Wearable drowsiness detection system for truck drivers

The goal of this project is to build a drowsiness detection/alarm system for truck drivers. A wearable connected device will allow to monitor the physiological state of the driver and to communicate it.

One in four highway traffic fatalities are a result of momentary driver drowsiness. It is thus timely to develop detectors of driver drowsiness, especially for those who perform long trips and experience irregular schedules. This project aims at proposing a wearable platform designed to be comfortable over extended periods, and that enables real-time acquisition of a wide range of physiological signals.

The Swiss SME L.I.F.E. SA has developed an innovative wearable platform presented as an interface between the Internet of things and the human being. The platform is integrated in a seamless garment capable of monitoring the physiological state of the person. The proposed device will detect and quantify physical and mental state of the driver (e.g. drowsiness, attention level) as well as their actions (e.g. phone usage, hands position, etc.) thus preventing accidents.

At EPFL, the Applied Signal Processing Group (ASPG) is specialized on the development of innovative signal processing techniques for biomedical data. In particular, in the past few years, ASPG has been more and more active in the analysis of biomedical signals acquired from wearable devices. In this project, the ASPG will be in charge of analyzing the data collected by the devices. It thus gives the ASPG a unique opportunity to apply and extend its expertise in a new context with a clearly defined social interest.

This thirteen months’ project is conducted by the ASPG, led by Jean-Marc Vesin in collaboration with L.I.F.E. SA. It is sponsored by the Commission for Technology and Innovation.

Principal investigator Jean-Marc Vesin
Sponsor Commission for Technology and Innovation
Period 2017-2018
Laboratory ASPG
Industrial partner L.I.F.E. SA
External partner Nestlé
Collaboration TRACE