Driver fatigue and drowsiness monitoring system with embedded electrocardiogram sensor on steering wheel

Real time driver health condition monitoring system with drowsiness alertness was proposed. A new embedded electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor with electrically conductive fabric electrodes on the steering wheel of a car was designed to monitor the driver´s health condition. The ECG signals were measured at a sampling rate of 100 Hz from the driver´s palms as they stay on a pair of conductive fabric electrodes located on the steering wheel. Practical tests were conducted using an embedded ECG sensor with a wireless sensor node, and their performance was assessed under non-stop 2 h driving test. The ECG signals were measured and transmitted wirelessly to a base station connected to a server PC in personal area network environment. The driver´s health condition such as the normal, fatigued and drowsy states was analysed by evaluating the heart rate variability in the time and frequency domains.