Anti-drowsiness system prevents drivers from dozing off

Driver fatigue is one of the biggest causes of fatal road accidents around the world. Monotonous driving on arrow straight motorways can easily cause a driver to become mentally exhausted leading to loss of concentration. The transition from mental fatigue to drowsiness can be so sudden that the driver does not even notice. 

Developed by Bosch GmbH, the Driver Drowsiness Detection system is a software that constantly analyses the driver’s steering behaviour right from the moment he/she gets behind the wheel. During a journey, the driver provides many steering inputs based on his/her driving style. The software’s algorithm recognises changes in steering behaviour during long trips using the pattern to detect the driver’s level of fatigue. 

Bosch’s Driver Drowsiness Detection system uses the vehicle’s electronic power steering, a steering angle sensor which is part of a vehicle’s Electronic Stability Program (ESP), and on-board cameras, which are monitored by the safety software. Bosch’s software identifies something called a ‘deadband’ during which the driver stops steering the vehicle. This is followed by sudden abrupt corrections made by the driver while waking up from a microsleep. 

The system combines the frequency of these reactions with other variables such as time of day, vehicle speed, use of turn indicators and lane departure cameras to calculate a drowsiness index. If and when this index exceeds a specific value, a visual and/or audio signal is created to warn the driver that he/she is becoming tired and a break is necessary. Here, the coffee mug icon being displayed is the sign given to the driver to take a break. The system can also be hooked to the vehicle’s sat-nav system to locate the nearest place where the driver can stop for coffee. 

Companies like Volvo had integrated a camera between the windshield and rear-view mirror of their trucks to analyse facial patterns of drivers to detect when a driver is feeling sleepy. In case a driver’s eyes close longer than usual, blinking and yawns are detected by the camera and an audio warning is played to alert the driver of his condition. 

The Driver Drowsiness Detection system is another pioneering automobile technology designed to make motoring safer for the driver as well as the vehicle’s surroundings.