Motor Camera

Motor Camera

Motoring Offences Don't Always Mean Heavy Penalties

There are numerous laws and regulations governing all aspects of motoring, and due to the multitudinous dangers associated with driving, they are rigorously enforced. Penalties for contravening certain motoring laws are severe and can even result in a prison sentence in some cases. There are, however, ways and means of circumnavigating the law to avoid the full penalty for committing offences. Three examples are outlined below:

Use of a Mobile Phone While Driving

Since December 2003 it has been a criminal offence to use a mobile phone whilst driving unless operated via a hands-free device. As this law has been in place for more than six years it is now almost universally acknowledged and accepted. That does not however stop this law from being regularly contravened. Although the law stipulates that it is an offence to make or receive a telecommunication whilst using a hand held telephone whilst driving, there are somewhat grey areas with regard to the legality of using a mobile phone in a manner other than to communicate whilst driving: as exemplified in the Jimmy Carr case (where his phone was legally used whilst driving as a dictation device!) There can often be uncertainty as to what amounts to a 'telecommunication' or when a phone is actually 'hand held'. Similarly other exceptions to the law exist in situations deemed 'emergencies'. Unless the driver admits the offence, it is often difficult for the police to prove that the motorist was holding a phone, as opposed to an ipod, a bluetooth earpiece or, in one recent case, a black pudding!

Speeding

Speed cameras are the bane of many a motorist's life. Their unscrupulous and unforgiving capture of those travelling mere single digit increments above the stipulated speed limit is responsible for the issue of multiple millions of pounds worth of fines every year. Speed cameras are proven to reduce the incidence of accidents in many circumstances and similarly help to generally prevent motorists from exceeding speed limits. Conversely, the process undertaken from the flash of the camera through to the issuing of a penalty notice is quite convoluted and on a number of occasions standard protocol is deviated from, thus rendering the charge invalid if contested. There are around 50 different types of speed camera, including radar and laser devices, and all have detailed rules regulating how they should be operated. A breach of these rules by the police can invalidate the speed reading.

Drink Driving

Preventing drink driving has been a priority for the powers that be for many years. The diminished reactions and concentration synonymous with inebriation have been responsible for countless accidents, casualties and deaths. As a consequence of the severity of the offence, the law is very strict on those found guilty and a driving ban is a highly probable conclusion to being found guilty. As with the case of motorists charged with speed camera offences, the procedure involved for charging a motorist with drink driving offences is fraught with red tape. From inconsistencies on the part of the charging officer, through to lack of lucidity in results or the provision of evidence, an initial charge of alcohol related motoring offences does not necessarily lead to a conviction.

If, however, you are unfortunate enough as to find yourself facing a penalty notice or summons, there are specialist motoring offence solicitors available to help minimise the impact on your life. They will try to find loopholes, irregularities and breaches in the evidence in order to have the case dismissed.

About the Author

Written by Jamie Lyons. On behalf of Speeding Solictior: The UK's number one
motoring offence solicitor
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What is the best/cheapest way to build motor system to move a camera across the XY plane?

I am working on developing a device to move a digital camera along the horizontal and vertical planes in order to obtain high resolution images of a person to detect for changes in moles. So basically the camera needs to move a set distance, stop take a picture, and repeat until the entire plane of the person is imaged. I have a budget of about $1000 to build the device. It would be ideal to also keep both of the motors together while the device operates. I also can hook it up to a laptop if necessary but would like to avoid it if possible. I have looked into using a rack and pinion system, a linear slide(seems precise but expensive to buy), or possibly something similar to the motor system found in a printer. I don't have much experience in the area so I was hoping to get the opinions of some people who might. Also any suggestions on the best motors and motor drivers/micro-controllers and where to get them the cheapest would be greatly appreciated.

A $1000 budget is a big problem, especially for someone without the experience to do most of the work themselves and deal with odd bits of surplus hardware.
For the accuracy you are likely to need, rack and pinion (or the functionally similar toothed belt and pulley that you might find in a printer) should be fine, even a cable wrapped around a drum would likely work. But in response to a previous answer, there are things can beat a rack and pinion for accuracy and durability, ball screws are used on most CNC machine tools.

Possibly the simplest thing for you to do would be to look at some of the CNC retrofit, or CNC router kits available, which would get you the motors and matched driver/controllers. A CNC router kit might be especially good as the size is likely to be big enough for scanning a whole person and you might get the guide rails and drive hardware in the same kit, but the price may be out of your budget. An internet search for (cnc router kit) should get you some ideas, even if you don't use a kit, looking at some of the websites could give you ides of what could be done.

Something you might consider instead of XY, how about one linear axis (vertical) for the camera and stand the person on a turntable? You would need to be sure the subject doesn't fall off, just an idea, people are three dimensional after all. You might take a look at virtualpose.net for some examples of 360° imaging of people (there is potential adult content so don't go there unless you are an adult, but if you are looking at moles, it is probably nothing you haven't seen)

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