science

Onboard camera

Onboard camera is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Onboard camera rather than just read about it. In short: An onboard camera or in-car camera is a camera placed upon a moving object, such as a vehicle. In motor racing, onboard cameras are often used to give a better perspective from the driver's point of view, whilst in films, these cameras are designed to increase the intensity and action of a specific scene.

Key takeaways

Onboard camera belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Onboard camera to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Onboard camera from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

An onboard camera or in-car camera is a camera placed upon a moving object, such as a vehicle. In motor racing, onboard cameras are often used to give a better perspective from the driver's point of view, whilst in films, these cameras are designed to increase the intensity and action of a specific scene. Onboard cameras were used in movies such as Le Mans and The Fast and the Furious series, for this purpose. Much of the original development work which led to the onboard cameras used today was performed by Australia's Seven Network, which introduced the technology at the 1979 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 endurance race at Mount Panorama. The original, Channel Seven, development team of John Porter and Peter Larsson moved to the states and formed Broadcast Sports Technology Inc.. BST then proceeded to recruit other staff from Channel Seven, notably Michael Katzmann. American audiences were first introduced to RaceCam at NASCAR's 1979 Daytona 500 on CBS network. The first live broadcast was on NBC in 1981 on Bill Alsup’s Team Penske Indy Car. BST also branched into America's Cup and Olympic sailing onboards. The first time a live onboard camera was used in a Formula One race was at the 1985 German Grand Prix, where one was attached to François Hesnault's Renault. Previously, cameras had only been mounted to F1 cars during testing, but since then, more and more cameras have been fitted. Since 1998, all Formula One cars have been fitted with at least three onboard cameras (usually more) and they form an integral part of the television coverage. As with US onboard coverage, F1 used a helicopter as a local satellite to pick up the transmission from the cars and re-broadcast it to the truck / local production center. This was initially shifted to a ground-based analog system, with variable results, and more recently to a ground-based digital solution which is now the norm. Onboard cameras are now commonplace in other top motorsports including the World Rally Championship and MotoGP.

Dashcams

The use of dashboard cameras in automobiles began with law-enforcement in the United States in the 1980s and 1990s; then, as technology became cheaper, ubiquitous in civilian use in Russia as a form of sousveillance, inasmuch as Russian courts prefer video evidence to eyewitness testimony, but also as a guard against police corruption and insurance fraud.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Onboard camera

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Onboard camera claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Onboard camera before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Onboard camera ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Onboard camera

In research: Onboard camera appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Onboard camera in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Onboard camera is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cameras by type, Film terminology stubs, Photography equipment, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Onboard camera outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Onboard camera in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Onboard camera means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Onboard camera out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Onboard camera in simple terms?

Why does Onboard camera matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Onboard camera?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Onboard camera.