What is a Driver Monitoring System?

Why is Driver Monitoring Important?

Thousands of Americans are killed or injured in preventable car accidents each year. Some of these crashes are due to a lack of driver alertness resulting in lane drifting and unintentional lane-departure incidences. When a vehicle drifts or departs a lane unintentionally, the risk of an accident increases dramatically.

A driver monitoring system, or DMS, helps mitigate these dangers by combatting drowsiness and distractions that often occur during long-distance and night driving. But they can also happen in virtually any driving circumstance at any time of day (i.e., a driver on a morning commute who didn’t get much sleep the night before). The system aims to keep drivers alert and aware of their surroundings, especially at high speeds, when a momentary error can have catastrophic consequences.

How does Driver Monitoring Work?

In most cases, DMS uses a driver-facing camera integrated into the dashboard or instrument cluster and equipped with infrared light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to “see” the driver’s face, even at night. These LEDs can even perceive the driver’s eyes through sunglasses. The camera system utilizes advanced onboard software to collect data points from the driver’s face and create an initial baseline of the driver’s normal state when they are awake and attentive.

Once the software establishes the driver’s normal facial behavior, it can then determine if the driver is blinking more than usual, if their eyes are narrowing or closing, or if their head is tilting at an odd angle. Some systems can also tell whether the driver is looking at the road ahead or just staring blankly due to tiredness, fatigue, or highway hypnosis, a phenomenon in which the driver undergoes an altered mental state from staring at roadway lines for great distances.

If the DMS determines the driver is distracted or drowsy, the system will attempt to capture the driver’s attention. The goal is to make them alert enough to drive safely or become aware enough to pull over and rest.

There are different ways a DMS will help the driver to “wake up.” The first line of defense is to issue audio alerts such as chimes or beeps to get the driver’s attention. A visual indicator in the instrument cluster often accompanies these audible cues, such as a blinking light that looks like a steaming cup of coffee—the universal symbol of alertness. Some DMS setups will also employ haptic feedback, such as a vibrating steering wheel or seat bolsters to help the driver re-focus on the road.

Specific ADAS integrate the DMS with emergency braking and collision mitigation. With these more proactive systems, if the vehicle’s infrared camera sees the driver is distracted while the vehicle’s external sensors detect an imminent collision, the system may automatically apply the brakes as an accident-avoidance maneuver. In these more extreme situations, the DMS may be tied to ADAS functionality that can automatically call for help, especially if a crash occurs.

Driver Monitoring Systems and Facial Recognition

Currently, most driver monitoring systems operate similarly using infrared camera-type hardware. The most sophisticated of these systems come from DMS pioneers such as Cadillac, Lexus, Mercedes, Tesla, and Volvo. However, the next generation of driver monitoring uses facial-recognition technology much like that developed by Apple for its current generation of iPhones. In addition to observing a driver’s eye movements and head tilt while they operate a vehicle, facial recognition will identify an individual driver and make specific adjustments to the seating position, mirror angles, climate settings, and infotainment preferences.

Subaru is among the first to employ facial recognition in its vehicles. The automaker’s DriverFocus system works with its EyeSight suite of ADAS to make facial recognition possible. As such, the system can recognize up to five separate drivers and automatically make customized adjustments for each person. Setup requires a full facial scan that measures distances between the eyes, nose, and mouth. DriverFocus is available in Subaru’s Forester, Legacy, and Outback models.

Summary

Driver monitoring systems help drivers to be more alert and aware while behind the wheel. By reducing driver distraction and increasing attention on the road, this technology makes roads safer for everyone.

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