow I think even three little PIC's will struggle.
This is a very interesting one, so wish I could also play with it, but here, it's too an expensive project.
I will follow your progress with much interest Karen
 
Why are you so down on using a PC ? An old laptop would seem the way to go.

How about an update on how the other projects are working out ? Maybe a pic or 3 ?

The other projects are now on a "back burner" as i had major computer problems which ended up with me not only having to buy a new one, but also losing most of what I had previously, so effectively I'm starting again.
Also I've changed cars so the original project is no longer valid, I simply dont need it, although I will continue with them in the future, this is what's got my interest at the moment.

To try and address the main issues
as I SAID the cameras listed were JUST EXAMPLES and NOT the actual camera I might end up using, so the resolution problem just isnt valid.
Legal issues using this, there is none.
There are no legal reasons restricting me using video recording in a public place, and the road is in fact a public place.
The legal issues if I ever did "need the evidence" off the system are again none in the UK, as it's legal to photograph or video anything or anyone in a public place (unless your delibrately using covert surveillence on a person in which case you need a R.I.P.A authorisation)

The whole idea of this is if I ever get "cut up" by some mad ass driver, or some cop drives like a lunatic, I can then report them, the video will in 99.99% of cases where I actually did report anyone simply not be needed, or would just be viewed in order to identify what police officer would have been driving that car on the day.

it's simply for my benefit, and safety also
Say for example someone cut me up forced me off the road and then attacked me, I'd have video evidence of the car that done it.

Similarly if someone ever crashed into me, or I crashed into them, the video would prove who was at fault, yes it might incriminate me, but it might also clear me where if I hadnt the video evidence it would simply be their word against mine, and if the pther driver was a police officer? it would be him that won not me normally, even if he was at fault because he'd simply lie, I've seen it happen.

Anyway back to the issues.

i am/was so against a PC, as I want a small unit that can simple be put in the car somewhere and used as nessessary, although having listened to all the views expressed so far, it might end up being some kind of ultra compact PC that I end up using, it would certainly simplify certain things, such as recording the video, interlacing the gps data on the recording, hmm it does sound like I'll need some somt of compact pc.
This could be advantagous, as if I used one with SATA capability, I could use one of the high capacity sata drives, woudlnt need to remove it from the car to record the video onto dvd (if it was needed to be saved) I could incorporate a dvd recorder into it.

I'm still pushing ideas through my head, and it may end up I never do build or complete this project, but I'm still open to ideas and suggestions.

Like the video overlay board by the way :)
 
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