Driver fatigue and drowsiness monitoring system with embedded electrocardiogram sensor on steering wheel

Real time driver health condition monitoring system with drowsiness alertness was proposed. A new embedded electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor with electrically conductive fabric electrodes on the steering wheel of a car was designed to monitor the driver's health condition. The ECG signals were measured at a sampling rate of 100 Hz from the driver's palms as they stay on a pair of conductive fabric electrodes located on the steering wheel. Practical tests were conducted using an embedded ECG sensor with a wireless sensor node, and their performance was assessed under non-stop 2 h driving test. The ECG signals were measured and transmitted wirelessly to a base station connected to a server PC in personal area network environment. The driver's health condition such as the normal, fatigued and drowsy states was analysed by evaluating the heart rate variability in the time and frequency domains.