CAPC: an implementation of a road-departure warning system

The Crewman's Associate for Path Control (CAPC) is an automatic road-departure warning system for motor vehicle drivers. This paper presents the design of, and preliminary field results from, the CAPC prototype vehicle, a modified 1994 Ford Taurus SHO. The CAPC system is intended for highway drivers who are drifting off the roadway at a shallow angle of departure due to inattention, drowsiness, intoxication, or other causes. A camera senses the roadway ahead, and a suite of transducers provide measurements of vehicle motion and driver steering commands. Warning and intervention functions for CAPC have been developed during ongoing research at the University of Michigan.