Patent Publication Number: US-2016247538-A1

Title: Event reconstruction system and method thereof

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 104106035, filed on Feb. 25, 2015. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The disclosure relates to an event reconstruction system capable of reconstructing an accident scene and obtaining key evidences and a method thereof. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In recent years, along with development of image capturing and recording technology, driving recorders are widely used. Although the driving recorders can assist clarifying the cause of an accident and restoring the truth of the accident to serve as an evidence of proof when the accident is occurred, it is not guaranteed that the driving recorder photographs the accident from a most clear angle. 
     The conventional driving recorder emphasizes self protection, though it has many blind angles, and it is not guaranteed to photograph all of the reasons causing the accident, so that when the accident occurs, it may be difficult to find the evidence of the accident, for example, accidents occurred at the blind angles of the driving recorder such as a false car accident, a collision with the vehicle in the front, suffering a side impact, etc. However, a key video is probably happened to be captured by a passer-by, though the passer-by himself does not know that he has captured the key evidence of the accident, and the key video is erased or overwritten as time goes by. These seemingly useless videos for the passers-by are probably key evidences of the accident, so that it is an issue to be resolved to make a use of these videos that are capable of providing key evidences but are usually erased inadvertently. 
     SUMMARY 
     The disclosure is directed to an event reconstruction system and a method thereof, which is capable of marking an event when the event is occurred and notifying devices having an image capturing function nearby to retain video files associated with the event, such that both sides of the event are able to retrieve and inspect the video files to restore the original event. 
     An exemplary embodiment of the disclosure provides an event reconstruction system including a communication unit, a key information integration device, a storage unit and a computation unit. The key information integration device receives key information corresponding to an event from a plurality of image capturing devices through the communication unit, where the key information includes a first identification code and a second identification code, and the first identification code is retrieved from a first image capturing device among the image capturing devices and the second identification code is retrieved from a second image capturing device among the image capturing devices. The storage unit stores the key information. The computation unit analyses the key information corresponding to the event and confirms the second image capturing device transmitting the second identification code according to the first identification code and the second identification code in the key information. The key information integration device sends a retrieving request to the second image capturing device transmitting the second identification code through the communication unit and receives a video file corresponding to the second identification code from the second image capturing device. 
     An exemplary embodiment of the disclosure provides an event reconstruction system including a sensing unit, a storage unit, a computation unit and a communication unit. The sensing unit captures driving sensing data. The storage unit stores original image data in the driving sensing data. The computation unit determines occurrence of an event according to the driving sensing data and generates a first identification code. The communication unit transmits the first identification code to a key information integration device. 
     An exemplary embodiment of the disclosure provides an event reconstruction method. The method includes receiving key information corresponding to an event from a plurality of image capturing devices and storing the key information, where the key information includes a first identification code and a second identification code, and the first identification code is retrieved from a first image capturing device among the image capturing devices and the second identification code is retrieved from a second image capturing device among the image capturing devices. The method also includes analysing the key information corresponding to the event, and confirming the second image capturing device transmitting the second identification code according to the first identification code and the second identification code in the key information. The method further includes sending a retrieving request to the second image capturing device transmitting the second identification code, and receiving a video file corresponding to the second identification code from the second image capturing device. 
     An exemplary embodiment of the disclosure provides an event reconstruction method. The method includes capturing driving sensing data; and storing original image data in the driving sensing data. The method also includes determining occurrence of an event according to the driving sensing data, and generating a first identification code. The method further includes transmitting the first identification code to a key information integration device. 
     In order to make the aforementioned and other features and advantages of the disclosure comprehensible, several exemplary embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an event reconstruction system according to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of fields included in a first identification code according to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3A  and  FIG. 3B  are schematic diagrams of an event reconstruction method according to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4A - FIG. 4C  are flowcharts illustrating an event reconstruction method according to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an event reconstruction system according to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the event reconstruction system  1000  includes a first image capturing device  100 , a second image capturing device  200  and a key information integration device  300 . 
     The first image capturing device  100  may be a driving recorder disposed on a vehicle, which is used for recording driving images of the vehicle. The second image capturing device  200  may be a driving recorder disposed on a vehicle, a camera monitor disposed on roadside, or other electronic device having an image capturing function. In the present exemplary embodiment, the second image capturing device  200  is located adjacent to the first image capturing device  100 , and records driving images of the vehicle or monitoring images of the camera monitor. 
     In the present exemplary embodiment, the first image capturing device  100 , for example, includes a first communication unit  110 , a first computation unit  130 , a first storage unit  150  and a first sensing unit  170 . The second image capturing device  200  includes a second communication unit  210 , a second computation unit  230 , a second storage unit  250  and a second sensing unit  270 . 
     The first communication unit  110  and the second communication unit  210  may be communication chips supporting one of a global system for mobile communication (GSM) system, a personal handy-phone system (PHS), a code division multiple access (CDMA) system, a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system, a worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) system, a third generation (3G) wireless communication technique, a long term evolution (LTE) technique, etc., or a combination thereof. 
     The first computation unit  130  and the second computation unit  230  may be central processing units (CPUs), microprocessors, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic device (PLDs) or other similar devices. 
     The first storage unit  150  and the second storage unit  250  may be memory devices such as secure digital (SD) cards, multimedia memory cards (MMCs), memory sticks (MSs), compact flash (CF) cards, embedded MMC (eMMC) cards or solid state disk (SSD), etc. 
     The first sensing unit  170  and the second sensing unit  270  may include image sensors capable of identifying event occurrence according to images or vibration sensors capable of identifying event occurrence through a vibration strength or a collision strength, or other sensors capable of identifying the event occurrence. 
     The key information integration device  300  is, for example, a cloud server, which has a function of processing and storing a large amount of data, and may communicate with the first image capturing device  100  and the second image capturing device  200  though a wired or wireless network. In the present exemplary embodiment, the key information integration device  300  includes a third communication unit  310 , a third computation unit  330  and a third storage unit  350 . 
     For example, the third communication unit  310  is a communication chip having a wireless and/or wired communication function, and the third computation unit  330  is a single or a series of central processors of a general desktop computer or a central processor of a server with a powerful multiplexing effect (for example, a central processor of Intel Xeon series or a central processor of AMD Opteron series), and the third storage unit  350  is a disk array having a mass data storage function and a data protection function. 
     In the present exemplary embodiment, the image sensor of the first sensing unit  170  and the image sensor of the second sensing unit  270  in the first image capturing device  100  and the second image capturing device  200  respectively and continually capture a first video file  151  and a second video file  251 , and respectively store the first video file  151  and the second video file  251  to the first storage unit  150  and the second storage unit  250 . 
     Particularly, when the vehicle that carries the first image capturing device  100  has an accident, for example, has a collision, a car accident or is turned upside down due to a road factor, etc., the first sensing unit  170  transmits driving sensing data to the first computation unit  130 , and the first computation unit  130  determines occurrence of the accident according to the driving sensing data, and generates a first identification code. 
       FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of fields included in the first identification code according to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the first identification code  101 , for example, includes one of an electronic device identification code (device identification code)  11 , an event identification code  13 , a position marker  15 , a time marker  17 , an event type  19 , or any combination of two or more of selected from the above. The device identification code  11  is an entry code of the first image capturing device  100  in the event reconstruction system  1000 . The event identification code  130  is an entry code of the first image capturing device  100  having the accident. Since the first identification code  101  is generated by the first image capturing device  100  having the accident, in the first identification code  101 , the device identification code is the same to the event identification code  13 . The position marker  15  records a position of the accident, which is represented by longitude and latitude. The time marker  17  records a time of the accident. The event type  19  records the type of the accident, for example, collision. It should be noticed that the first image capturing device  100  may further include a positioning function, for example, includes a positioning unit having a global positioning system (GPS) function. When the first computation unit  130  generates the first identification code  101 , the first computation unit  130  obtains current coordinates of the first image capturing device  100  from the positioning unit, and fills the coordinates in the position marker  15  of the first identification code  101 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  again, when the first computation unit  130  of the first image capturing device  100  determines that the accident is occurred according to the driving sensing data, the first computation unit  130  generates the first identification code  101 . Particularly, the first computation unit  130  transmits the generated first identification code  101  to the key information integration device  300  through the first communication unit  110 , and broadcasts the first identification code  101  through the first communication unit  110 . Moreover, the first computation unit  130  sets a part of the first video file  151  to a retention state according to the time marker  15  in the first identification code  101 , such that this part of the video file  151  cannot be erased or overwritten within a short period of time. 
     In the present exemplary embodiment, since the second image capturing device  200  is located adjacent to the first image capturing device  100 , the second image capturing device  200  may receive the first identification code  101  broadcasted by the first image capturing device  100 . Particularly, after receiving the first identification code  101  broadcasted by the first image capturing device  100 , the second computation unit  230  generates a second identification code according to the first identification code  101 . 
     For example, the second identification code has the same fields as that of the first identification code  101 , i.e. the second identification code also includes one of the device identification code  11 , the event identification code  13 , the position marker  15 , the time marker  17 , the event type  19 , or any combination of two or more of selected from the above. After receiving the first identification code  101  broadcasted by the first image capturing device  100 , the second computation unit  230  modifies the device identification code  11  in the first identification code  101  to an entry code of the second image capturing device  200 , so as to generate the second identification code. It should be noticed that, the second image capturing device  200  further includes a positioning unit having a positioning function, for example, the GPS function. When the second computation unit  230  generates the second identification code, the second computation unit  230  obtains current coordinates of the second image capturing device from the positioning unit, and fills the coordinates in the position marker  15  of the second identification code. 
     After the second computation unit  230  generates the second identification code, the second computation unit  230  transmits the second identification code to the third storage unit  350  of the key information integration device  300  through the second communication unit  210 . Meanwhile, the second image capturing device  200  sets a part of the second video file  251  to the retention state according to the time marker  15  in the second identification code, such that this part of the video file  251  cannot be erased or overwritten within a short period of time. 
     After the accident is occurred, the user of the first image capturing device  100  may send an event image request to the key information integration device  300  through the first image capturing device  100  or other terminals. For example, the user can log in the key information integration device  300  by inputting the device identification code  11  (and a corresponding password) of the first identification code  101  to sent an image request. The key information integration device  300  searches the first identification code  101  and the second identification code in the third storage unit  350  according to the device identification code  11  input by the user after receiving the image request, and sends the image request to the first image capturing device  100  and the second image capturing device  200 . When the first image capturing device  100  and the second image capturing device  200  receive the image request, the first image capturing device  100  and the second image capturing device  200  respectively retrieve a part of the first video file  151  and a part of the second video file  251  corresponding to the first identification code  101  and the second identification code from the first storage unit  150  and the second storage unit  250 , and store the part of the first video file  151  and the part of the second video file  251  to the third storage unit  350  for the user to retrieve. For example, after the part of the first video file  151  and the part of the second video file  251  corresponding to the first identification code  101  and the second identification code in the first storage unit  150  and the second storage unit  250  are transmitted to the key information integration device  300 , the retention state of the part of the first video file  151  and the part of the second video file  251  can be released. 
     It should be noticed that in the above description, although the key information integration device  300  obtains the part of the first video file  151  and the part of the second video file  251  from the first image capturing device  100  and the second image capturing device  200  only after receiving the image request from the user, the disclosure is not limited thereto. The first image capturing device  100  and the second image capturing device  200  may also directly transmit the part of the first video file  151  and the part of the second video file  251  corresponding to the first identification code  101  and the second identification code to the key information integration device  300  after generating the first identification code  101  and the second identification code. In this way, the key information integration device  300  may directly provide the part of the first video file  151  and the part of the second video file  251  in the third storage unit  350  to the user after receiving the image request from the user. 
       FIG. 3A  and  FIG. 3B  are schematic diagrams of an event reconstruction method according to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. 
     For simplicity&#39;s sake, the following first image capturing device  100   a  and  100   b  may also represent vehicles where the first image capturing devices  100   a  and  100   b  are located. The second image capturing devices  200   a ,  200   b ,  200   c  and  200   d  may also represent vehicles where the second image capturing devices  200   a ,  200   b ,  200   c  and  200   d  are located or devices having a camera function such as roadside monitors, etc. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3A , when the first image capturing device  100   a  and the first image capturing device  100   b  produce an accident, the first image capturing device  100   a  and the first image capturing device  100   b  may respectively generate a first identification code  101  and a first identification code  102 , where ‘A01’ is an entry code of the first image capturing device  100   a  in the key information integration device  300  and ‘A02’ is an entry code of the first image capturing device  100   b  in the key information integration device  300 . 
     It should be noticed that since the first identification code  101  and the second identification code  102  are respectively generated by the first image capturing device  100   a  and the first image capturing device  100   b  having the accident, the device identification codes  11  are the same as the event identification codes  13  in the first identification code  101  and the second identification code  102 . After generating the first identification code  101  and the first identification code  102 , the first image capturing device  100   a  and the first image capturing device  100   b  respectively transmit the respective first identification code  101  and first identification code  102  to the key information integration device  300 , and set a part of the first video file  151  and a part of the second video file  251  corresponding to the time marker  17  that are continually captured by the first image capturing device  100   a  and the first image capturing device  100   b  to the retention state according to the time markers  17  in the first identification code  101  and the first identification code  102 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3B , after the first image capturing devices  100   a  and  100   b  transmit the respective first identification code  101  and the first identification code  102  to the key information integration device  300 , the first image capturing devices  100   a  and  100   b  broadcast the first identification code  101  and the first identification code  102  to the neighbouring second image capturing devices  200   a ,  200   b ,  200   c  and  200   d . When the second image capturing devices  200   a ,  200   b ,  200   c  and  200   d  receive the first identification code  101  and the first identification code  102 , the second image capturing device  200   a  generates corresponding second identification code  201  and second identification code  202 , the second image capturing device  200   b  generates corresponding second identification code  203  and second identification code  204 , the second image capturing device  200   c  generates corresponding second identification code  205  and second identification code  206 , and the second image capturing device  200   d  generates corresponding second identification code  207  and second identification code  208 . ‘A03’, ‘A04’, ‘A05’ and ‘A06’ are respectively entry codes of the second image capturing devices  200   a ,  200   b ,  200   c  and  200   d  in the key information integration device  300 . 
     It should be noticed that except for broadcasting the first identification code  101  and the first identification code  102  to the neighbouring second image capturing devices  200   a ,  200   b ,  200   c  and  200   d  by the first image capturing devices  100   a  and  100   b  through short-distance communication, the first image capturing devices  100   a  and  100   b  may also transmit the first identification code  101  and the first identification code  102  to the key information integration device  300 , and the key information integration device  300  transmits the first identification code  101  and the first identification code  102  to the second image capturing devices  200   a ,  200   b ,  200   c  and  200   d  neighbouring to the first image capturing devices  100   a  and  100   b  according to the position markers  15  in the first identification code  101  and the first identification code  102 . 
     After the second image capturing devices  200   a ,  200   b ,  200   c  and  200   d  generate the second identification codes  201 - 208 , the second image capturing devices  200   a ,  200   b ,  200   c  and  200   d  transmit the respective second identification codes  201 - 208  to the key information integration device  300 , and set a part of video corresponding to the time marker  15  that are continually captured by the second image capturing devices  200   a ,  200   b ,  200   c  and  200   d  to the retention state according to the time markers  15  in the second identification codes  201 - 208 . 
     Finally, when the user of the first image capturing device  100   a  wants to obtain an evidence video of the accident, the user may send an event image request to the key information integration device  300 . For example, the user may log in the key information integration device  300  to sent the image request by inputting the device identification code A01 (and the corresponding password) of the first image capturing device  100   a . The key information integration device  300  receives the image request and searches the first identification code  101  and the second identification codes  201 ,  203 ,  205  and  207  with the event identification codes  13  of A01, and sends the image request to the first image capturing device  100   a  and the second image capturing devices  200   a ,  200   b ,  200   c  and  200   d . When the first image capturing device  100   a  and the second image capturing devices  200   a ,  200   b ,  200   c  and  200   d  receive the image request, the first image capturing device  100   a  and the second image capturing devices  200   a ,  200   b ,  200   c  and  200   d  obtain the video files corresponding to the time marker  15 , and transmit the same to the key information integration device  300  for the user to retrieve. 
     It should be noticed that in the aforementioned description, although the key information integration device  300  obtains the video files corresponding to the time marker from the first image capturing device  100   a  and the second image capturing devices  200   a ,  200   b ,  200   c  and  200   d  only after receiving the image request from the user, the disclosure is not limited thereto. The first image capturing device  100   a  and the second image capturing devices  200   a ,  200   b ,  200   c  and  200   d  may also directly transmit the video files corresponding to the time markers  15  of the first identification codes  101 ,  102  and the second identification codes  201 - 208  to the key information integration device  300  after generating the first identification code and the second identification code. In this way, the key information integration device  300  may directly provide the video files to the user after receiving the image request from the user. 
       FIG. 4A ,  FIG. 4B  and  FIG. 4C  are flowcharts illustrating an event reconstruction method according to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4A , in step S 401 , the image sensor of the first sensing unit  170  of the first image capturing device  100  keeps recording the first video file  151  and stores the first video file  151  in the first storage unit  150 . 
     In step S 430 , the first computation unit  130  of the first image capturing device  100  determines whether an accident is occurred according to a collision sensor of the first sensing unit  170 . 
     If the first sensing unit  170  senses occurrence of the accident, step S 405  is executed, and if non accident is occurred, the flow returns to step S 401 . 
     In step S 405 , the first computation unit  130  records a device identification code, an event identification code, a position marker, a time marker and an event type of the accident to generate a first identification code. In step S 407 , the first computation unit  130  retains a part of the first video file  151  according to the time marker in the first identification code. Then, in step S 409 , the first image capturing device  100  transmits the first identification code to the key information integration device  300  and broadcasts the first identification code to the nearby electronic devices. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4B , in step S 411 , the second image capturing device  200  receives the first identification code. After the second image capturing device  200  receives the first identification code, in step S 413 , the second computation unit  230  determines whether the device identification code of the first identification code is the same to the event identification code thereof, and if yes, step S 415  is executed, and if not, the flow returns back to step S 411  to continually wait for receiving the first identification code. In step S 415 , the second computation unit  230  generates a second identification code according to the first identification code. Particularly, the second computation unit  230  modifies the device identification code in the first identification code to an entry code of the second image capturing device  200 , so as to generate the second identification code. In step S 417 , the second computation unit  230  retains a part of the second video file  251  according to the time marker in the second identification code. In step S 419 , the second image capturing device  200  transmits the second identification code to the key information integration device  300 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 4C , in step S 421 , the user logs in the key information integration device  300  by inputting the device identification code and the corresponding password, and sends an image request. After the key information integration device  300  receives the image request, in step S 423 , the key information integration device  300  obtains a part of the first video file  151  and a part of the second video file  251  corresponding to the first identification code and the second identification code from the first image capturing device  100  and the second image capturing device  200  for the user to retrieve. 
     In summary, the disclosure provides the event reconstruction system and the event reconstruction method, when an electronic device on a vehicle detects occurrence of an accident, the electronic device generates an identification code to mark the accident, and broadcasts the identification code to the nearby vehicles or the roadside camera devices, such that the video captured by the nearby vehicles or the roadside camera devices are also retained and uploaded to a cloud platform for both sides of the accident to retrieve after the accident. In this way, the reconstruction of the accident is implemented, and storage spaces of the vehicle electronic device and the cloud platform are effectively used. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the disclosure without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the disclosure cover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.