- Fri Jun 15, 2007 11:33 pm
#12718
Something is needed -- that's for sure!
Every day I drive through over policed small towns along drug routes where speed limit signs are frequent and constantly changing and strategically placed to avoid easy viewing. They do this so that they can stop and search as many cars as possible. It is a real pain trying to make sure you don't miss just one of those speed limit signs because the have a cop watching at every one of them.
The last time I went through Roxboro, North Carolina, which is the worst (they have their own prison!), I starting thinking about a simple solution to this problem.
Like a radar detector, you have an OCR (Optical Character Reader) optical (camera) device on your dash. It is programmed to do nothing but search for, identify, and SPEAK speed limit signs.
All you would hear is something like "THIRTY FIVE" when you approached a speed limit sign that is a different speed than the last speed limit sign or the first sign after you make a turn.
Technically this is both easy and inexpensive to do.
I am currently designing one for my own use. If it passes the patent search and looks marketable, I MAY patent it. This will be a ways off though as I'm so backlogged with inventions that I'm really excited about.
Curious but, if someone marketed this optical speed limit sign annunciator for under $30, would you buy one?