Technologies for the Monitoring and Prevention of Driver Fatigue

A series of driving simulation pilot studies on various technologies for alertness monitoring (head position sensor, eye-gaze system), fitness-for-duty testing (two pupil-based systems), and alertness promotion (in-seat vibration system) has been conducted in Circadian Technologies' Alertness Testbed. The results indicate that all tested technologies show promise for monitoring/testing or preventing driver fatigue, respectively. However, particularly for fatigue monitoring, no simple measure alone may be sensitive and reliable enough to quantify driver fatigue. Since alertness is a complex phenomenon, a multi-parametric approach needs to be used. Such a multi-sensor approach imposes challenges for online data interpretation. We suggest using a neural-fuzzy hybrid system for the automatic assessment of complex data streams for driver fatigue. The final system output can then be used to trigger the activation of alertness countermeasures.