Young drivers’ pedestrian anti-collision braking operation data modelling for ADAS development

Smart cities and smart mobility come from intelligent systems designed by humans. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is contributing significantly to the development of these systems, and the automotive industry is the most prominent example of "smart" technology entering the market: there are Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS), Radar/LIDAR detection units and camera-based Computer Vision systems that can assess driving conditions. Actually, these technologies have become consumer goods and services in mass-produced vehicles to provide human drivers with tools for a more comfortable and safer driving. Nevertheless, they need to be further improved for progress in the transition to fully automated driving or simply to increase vehicle automation levels. To this end, it becomes imperative to accurately predict driver’s decisions, model human driving behaviors, and introduce more accurate risk assessment metrics. This paper presents a system that can learn to predict the future braking behavior of a driver in a typically urban vehicle-pedestrian conflict, i.e., when a pedestrian enters a zebra crossing from the curb and a vehicle is approaching. The algorithm proposes a sequential prediction of relevant operational indicators that continuously describe the encounter process. A car driving simulator was used to collect reliable data on braking behaviours of a cohort of 68 licensed university students, who faced the same urban scenario. The vehicle speed, steering wheel angle, and pedal activity were recorded as the participants approached the crosswalk, along with the azimuth angle of the pedestrian and the relative longitudinal distance between the vehicle and the pedestrian: the proposed system employs the vehicle information as human driving decisions and the pedestrian information as explanatory variables of the environmental state. In fact, the pedestrian’s polar coordinates are usually calculated by an on-board millimeter-wave radar which is typically used to perceive the environment around a vehicle. All mentioned information is represented in the form of time series data and is used to train a recurrent neural network in a supervised machine learning process. The main purpose of this research is to define a system of behavioral profiles in non-collision conditions that could be used for enhancing the existing intelligent driving systems, e.g., to reduce the number of warnings when the driver is not on a collision course with a pedestrian. Preliminary experiments reveal the feasibility of the proposed system

A Fuzzy-Logic Approach to Dynamic Bayesian Severity Level Classification of Driver Distraction Using Image Recognition

open access articleDetecting and classifying driver distractions is crucial in the prevention of road accidents. These distractions impact both driver behavior and vehicle dynamics. Knowing the degree of driver distraction can aid in accident prevention techniques, including transitioning of control to a level 4 semi- autonomous vehicle, when a high distraction severity level is reached. Thus, enhancement of Advanced Driving Assistance Systems (ADAS) is a critical component in the safety of vehicle drivers and other road users. In this paper, a new methodology is introduced, using an expert knowledge rule system to predict the severity of distraction in a contiguous set of video frames using the Naturalistic Driving American University of Cairo (AUC) Distraction Dataset. A multi-class distraction system comprises the face orientation, drivers’ activities, hands and previous driver distraction, a severity classification model is developed as a discrete dynamic Bayesian (DDB). Furthermore, a Mamdani-based fuzzy system was implemented to detect multi- class of distractions into a severity level of safe, careless or dangerous driving. Thus, if a high level of severity is reached the semi-autonomous vehicle will take control. The result further shows that some instances of driver’s distraction may quickly transition from a careless to dangerous driving in a multi-class distraction context

Drowsy Eyes and Face Mask Detection for Car Drivers using the Embedded System

Efforts to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus have underscored the critical importance of mask-wearing as a preventive measure. Concurrently, road traffic accidents, often resulting from human error, have emerged as a significant contributor to global mortality rates. This study endeavors to address these pressing issues by employing advanced Deep Learning techniques to detect mask usage and identify drowsy eyes, thus contributing to the prevention of COVID-19 and accidents due to driver fatigue. To achieve this objective, an embedded system was developed, utilizing the integration of hardware and software components. The system effectively utilizes MobileNetV2 for face mask detection and employs HOG and SVM algorithms for drowsy eye detection. By seamlessly integrating these detection systems into a single embedded device, the simultaneous detection of both mask usage and drowsy eyes is made possible. The results demonstrates a commendable accuracy rate of 80% for face mask detection and 75% for drowsy eye detection. Furthermore, the mask detection component exhibits a remarkable training accuracy of 99%, while the drowsy eye detection component demonstrates an 80% training accuracy, affirming the system's efficacy in precisely identifying masks and drowsy eyes. The proposed embedded system offers potential applications in enhancing road safety. Its capability to effectively detect drowsy eyes and mask usage in car drivers contributes significantly to preventing accidents due to driver fatigue. Additionally, it plays a vital role in mitigating COVID-19 transmission by promoting widespread mask-wearing among individuals. This study exemplifies the potential of integrating Deep Learning methodologies with embedded systems, thus paving the way for future research and development in the realm of driver safety and virus prevention

A Novel Driver Distraction Behavior Detection Based on Self-Supervised Learning Framework with Masked Image Modeling

Driver distraction causes a significant number of traffic accidents every year, resulting in economic losses and casualties. Currently, the level of automation in commercial vehicles is far from completely unmanned, and drivers still play an important role in operating and controlling the vehicle. Therefore, driver distraction behavior detection is crucial for road safety. At present, driver distraction detection primarily relies on traditional Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and supervised learning methods. However, there are still challenges such as the high cost of labeled datasets, limited ability to capture high-level semantic information, and weak generalization performance. In order to solve these problems, this paper proposes a new self-supervised learning method based on masked image modeling for driver distraction behavior detection. Firstly, a self-supervised learning framework for masked image modeling (MIM) is introduced to solve the serious human and material consumption issues caused by dataset labeling. Secondly, the Swin Transformer is employed as an encoder. Performance is enhanced by reconfiguring the Swin Transformer block and adjusting the distribution of the number of window multi-head self-attention (W-MSA) and shifted window multi-head self-attention (SW-MSA) detection heads across all stages, which leads to model more lightening. Finally, various data augmentation strategies are used along with the best random masking strategy to strengthen the model's recognition and generalization ability. Test results on a large-scale driver distraction behavior dataset show that the self-supervised learning method proposed in this paper achieves an accuracy of 99.60%, approximating the excellent performance of advanced supervised learning methods

User-centred car design and the role of feedback in driving

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.A survey of car manufacturers reveals an impressive list of upcoming technologies, the combined effect of which is likely to have a profound impact upon feedback to the driver. Feedback is information that the situation provides back to the driver and is specified with reference to content, source, and timing. Feedback quality is achieved when the information requirements of the task, derived from a new task analysis of driving, are matched to the sources, content, and timing of feedback provided by the environment and the vehicle. An exploratory on-road study begins by observing that better quality feedback is implicated in increasing driver's situational awareness (even though drivers have little self awareness of this fact), and optimising mental workload. The exploratory level of analysis builds into the experimental, whereby a highly controlled simulator study replicates and builds upon these findings. Feedback is again seen to positively influence situational awareness, where changes in driver's confidence ratings as to the presence or absence of feedback information in the simulation were observed, according to the modality of feedback presented. This was achieved with a probe recall paradigm, and using psychophysical techniques as a useful extension to the Situational awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAI). Similarly, an analysis of mental workload via the NASA TLX self report questionnaire demonstrates that a combination of visual, steering force feedback and auditory feedback gives rise to lower mental workload, lower driver frustration, and lower, though possibly more realistic self ratings of performance. This knowledge can be discussed with reference to a feedback framework of driving that provides the theoretical backdrop to the key psychological variables implicated in driving task performance. Overall, the findings contribute to knowledge in terms of new and imaginative ways of designing future vehicle technologies in order to maximise safety, efficiency, and enjoyment.This research is funded by the Hamilton Research Studentship

Computing driver tiredness and fatigue in automobile via eye tracking and body movements

The aim of this paper is to classify the driver tiredness and fatigue in automobile via eye tracking and body movements using deep learning based Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) algorithm. Vehicle driver face localization serves as one of the most widely used real-world applications in fields like toll control, traffic accident scene analysis, and suspected vehicle tracking. The research proposed a CNN classifier for simultaneously localizing the region of human face and eye positioning. The classifier, rather than bounding rectangles, gives bounding quadrilaterals, which gives a more precise indication for vehicle driver face localization. The adjusted regions are preprocessed to remove noise and passed to the CNN classifier for real time processing. The preprocessing of the face features extracts connected components, filters them by size, and groups them into face expressions. The employed CNN is the well-known technology for human face recognition. One we aim to extract the facial landmarks from the frames, we will then leverage classification models and deep learning based convolutional neural networks that predict the state of the driver as 'Alert' or 'Drowsy' for each of the frames extracted. The CNN model could predict the output state labels (Alert/Drowsy) for each frame, but we wanted to take care of sequential image frames as that is extremely important while predicting the state of an individual. The process completes, if all regions have a sufficiently high score or a fixed number of retries are exhausted. The output consists of the detected human face type, the list of regions including the extracted mouth and eyes with recognition reliability through CNN with an accuracy of 98.57% with 100 epochs of training and testing

Modelling of Driver and Pedestrian Behaviour – A Historical Review

Driver and pedestrian behaviour significantly affect the safety and the flow of traffic at the microscopic and macroscopic levels. The driver behaviour models describe the driver decisions made in different traffic flow conditions. Modelling the pedestrian behaviour plays an essential role in the analysis of pedestrian flows in the areas such as public transit terminals, pedestrian zones, evacuations, etc. Driver behaviour models, integrated into simulation tools, can be divided into car-following models and lane-changing models. The simulation tools are used to replicate traffic flows and infer certain regularities. Particular model parameters must be appropriately calibrated to approximate the realistic traffic flow conditions. This paper describes the existing car-following models, lane-changing models, and pedestrian behaviour models. Further, it underlines the importance of calibrating the parameters of microsimulation models to replicate realistic traffic flow conditions and sets the guidelines for future research related to the development of new models and the improvement of the existing ones.</p

Forecasting negative effects of monotony and sensation seeking on performance during a vigilance task

The driving task requires sustained attention during prolonged periods, and can be performed in highly predictable or repetitive environments. Such conditions could create hypovigilance and impair performance towards critical events. Identifying such impairment in monotonous conditions has been a major subject of research, but no research to date has attempted to predict it in real-time. This pilot study aims to show that performance decrements due to monotonous tasks can be predicted through mathematical modelling taking into account sensation seeking levels. A short vigilance task sensitive to short periods of lapses of vigilance called Sustained Attention to Response Task is used to assess participants‟ performance. The framework for prediction developed on this task could be extended to a monotonous driving task. A Hidden Markov Model (HMM) is proposed to predict participants‟ lapses in alertness. Driver‟s vigilance evolution is modelled as a hidden state and is correlated to a surrogate measure: the participant‟s reactions time. This experiment shows that the monotony of the task can lead to an important decline in performance in less than five minutes. This impairment can be predicted four minutes in advance with an 86% accuracy using HMMs. This experiment showed that mathematical models such as HMM can efficiently predict hypovigilance through surrogate measures. The presented model could result in the development of an in-vehicle device that detects driver hypovigilance in advance and warn the driver accordingly, thus offering the potential to enhance road safety and prevent road crashes

Statistical Investigation of Road and Railway Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety

Transportation of hazardous materials (hazmat) in the United States (U.S.) constituted 22.8% of the total tonnage transported in 2012 with an estimated value of more than 2.3 billion dollars. As such, hazmat transportation is a significant economic activity in the U.S. However, hazmat transportation exposes people and environment to the infrequent but potentially severe consequences of incidents resulting in hazmat release. Trucks and trains carried 63.7% of the hazmat in the U.S. in 2012 and are the major foci of this dissertation. The main research objectives were 1) identification and quantification of the effects of different factors on occurrence and consequences of hazmat-related incidents, towards identifying effective policies and countermeasures for improving safety and; 2) quantifying components of risk of hazmat transportation for costs prediction, planning purposes, or short-term decision-making. A comprehensive review of literature, study framework, and available data led to identification of six foci for this dissertation: 1) estimation of hazmat release statistical models for railroad incidents; 2) estimation of rollover and hazmat release statistical models for Cargo Tank Truck (CTT) crashes; 3) analyzing hazmat-involved crashes at highway-rail grade crossings (HRGCs); 4) model-based and non-model-based methods for classifying hazmat release from trains and CTTs; 5) estimation of macroscopic-level statistical models for frequency and severity of rail-based crude oil release incidents; and 6) estimation of statistical models for types and consequences of rail-based crude oil release incidents. Some of the findings of this research include: train derailments increased hazmat release probability more than other incident types; non-collision CTT crashes were more likely to result in rollovers, while rolling over increased the likelihood of hazmat release; at HRGCs, flashing signal lights were associated with lower hazmat release probability from trucks; increase in volume and distance of crude oil shipped from one state to another led to greater frequency and severity of incidents between the two states; and in rail-based crude oil release incidents, non-accident releases were associated with higher probability of gas dispersion, and lower probability of fire and explosion. Based on the results, recommendations regarding policies and countermeasures for improving safety are provided. Advisor: Aemal Khatta