Driver monitoring the key for safer autonomous vehicles

Fully autonomous trucks are many years away but progress is being made towards the roll-out of intelligent and semi-autonomous vehicles in the near future – and Canberra-based company Seeing Machines is at the forefront of making the transition as safe as possible.

Our research at Trucksales.com.au indicates that one of the major problems facing autonomous vehicle development is ensuring that a driver is prepared for the transition from autonomous operation to driver-controlled operation.

Accident statistics from semi-autonomous vehicle usage overseas shows that it's at this time when there's a high risk of driver error and subsequent potential for an incident.

This data highlights the need for some driver preparation before that transition, which is why Seeing Machines has developed a device based on its existing driver monitoring systems (DMS) technology to assist in this process.

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Seeing Machines is a global company but headquartered in Australia, and is an industry leader in computer vision technologies which enable machines to see, understand and assist people.

The company's machine-learning vision platform employs artificial intelligence (AI) analysis of heads, faces and eyes, identifying drowsiness and distraction.

Seeing Machines already produces DMS for the automotive, commercial, aviation, rail and mining markets and it has become a core safety technology for many fleets in the Australian transport business.

The company's Guardian Backup-driver Monitoring System (BdMS) is said to ensure a driver is alert, aware and ready before the vehicle 'hands over' control.

Seeing Machines has signed an agreement with one customer and is in advanced discussions with a number of companies at the forefront of autonomous vehicle development.

Technology companies, automakers and fleet operators are developing semi-autonomous and autonomous research fleets, and testing automated vehicles on public roads is critical for effective research and development, but testing brings clear risks to the general public. In most cases, backup drivers are employed during the testing phase to help assure safe operation of the vehicle at all times.

The US National Transportation Safety Board recommended in 2017 that DMS should be installed in autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles, in order to enhance safety and minimise accidents related to fatigue, dwindling attention or distraction on the part of the backup driver.

The Seeing Machines Guardian BdMS is a retrofit system for SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Level 3 ('eyes off') to Level 5 ('driver off') test vehicle fleets.

The camera-based Guardian BdMS tracks the backup driver's face and eyes during automated or semi-automated vehicle testing, reports driver-attention state and identifies distraction events of increasing severity.

Nick DiFiore, Seeing Machines' senior vice president and automotive general manager, said the transition to autonomous vehicles will be long and complex.

"Automated driving will make driving easier, more comfortable, and eventually, safer," he said.

"Entrusting the driving task to a computer will become a reality, but the journey will be gradual, complex, and potentially dangerous.

"Automated vehicles need to operate safely and reliably in real-world conditions."

However, even if full truck autonomy is still many years away from a road-going reality, technology that eases the driver's task in the intervening period should be welcomed, we reckon.