Innovative system anticipates driver
fatigue in the vehicle to prevent accidents
The
Instituto de Biomecánica de Valencia (Biomechanics Institute -- IBV) has
developed a devise integrated in smart materials capable of monitoring cardiac
and respiratory rhythms in order to prevent drivers from falling asleep, in the
framework of the European project HARKEN.
This
nonintrusive sensor system measures heartbeat and respiratory rate embedded
into the seat cover and the safety belt of the car. According to the IBV
Director of Innovation in Automobile Markets and Mass Transportation, José
Solaz, "the variation in heart and respiratory rate are good indicators of
the state of the driver as they are related to fatigue.
So
when people go into a state of fatigue or drowsiness, modifications appear in
their breathing and heart rate; HARKEN can monitor those variables and therefore
warn the driver before the symptoms appear."
The
Harken device, developed by companies, universities and technology centres of
the consortium, "is an innovative solution because it measures both
variables on a scenario affected by vibrations and user movements, by means of
intelligent materials embedded into the seat cover and the seat belt.
The
system detects the mechanical effect of the heart beat and the respiratory
activity, filtering and cancelling the noise caused by the moving vehicle
elements (vibrations and body movements), calculating the relevant parameters
that will be integrated into future fatigue or somnolence detectors,"
explains José Solaz.
The
outcome of this project is a fully functional prototype that allows
anticipating the symptoms of fatigue associated with cardiac and respiratory
rhythms, and monitors this physiological activity, with the aim of reducing the
number of accidents.
The
system is based on three main components: the seat sensor, the seat belt sensor
and the signal-processing unit (SPU), which processes the sensor data in real
time. Besides, thanks to its integration possibilities, they are invisible to
the user.
Closed track tests
José
Solaz explained that "the device has been tested by users in closed track
tests, in order to prove its effectiveness under real-life conditions."
Thanks
to its short time-to-market scope, Project Harken will shortly allow to have
vehicles in the streets in order to run tests in real traffic scenarios.
Preliminary tests "have led to positive and reliable results, thus, Harken
will help in the near future to reduce accidents," added Solaz.
A serious road safety problem
Road
accidents and casualties caused by fatigue are an important societal and
economical problem for the EU. In 2008 there were 1.2 million road accidents in
the EU, which resulted in 1.5 million casualties and 38,000 fatalities. This
kind of accident will be the third most common cause of death and disability
worldwide, by 2020.
According
to the figures of the eSafety Forum, the proportion of fatigue-related crashes
is about 8.3% of all vehicle crashes. This implies nearly 100,000 crashes and
about 125,000 injured people in the EU every year. But that proportion rises
when fatal accidents are considered: driver fatigue accounts for 20-35% of
serious accidents. The projection of these figures means that there may be over
7,000 annual fatalities due to fatigue-related accidents in the EU.
The
measures to avoid fatigue may be directed to drivers, enterprises,
infrastructures, and vehicles. Advertising campaigns, infrastructure
improvements, law enforcement, and in-vehicle systems that alert fatigued
drivers, are some of the measures that have been developed during the past
years.
Fatigue
in-vehicle detectors may reduce such a problem and may save thousands of lives
per year, as well as many millions of Euros in health costs. "Therefore
component suppliers in the automobile industry are working together in order to
solve the fatigue detection problem, although they couldn't measure the useful
physiological driver's information, which is a crucial factor to evaluate them.
This is why this research is so important," explains José Solaz.
The
HARKEN project received funding from the EU FP7 Capacities Work Programme:
Research for the Benefit of SMEs and started in July 2012. The Instituto de
Biomecánica de Valencia participates in this project together with the
technological centre Eesti Innovatsiooni Instituut (Estonia), and the
University of Manchester.
Partners
also include Fico Mirrors, S.A., which represents the components suppliers of
the automobile industry, and SMEs that produce seat covers -- Borgstena Group
(Project Coordinator), safety belts -- ALATEX, smart textiles -- Sensing Tex,
S.L., and biosensors -- PLUX.
Story Source:
The
above story is based on materials provided by Asociación RUVID. Note: Materials may be edited
for content and length.
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fatigue in the vehicle to prevent accidents." Science
Daily, 22 July 2014.
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