Abstract
When the driving posture is maintained during prolonged driving, a burden concentrates on the specific part and the driving fatigue is accumulated. We propose a technique that changes the lumbar posture periodically by using the lumbar support device mounted in the driver's seat to reduce the driving fatigue increase for long distance driving. This study focused on the periodic movement of the lumbar support device, and we verified both the objective fatigue evaluation based on the finger plethysmogram and the subjective fatigue evaluation based on the result of a questionnaire survey. From the results of the objective and subjective evaluations, the operation cycle of 30 minutes which operated the lumbar support device every 15 minutes was most effectively for the reduction of the driving fatigue increase. Therefore, the effectiveness of our proposed method about the periodic operation of the lumbar support device mounted in the driver's seat for the reduction of the driver fatigue increase has been verified.
