TA2018: Inaugural fatigueHACK pays dividends

This year's recent ATA Trucking Australia conference also coincided with the industry representative body's inaugural fatigueHACK – an intensive, two-day brainstorming session for fresh ideas on how tackle heavy vehicle road safety and, in particular, driver fatigue management.

Sponsored by fleet management software specialist Teletrac Navman and facilitated by the Canberra Innovation Network, the event saw around 50 of Australia's top innovators come together in Canberra to examine the trucking industry's road safety challenges and design innovative solutions.

Participants formed themselves into eight different 'hackathon' teams, with each team responsible for one project that could potentially, with further development and funding, be brought to life.

The teams comprised members from a wide variety of backgrounds, including software developers, industry experts, IT professionals, students, medical experts, regulators, truck drivers and driver trainers, among others.

The teams each put in long hours to develop their projects, before the top three were chosen by a panel of judges to be presented at a Trucking Australia 2018 workshop titled Driving fatigue – the way forward. After presenting their ideas at the conference, delegates then voted to decide the ultimate winner, with the winning team receiving $6000 for their efforts.

Global concern
Conference delegates heard that, globally, around 1.25 million people die annually on the road. While contributing factors such as speed, alcohol and substance abuse often garner the lion's share of media attention, fatigue too plays a major role, said Teletrac Navman Solutions Specialist, Chris L'Ecluse.

"The reality is fatigue has the same outcome [on our roads] as alcohol and substance abuse, so we're now starting to focus a lot of energy on ways we can mitigate the risks of fatigue," he said.

The aftermath of the 1989 Grafton truck and bus accident, which claimed 21 lives, triggered a major push in this regard from both industry and government. The horror of that collision brought about the formation of the Australian Trucking Association in the case of the former and the National Road Transport Commission (now the National Transport Commission) in the case of the latter.

The subsequent introduction of log books and regulated driving hours brought about a significant decline in heavy vehicle accidents, but both Government and the industry acknowledge there still much more to be done in road safety – and especially in the field of fatigue.

To that end, the Government's Cooperative Research Centre recently partnered with Victoria's Monash University to examine how fatigue affects drivers and explore ways in which fatigue can be better managed, in terms of policy and a regulatory framework.

Better data needed
According to respiratory and sleep physician, Dr Mark Howard, the formulation of a more effective fatigue strategy must start with better data.

"A lot of the science historically has come from laboratory or simulated work … that is then extrapolated to what we would expect to happen in real life," said Dr Howard, who also has over 20 years of experience in road transport research.

"It probably helps to inform things, but it's probably not the level of evidence that we really want," he said.

"We need to move out of the laboratory and into the real world to try and get a better evidence base for what we're doing, for what tells us what's good and bad about the current system and – if we're making changes – to also make sure those changes are improving things."

The first phase of the research carried out the CRC Alertness program concerned continuous monitoring of the driver and their vehicle, while the second phase will focus on monitoring driver sleep patterns. The research is on-going – click here if you're a heavy vehicle driver willing to assist the program.

Dr Howard said the research should ultimately result in a better, more effective fatigue policy for heavy vehicle drivers – one that has a degree of flexibility to acknowledge the physiological differences between drivers instead of the 'one size fits all' approach currently employed.

"We should have a better understanding around the impact of the current legislation – where is it good, where is it bad, where can we improve it – and a method for which we can judge future changes.

"We'll have a clearer understanding around the flexibilities that might be able to be built into the system – whether they are safe, whether they are going to maintain better alertness and driver performance and whether they are going to reduce the risk of fatigue-related crashes. And, importantly, this project will be conducted under operational conditions."

Winning concepts
Of the eight fatigueHACK teams, judges deemed the ideas put forward by Team Wow, Team CIT Transformers and Team Augmented Intelligence as the leading projects among a hotly contested field.

While Team Wow proposed a joint driver health/public education initiative and Team CIT Transformers an app called 'Truck Stop', a system to help drivers locate adequate rest stops and enlist underutilised land to boost the numbers of rest-stop locations, ultimately it was Team Augmented Intelligence judged by conference delegates as the winning project.

The team's concept was based upon an innovative truck steering wheel with integrated ECG heart monitors, with the technology integrated with GPS mapping to suggest suitable upcoming rest areas before fatigue levels become problematic.

"We predict your future fatigue and give you the best advice on where to rest," said Andrew Hammond, spokesperson for the team, which also comprises clinicians, medical researchers, artificial intelligence specialists and IT consultants.

"Most of the information available is being delivered too late – you know the fatigue signs and there's no point in telling you you're tired, because you already know you're too tired. What we need to do is get on the front foot and predict when you're going to get tired so you can start making some decisions."

The data will be integrated with the driver's sat-nav to bring up a list of suitable rest stops to head off fatigue before it becomes a safety concern, while it can also be used to flag other health issues such as the potential risk of stroke, prompting a driver to visit their GP.

The ECG data will be subject to the same level of privacy as data generated and stored in hospitals, says the team.

Affordable advice
Targeting the line haul sector, the team believes the technology – comprising the modified steering wheel, a rear-facing camera and a central 'black box' processer – could be rolled out for as little as $100 per truck, per month.

The team is aiming for a five per cent market share, which it says would see the system employed in around 6000 trucks.

Mr Hammond said the group was now looking for industry partners to explore the concept, along with IT partners for financial backing.

That financial backing is, however, off and running – as the winning concept the team received a cheque for $6000 in Canberra, which it says it will put towards appointing a researcher to help develop the project.

Andrew Rossington, Vice President Transport Solutions of hackathon sponsor, Teletrac Navman, said he'd very much like to see fatigueHACK continue in future years.

"Hopefully what will come out of this is we will see a blending of these ideas – some of the technology blending with the health side, for example."

The Canberra Innovation Network will now provide ongoing assistance to Team Augmented Intelligence to help it take its concept further.