Skip to main content

UK researchers developing 3D 'black box' technology for vehicles

UK-based Roke Manor Research (Roke) has developed, with the help of funding from Innovate UK, what it says is the world's first viable 3D 'black box' technology for vehicles, using a single dashboard camera.
August 10, 2016 Read time: 1 min

UK-based 496 Roke Manor Research (Roke) has developed, with the help of funding from Innovate UK, what it says is the world's first viable 3D 'black box' technology for vehicles, using a single dashboard camera.

Roke demonstrated how, by using vision processing, the captured data could be used to provide a precise 3D reconstruction following a road incident. Roke believes it is set to offer insurers, drivers and even autonomous vehicle manufacturers, independent evidence of what happened and will not just lead to safer vehicles but also help to build public trust in driverless vehicles.

According to Dr James Revell, consultant engineer at Roke, the technology uses computer vision algorithms to enable the precise position and orientation of any vehicle - car, bike, lorry or autonomous vehicle. This allows for near-perfect 3D reconstruction of any accident to be created even if the vehicle loses complete control.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • In-vehicle automation of safety compliance and other traffic violations
    January 24, 2012
    David Crawford explores new initiatives in enforcement. Achieving the EU’s new road safety target of reducing road traffic deaths by 50 per cent by 2020 depends on removing legal and institutional barriers to the deployment of new enforcement technologies, stresses Jan Malenstein. The senior ITS Adviser to Dutch National Police Agency the KLPD, and a European-level spokesperson on road and traffic safety, points to the importance of, among other requirements, an effective EUwide type approval process for fr
  • US Congress debates autonomous vehicles
    November 20, 2013
    Emerging technologies have the potential to significantly reduce vehicle crashes and associated fatalities, according to Kirk Steudle, director of the Michigan Department of Transportation, testifying at the US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. Speaking on behalf of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Steudle said, "Nothing is more exciting than the potential safety benefits of this emerging technology," said Steud
  • European tunnel safety steps up a gear
    September 19, 2017
    David Crawford reviews the latest safety systems installed in European tunnels. Blueprints for the safer road tunnels of the future are emerging fast as European operators invest in technologies to enhance travellers’ prospects of surviving an accident. Central to modern emergency planning is the principle that, following an incident, drivers should be enabled to rescue themselves and their passengers with the aid of prompt and correct identification and communication of the hazard. Roles for cooperativ
  • Major European project for safer cycling
    November 8, 2016
    A major EU project is studying ways of facilitating the interaction between cyclists and motorists with the help of technical aids in order to reduce the risk of accidents. Project Xcycle, which involves researchers from six European countries, aims to find ways of achieving greater equality for cyclists in traffic, encouraging more cycling, and making travel by bicycle safer. The Swedish Road and National Transport Research Institute (VTI) is a major player in the project and are responsible for evaluating