‘Intelligent’ car seats alert sleepy drivers
1 min read
Driver fatigue is estimated to be responsible for more than 500 road deaths each year. While most of us know when it's time to pull over and grab a coffee, others are so eager to get to their destination that they end up putting themselves, and others, in danger.
Looking to combat this threat, researchers at Nottingham Trent University have set out to create 'intelligent' car seats that warn drivers if they start to fall asleep at the wheel.
Backed with nearly £100,000 of Technology Strategy Board (TSB) money, and help from UK firm Plessey Semiconductor, the team's plan is to incorporate electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor systems into car seats that can detect the driver's heart rate and alert them if they start to doze off.
The proposed system would then activate cruise control or lane departure technology if these warnings were ignored.
The sensor itself is a variation of Plessey's award winning electric potential integrated circuit (EPIC) sensor technology.
By monitoring a parameter called heart rate variability – a measure of how stable the heart rate is from beat to beat – the sensor can tell when the driver is starting to become sleepy.
Movement noise is minimised by placing the sensors away from the shoulders on the lower part of the seat back. The system uses a capacitive driven ground plane, which can also be placed under the seat cover fabric on the base of the seat, to keep it hidden from view.
Professor Dias, who is leading the study, said: "Plessey has already demonstrated that cardiac signals can be measured unobtrusively using capacitive sensors mounted within the driver's seat; the requirement now is to improve the consistency and reliability of the data so that it can be used for the intended purpose."
The technology is initially being targeted at lorry drivers, with plans to aim it at the luxury car market at a later date.
Steve Cliffe, Plessey's business development director, commented: "We are extremely excited to be working with Nottingham Trent University on this programme.
"For the first time it will be possible to reliably and robustly extract electrophysiology signals using Plessey EPIC sensors in an automotive environment without direct contact with the body."
