Low-cost real-time system detects driver drowsiness from eye movements
Development of Low-Cost Real-Time Driver Drowsiness Detection System using Eye Centre Tracking and Dynamic Thresholding
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Summary
Fatigue causes many car accidents because sleepy drivers lose focus, leading to crashes. The authors built a simple system that watches a driver’s eyes using a camera to see if they close for too long. If the eyes stay shut, the system rings an alarm to wake the driver up. This approach uses real-time image processing and a pixel-by-pixel method to track eye openness without bothering the driver.
What this means in practice
- •For automotive system developers: Develop driver assistance tools that detect drowsiness using low-cost cameras and issue alerts to reduce road accidents.$Commercial implications: Enables affordable in-vehicle safety devices that alert sleepy drivers, improving commercial vehicle safety features and consumer car models.
- •For fleet safety managers: Implement real-time monitoring systems to alert drivers of large vehicle fleets when signs of drowsiness are detected, enhancing road safety.
Authors
Fuzail Khan, Sandeep Sharma, M. R. Arulalan
Abstract
One in every five vehicle accidents on the road today is caused simply due to driver fatigue. Fatigue or otherwise drowsiness, significantly reduces the concentration and vigilance of the driver thereby increasing the risk of inherent human error leading to injuries and fatalities. Hence, our primary motive being - to reduce road accidents using a non-intrusive image processing based alert system. In this regard, we have built a system that detects driver drowsiness by real time tracking and monitoring the pattern of the driver's eyes. The stand alone system consists of 3 interconnected components - a processor, a camera and an alarm. After initial facial detection, the eyes are located, extracted and continuously monitored to check whether they are open or closed on the basis of a pixel-by-pixel method. When the eyes are seen to be closed for a certain amount of time, drowsiness is said to be detected and an alarm is issued accordingly to alert the driver and hence, prevent a casualty.