Evaluating the Effect of Fatigue on Driver’s Performance

Abstract

The paper presents an experimental cybernetic approach for the evaluation of drivers’ performance in connection with fatigue based on mathematical modelling and description of human behavior during a simple lane-changing task. Data are acquired via the in-house developed car driving simulator under defined conditions. Statistical evaluation of the used parameters for 50 active drivers is presented as an initial data set for the determination of the described drivers’ performance decision-making system built on fuzzy logic. The system was then used for calculating the DPI (Driver performance index) as a self-determined relative measure of drivers’ performance. Then, an example of applying the method with three volunteers influenced by fatigue is presented. All of these participants reached lower DPI in the case of fatigue induced by a 3-hour-long simulated loading drive on a highway. Although the results cannot be statistically significantly interpreted, they indicate a potential for further and deeper research.