EVENT RECORDING APPARATUS

A line scan digital camera is directed at a station for recording and displaying a time-sequential scene. The digital camera takes a sequence of digital image frames representative of one or more bodies crossing a plane in space, wherein each frame represents a line image of the body, thus forming a fractional part of the scene, and the set of time-successive frames forms a recognizable image on an external display. Within the camera, frames enter a buffer and a microprocessor in the camera compares blocks from successive line images to detect changes indicative of objects entering or leaving the field of view. The changes detected by pixel or block analysis identify information-containing portions of the data stream and their time of occurrence. When the start or end of an object is detected the microprocessor flags the image stream with the detected data to produce an image data stream which can be more readily received and used by the external race management system, or the processor operates a controller in the camera which passes the active portion of the image information data stream to the output port, producing a more compact data stream with no loss of information. In a preferred embodiment, the camera is an event camera at a competition, and it images the finish line or an intermediate station to determine crossing times of contestants. Preferably, the microprocessor further detects optical patterns in the image so formed, such as bar code, numeric, or special marking features to identify contestants, or detects body features to determine estimated crossing times or other photocell determinations. This substantially automates the provision of race results, and allows relevant finish line pictures to be immediately presented to the judges from the raw image frames. The camera is also adapted to robotic vision applications for stations at irregular transport lines, and for mid-course identification and reporting along race tracks, transport lines and traffic environments.