Development of a Driver-monitoring Vehicle Based on an Ultra Small Electric Vehicle

Abstract

From the viewpoint of aging society in Japan, there is a need for vehicles adaptable for the elderly. Author et al. have developed an ultra small electric vehicle, which has a driver assist system suitable for elderly drivers. This system can take into account the various profiles among the elderly drivers, by monitoring the status of the driver and changing the vehicle response by means of by-wire technology. Driver-monitoring vehicle was developed based on this ultra small electric vehicle. This vehicle was equipped with measuring instruments, which monitors many aspect of driver's status. It was designed to monitor driver's operations and vital reactions in sync with vehicle conditions to find out the way to support drivers. In order to verify the function of the driver-monitoring vehicle, EMG measurements were taken. Effective measuring points of EMG were the tibialis anterior for braking and the deltoid muscle for steering. In the driving experiment, EMG rise occurred 0.5 second before driver's operation was implemented. And the feasibility of support system using EMG was indicated.