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Jul 29, 2009 | 6
Several automakers have recently come to agree that their high-end vehicles should include a warning system to keep drivers from falling asleep, a problem that causes at least 100,000 crashes annually, according to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The automakers disagree, however, on the best way for a car to "know" when its driver is dozing off behind the wheel.
One team of researchers is proposing a simple clue—the yawn.
Whereas different auto makes and models rely primarily on cameras and sensors that keep a close eye on the car itself, as well as the road around it, researchers at Vanderbilt University, Siksha 'O' Anusandhan University's Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER) in India and the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur's electrical engineering department are devising a model that can detect this most obvious sign of fatigue.
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