Patent ID: 8630768

Claim:
A monitoring device for monitoring an operation of a vehicle, the monitoring device being configured for determining and using a relative orientation of the monitoring device, relative to the vehicle, for facilitating accurate monitoring of the vehicle, the monitoring device comprising: a housing having a vertical orientation defined by a vertical axis and a horizontal orientation defined by a housing centerline; an accelerometer unit with at least one accelerometer; at least one processor which is communicatively coupled to the accelerometer unit; and an accelerometer module with computer-executable instructions configured to perform, when executed by the at least one processor, self-orienting of the monitoring device relative to the vehicle, wherein the self-orienting includes: observing one or more gravitational forces on the at least one accelerometer when it is determined that the vehicle is stopped; using the one or more observed gravitational forces to determine a gravity vector; calculating a first offset angle representing an angular difference between the gravity vector and the vertical axis of the housing; identifying one or more acceleration measurements detected by the at least one accelerometer while the vehicle is moving; using the one or more acceleration measurements to determine a line in which the vehicle is moving and associating the line in which the vehicle is moving with a centerline of the vehicle; and calculating a second offset angle representing an angular difference between the centerline of the vehicle and the housing centerline.