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Tired or distracted? These sensors are watching
12/01/2022
How do interior surveillance systems work? See also the video ∙ Image: © Bosch, Video: © ADAC eV
A technology that could save lives: Interior sensors and cameras recognize whether drivers are tired, alert or distracted and warn in good time. Still a vision of the future or soon to be reality? The ADAC has tested four prototypes of interior detection systems, so-called "In-Cabin Sensing Systems".
- Common causes of accidents: tiredness or distraction
- Cameras analyze the driver and warn
- Data protection must be guaranteed
Already five hours on the road without a break and really tired as a dog. But the one hour home – I can still manage that now. I'll quickly text my wife that it will be later. And until then, a cup of coffee from the Thermo will keep me awake. Where was she again? Oh, in the backpack on the back seat. No problem, I'll get there somehow...
Tired, distracted, busy with something while driving: This is not only dangerous for the occupants of the vehicle, but also for all other road users. Even
checking an email for three seconds at a speed of 100 km/h leads to a blind flight of
almost 100 meters . And during this time it is not possible to react to other vehicles, pedestrians or obstacles on the road.
Fatigue warning: Mandatory since July 2022
Fatigue warning systems are already warning of this © Daimler
In fact, according to the ADAC accident database (2009-2019) , around every tenth serious traffic accident outside of built-up areas is due to a distracted, tired or physically impaired driver. If you then add the so-called extended effective range, i.e. accidents in which distraction and tiredness were at least one of the accident-causing factors, the figure is even 25 percent of non-urban accidents .
But these accidents on motorways, federal roads and country roads usually end tragically because they often result in serious or fatal injuries: in 2021, 71 percent of those killed and 48 percent of those seriously injured in Germany were attributed to non-urban roads.
Therefore, the European legislator reacted at the beginning of 2020 with the General Safety Regulation 2 (GSR 2). This regulation regulates the mandatory equipment of vehicle safety systems for type approval.
In order to reduce the high number of accidents caused by distracted and tired drivers, the GSR prescribes a drowsiness warning as a first step : Since July 6, 2022, all new vehicle models in classes M and N, i.e. cars and trucks, for type approval have a warning system that assesses driver fatigue. This applies to all newly registered vehicles from July 2024 .
In a second step, from July 2024 or 2026 , the vehicles must be equipped with a system that can also detect a distracted driver .
In addition to the legal requirements, the consumer protection program Euro NCAP will also contain a test catalog for in-cabin sensing systems from 2023 . In order to score two points, the manufacturer must demonstrate that the cabin sensors can detect a distracted, tired and unresponsive driver in various test scenarios.
As a reaction to the detection, it is also required that the sensitivity of the front collision warning and lane departure warning be increased, slight braking interventions take place and, if necessary, a "minimum risk manoeuvre" be carried out.
Difference: Indirect and direct measuring systems
Already in series production: The directly measuring infrared camera in the Wey Coffee 01 © wey
Many automobile manufacturers have been equipping their cars with drowsiness warning systems for over ten years . These drowsiness warning systems, which are already available in many vehicles, are indirect systems . Depending on the steering behavior, speed, time and other parameters, they determine how tired the driver is. Very simply designed drowsiness warnings are based solely on a timer that warns the driver after a certain time has elapsed.
But recognizing a distracted driver is much more complicated. Directly measuring systems are necessary here , which use sensors in the vehicle compartment to detect and assess head movement, line of sight or hand movement.
This also requires an infrared camera that can be mounted at different locations in the vehicle interior and also works in the dark. If the focus is solely on the driver (driver monitoring system), it is often installed on the A-pillar or above the steering column.
In order to be able to cover not only the driver's line of sight but also his posture and other occupants (occupant status monitoring), the sensor is attached in the area of the roof module/lighting module, on the rear-view mirror or on the dashboard.
To determine the source of the distraction , some systems can also detect objects as such. These objects include mobile phones, for example, but also coffee mugs, drinking bottles and muesli bars. In combination with a certain movement (e.g. putting a coffee cup to the mouth), the system can recognize the type of distraction and evaluate the criticality for driving safety and decide whether the activity is relevant for the driving task or not.
occupant camera was the focus of the ADAC investigation. In order to detect a distracted driver, the vehicle interior is divided into zones . If the gaze is focused on a zone that is not relevant to the driving task for a specific period of time (e.g. footwell in front passenger), the driver is considered to be distracted. The Bosch system can also classify objects (mobile phone, coffee mug) as such and is therefore able to recognize which distraction or activity it is.
With the radar sensors , people or children can be recognized as such based on their breathing . In this way, further areas of application, particularly with regard to health , can be realized in the future . Even forgotten children can be recognized in parked vehicles and the parents can be warned. With the help of the camera information, comfort functions such as presetting the seating position and the appropriate playlist can also be enabled.
Result: The prototypes are already working well
The three "active" systems from Ford, DTS/XPERI and Bosch already meet large parts of the Euro NCAP protocol, which will apply from 2023. Some systems only showed weaknesses when there was a specific occlusion of the face (e.g. long facial hair) or the object causing the distraction was outside the sensor's coverage area .
The "fatigue" test scenario could not be represented as representative and was therefore not checked for any of the systems. However, since increasing tiredness manifests itself very differently in people, it is quite difficult to clearly detect it. In order to improve the detection of a tired driver, manufacturers often take into account other information such as driving time, time of day or steering behavior over the duration of the journey in addition to eyelid opening and body posture.
But Sony 's "passive" system also makes sense. With its depth image sensor, it can generate information to detect the volume and angle of the torso, the distance between the headrest and the head, or an "out of position" sitting position. This information can then be used by the car manufacturer to adapt the restraint systems to the specific characteristics of the occupants and their seating position.
The system from Bosch also has a lot of potential. By using the radar sensor, children left behind in the parked vehicle can be detected (requirement Euro NCAP from 2025). In addition, further functions in the field of health can be realized through the fusion of radar sensor and camera
Conclusion: What else needs to be considered
In-cabin sensing systems can address a large number of traffic accidents , especially on non-urban roads (freeways, federal highways, country roads), which often result in serious or fatal injuries.
Three of the four in-cabin sensing systems assessed as part of the demonstrations can meet a large part of the Euro NCAP protocol that will apply from 2023 .
Optimal utilization of the potential of in-cabin sensing systems can be achieved if these systems can address all areas of vehicle safety - before, during and after the crash.
The in-cabin sensing systems represent an important building block towards automated driving at SAE level 3. They can detect whether the driver is ready to take over the driving task again as soon as the automated driving function has reached its limits.
In-cabin sensing systems only warn the driver if they are tired, distracted or physically incapacitated. If the driver does not intervene in time, the accidents cannot be prevented. For this reason, it is recommended to link the ICS systems with driver assistance systems .
In order to increase the driver's acceptance and confidence in the systems, it is important to keep the rate of false alarms as low as possible. In particular, the functionality of the systems must not be limited by the physical characteristics of the occupants (wearing a face mask, skin color, seating position in the vehicle, etc.).
Comfort functions (pre-setting the seat position, automatic opening of the garage door) can increase the acceptance of the interior sensors.
User data should not be stored in the vehicle without their consent and should only be used to implement safety-related system functions. If data is nevertheless processed and stored, consumers should be informed about this. More on this: This vehicle data is collected by a modern car .
Full Artificial here, my apologies about the cut and paste.
Noch Zukunftsvision oder bald Realität? Der ADAC hat vier "In-Cabin Sensing" Prototypen ausprobiert.
www.adac.de
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