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The System

The AWAKE system will consist of the following components:

A Hypovigilance Diagnosis Module (HDM)
will detect and diagnose driver hypo-vigilance in real-time. Based on an artificial intelligence algorithm this module will fuse data from on- board driver monitoring sensors (eyelid behaviour and steering grip forces) and data regarding the driver's behaviour (lane keeping performance). The goal is to achieve a (correct) diagnosis level of 90% and a false alarm rate below 1 % in all highway scenarios.
Therefore, parts of the HDM are personalised by using a smart card application. If the driver is unknown to the system it will monitor awake driving at the beginning of the trip and use the information for delivering its diagnoses later on.

The HDM comprises different subsystems which produce independent diagnoses. The final diagnosis will then be fused and has three levels:

    Driver is awake
    Driver may be drowsy
    Driver is drowsy
Screenshot of software for the analysis of eyelid behaviour
Screenshot of software for the analysis of eyelid behaviour

A Traffic Risk Estimation module (TRE)
will assess the traffic situation and the involved risks. It will match data from an enhanced digital navigational map, a positioning system, an anti-collision radar, the odometer, and a driver's gaze direction sensor. The output of this module will be used by the HDM to reassess the state of the driver, and by the Driver Warning System to determine the adequate level of warning.

The TRE diagnosis contains
  a general traffic risk level
  specific traffic risks

Specific traffic risks are further divided into
  lane departure (left/right),
  frontal collision (cautionary and
     imminent case),
  inadequate speed before
     sharp curves (cautionary and
     imminent case)
Screenshot of software for the analysis of eyelid behaviour
Screenshot of software used for analysing gaze direction

A Hierarchical Manager (HM)
co-ordinates the other system components and hosts the AWAKE warning strategy. The HM uses input from the HDM and the TRE to determine the adequate warning strategy for a certain situation. In addition, information from the smart card is used to personalise the various warnings of the AWAKE system.

Screenshot of software
Screenshot of software "SwitchBoard" used for controlling the warning system based on TRE, HDM and a SmartCard application
According to the diagnosis from the HDM and the TRE the AWAKE warning strategy is as follows:
    If driver is awake, only imminent collision and imminent speed warnings
       can be activated
    If driver may be drowsy, all levels of TRE warnings can be activated
    If driver is drowsy,
        - Two different drowsiness warnings (according to actual traffic risk)
           can be activated
        - In case of specific traffic risks TRE warnings have priority

A Driver Warning System (DWS)
will use acoustic, visual and haptic means according to the type of AWAKE warning.

Acoustic warnings include different warning tones to raise driver's alertness
   and speech messages to indicate why the warning has been activated.
Visual elements of the alarm are either located at the rear view mirror
   for the demo cars or at an external box on top of the dashboard of the truck
   demonstrator. These devices also host the smart card reader and the
   On/Off button of the system.
The haptic warning is based on a vibration device attached to the seat belt
   lock. The vibrations stimulus can be felt all along the seat belt.

AWAKE HMI for luxury and city cars (left) and heavy vehicles (middle). For the acoustic output onboard loudspeakers are used. The vibration device is mounted at the seatbelt lock (right).
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