An improved fatigue detection system based on behavioral characteristics of driver

Abstract

In recent years, the road accidents have increased significantly. One of the major reasons for these accidents, as reported is driver fatigue. Due to continuous and longtime driving, the driver gets exhausted and drowsy which may lead to an accident. Therefore, there is a need for a system to measure the fatigue level of driver and alert him when he/she feels drowsy to avoid accidents. Thus, we propose a system which comprises of a camera installed on the car dashboard. The camera detects the driver's face and tracks its activity. From the driver's face, the system observes the alteration in its facial features and uses these features to observe the fatigue level. Facial features include eyes (fast blinking or heavy eyes) and mouth (yawn detection). Principle Component Analysis (PCA) is thus implemented to reduce the features while minimizing the amount of information lost. The parameters thus obtained are processed through Support Vector Classifier (SVC) for classifying the fatigue level. After that classifier output is sent to the alert unit.