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Affiliation
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School of Mechanical Engineering, Jiangsu University , Zhenjiang , Jiangsu 212013 , China. |
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Abstract
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OBJECTIVE: We studied the changes of driving fatigue levels for experienced and inexperienced drivers at three periods of the day: 9:00-12:00, 12:00-14:00, and 16:00-18:00.
METHODS: 30 drivers were involved in 120 min real-car driving, and sleepiness ratings ((Stanford Sleepiness Scale , SSS), electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, and heart rates (HR) were recorded. Together with principal component analysis, the relationship between EEG signals and HR was explored and used to determine a comprehensive indicator of driving fatigue. Then the comprehensive indicator was assessed via paired t-test.
RESULTS: Experienced and inexperienced drivers behaved significantly differently in terms of subjective fatigue during preliminary trials. At the beginning of trials and after termination, subjective fatigue level was aggravated with the prolonging of continuous driving. Moreover, we discussed the changing rules of EEG signals and HR, and found with the prolonging of time, the ratios of δ and β waves significantly declined, while that of θ wave significantly rose. The ratio of (α+θ)/β significantly rose both before trials and after termination, but HR dropped significantly. However, one-factor analysis of variance shows that driving experience significantly affects θ wave, (α+θ)/β ratio, and HR.
CONCLUSIONS: We found under the monotonous road environment, fatigue symptoms occurred in inexperienced drivers and experienced drivers after about 60 and 80 min of continuous driving, respectively. Therefore, as for drivers with different experiences, restriction on continuous driving time would avoid overfatigue driving and thereby eliminate traffic accidents. We find the comprehensive indicator changes significantly with the fatigue levels. The integration of different indicators improves the recognition accuracy of different driving fatigue levels.
Language: en |