A Cost-Effective Driver Drowsiness Recognition System

Road accidents, having become almost an everyday problem in the present world, cause substantial loss of lives and property and adversely affect the economy. Driving in the state of drowsiness is a major cause behind these accidents. Timely detection of a driver's drowsy condition is very important to avoid these unwanted accidents. This study presents a very cost-effective and robust approach to determine if the driver is drowsy or fatigued by continually analyzing two physiological parameters - heart rate and eye-blink rate. An effectual alert mechanism has also been incorporated in this system. If the threshold values of the drowsiness checking parameters are exceeded, the system detects drowsy or sleepy condition of the driver and alerts him instantly to regain conscious state. The system uses some basic sensors to monitor the values of the concerned parameters for this purpose. Its implementation is totally noninvasive and poses no threat to eyesight or skin health. It is lightweight and portable, cost-effective, user-friendly and can be used during both day and night. The presented drowsiness detection system has a very low setup cost of approximately 31 US$. Overall, this study shows that heart rate and eye-blink rate can be used for drowsiness recognition. Thus, the proposed system is a very promising approach for the recognition of drowsy driving.