Video: Engineers invent ‘world’s first viable 3D black box’ for vehicles

Technology is able to create a 3D reconstruction of road traffic accidents

A Hampshire-based electronics engineering consultancy claims to have made the ‘world’s first viable 3D black box’ for vehicles, which uses just a single dashboard camera. 

Roke Manor Research (Roke) tested the technology by fitting the 3D black box to an autonomous Toyota Prius and successfully demonstrated how data captured via vision processing technology could be used to provide a precise 3D reconstruction following a road incident.  

Roke is set to offer insurers, drivers and, in the case of autonomous vehicles, manufacturers independent evidence of what happened during accidents. The company said this will not just lead to safer vehicles but also help to build public trust in driverless vehicles.

Dr James Revell, consultant engineer at Roke said: “Unlike current dashcams, the technology we tested today 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.”

Early iterations of this technology were first developed by Roke for soldiers in research undertaken for the UK government’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl). Over the past year, Roke has been developing and miniaturising the technology with the help of funding from Innovate UK.  

Roland Meister, Head of Transport for Innovate UK said: “Innovate UK and the centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles are excited to be able to support UK research and Development into Connected and Autonomous Vehicles. The Industry led feasibility studies such as Roke’s ‘black box’ solution are great examples of UK capability in this area and we expect to support many more projects over the coming years.”

Roke said that with further investment, the technology could also prove useful for sports coaching or wider needs in the transport industry.