IOT on Wheels Design Challenge - Fatigue Alert System Blog #1

Fatigue Alert System

First I want to thank our sponsor STMicroelectronics for the kit they are providing and giving us the opportunity to develop our dream. I want to thank Element14 for making this all possible.

My reason for this project

I have a severe sleep disorder and this makes the possibility of falling asleep while driving a greater possibility. In Canada, fatigue is a factor in up to 21 per cent of motor vehicle collisions,
resulting in about 400 deaths and 2,100 serious injuries every year. At 21 per cent, fatigue would rank as the third highest cause of collisions behind impaired driving and speed. This is an issue that needs to be addressed.

Recognize the signs of fatigue:

• loss of concentration
• drowsiness
• yawning
• slow reactions
• sore or tired eyes
• boredom
• irritability
• missing road signs
• drifting out of your lane
• nodding off

Here is my project:

Create a device that monitors your body to assess if you are too tired to drive. If you are already driving, it will alert you when you are too tired to drive. The device will
monitor your heart rate, oxygen level and breathing to assess your alertness as well it will also monitor your driving. If the device finds your alertness
isn’t what it should be it will notify you that you shouldn’t be driving. This will be done by alerting you through Bluetooth to the radio or vibration to
make you aware of your situation.

The development boards being used from STMicroelectronics:

STM32 Nucleo-L476RG Board

Sensor Expansion Board - X-NUCLEO-IKS01A2X-NUCLEO-IKS01A2X-NUCLEO-IKS01A2

Bluetooth LE Expansion Board - X-NUCLEO-IDB05A1X-NUCLEO-IDB05A1X-NUCLEO-IDB05A1

Below is a basic layout of my project:

Explanation of each:

• Heart rate monitor and oxygen monitor
  • As you get tired your heart rate drops. This will alert the computer you are over tired. If your heart rate
    drops then suddenly spikes, this is more serious as it could be caused by nodding off for a second or two.
  • The oxygen monitor will tell the computer if your oxygen level is where it should be, being low on oxygen can
    cause drowsiness.
• Vibrating buzzer
  • This will be one of the ways to alert you if you are falling asleep
• Alertness button
  • If you are drowsy the computer will require you to check in by lighting an LED. When the LED is lit you must press
    the alertness button to confirm you are alert. This acts as another check by seeing how long it takes to react to the light, the longer it takes the drowsier
    you are.
• Vibration sensor
  • This sensor will be located on the dash board. It will sense if the vehicle is drifting onto the side of the road.
• Bluetooth notification
  • This will be another way for the computer to notify you of your situation.
• Accelerometer and temperature sensor
  • The accelerometer will tell the computer of the speed you are traveling at. Any sudden changes will cause the computer to alert you.
  • Temperature sensor is used to record the internal vehicle temperature. Being too warm cause’s drowsiness, this would cause the computer to alert you of this as well.

There may be more added or changed, we have to wait and see how it goes!!

I hope everyone enjoys following along while I create my project.

Thank you,

Dale Winhold