Abstract: The objective of this Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) project was to test and demonstrate the innovative concept for detecting driver inattentiveness that was developed by Sphericon. This approach is based on the fact that the on-going activity of the driver is to maintain the vehicle within the lane while external forces – due to bumps and imperfections in the pavement, air gusts from winds and passing vehicles, imbalances in the vehicle itself, and the like – continuously attempt to move the vehicle away from its intended path. The balance between these two factors, driver activity (DRA) and disturbances activity (DSA), reflects the level of driver alertness. Sphericon’s approach utilizes a two-step method: (1) the extraction, separately, of DRA and DSA from the dynamics of the steering system, and (2) the use of digital signal processing (DSP) algorithms to detect driver inattentiveness from the two outputs of step one. Driver input and disturbances input can be resolved by simultaneous measurements of steering wheel motion and road wheel motion. Sphericon's product DAISY (driver alertness indication system) will perform these measurements and run the algorithms to compute the Alertness Index. It will then issue a signal when the alertness of the driver is determined to be below a preset level. A major task of the project was the development and construction of a hybrid (hardware-in-the-loop) simulator which integrated a real steering system with a computerized simulator and with an elaborate set of sensors and data acquisition system. The last stage of the project included the enhancement and verification of the DAISY algorithms. This involved conducting driving tests in the hybrid simulator with drivers at different stages of alertness and analysis. Twenty-four tests were conducted of which eight were discarded due to various problems with the use of the new simulator system or with the test subjects. Analyses of the data were performed and the algorithms were enhanced to conform to the selected measurement approach. The results obtained from the tests were translated into an alertness indicator which was then compared with an index produced by subjective judgment: two investigators observed independently the recorded video of the test subjects and graded their level of alertness. The comparative analyses made resulted in rather promising results. Although still qualitative in nature, due to the lack of a quantitative criterion for comparison at that stage, the similarity of the pattern of the alertness index generated by DAISY to that produced by the subjective judgment method indicated the validity of the principles that govern the operation of DAISY.
Publication Year: 2006
Publication Date: 2006-11-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 2
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