A method for fatigue detection based on Driver's steering wheel grip

We propose a simple method to measure a driver's fatigue state by detecting the driver's grip force on the steering wheel while driving. We tested the grip force of 36 drivers on the steering wheel in conscious states (Alert) and fatigue states under actual road driving conditions. Using the Stanford sleepiness scale (SSS), we divided drivers into Alert Group A, fatigue Group A, and fatigue Group B. During 20-min real-road driving trials, we measured the steering wheel grip force, electroencephalogram index (R = (α + θ)/β), and blink frequency of each driver synchronously. We found that ΔF, the difference between the maximum/minimum grip force and the standard deviation of the grip force, σF, for each driver, strongly correlated with the driver's fatigue state. In the fatigue state, both ΔF and σF increased significantly. We examined these force indices using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and validated them against the R-value, blink frequency, and the driver's self-reported fatigue state. Using the grip force in fatigue detection, our method can achieve an overall recognition rate of 86.6% and an individual recognition rate of 88.3%. These results indicate that this method can effectively detect a driver's fatigue state during actual road driving. This new method has several advantages, such as a high signal-to-noise ratio, simple data collection, and no influence on daily driving. Thus, our proposed method may provide a theoretical foundation for the development of fatigue-detecting steering wheels