Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Yoshinaka Kawakami

Kouichi Kamiya

Katsunori Hamatani

Yoshiharu Takigawa

Arihiro Isomura

Eiji Sato

Tetsuya Furuichi

Toru Hara

Yasufumi Sekine

Koichi Kamiya

A heartbeat rate detection apparatus and method which can accurately detect a heartbeat of a driver by simultaneously detecting a heartbeat rate of the driver with an infrared sensor, and detecting a heartbeat rate of the driver from a potential difference due to pulsation between both hands with a potencial type heartbeat sensor, comparing the the heartbeat rate detected by the infrared type heartbeat sensor with the heartbeat rate detected by the potential type heartbeat sensor, and selects one as an effective heartbeat rate.

Apparatus for detecting awareness of a vehicle driver and method thereof

Driving attentiveness judging method and apparatus for accurately determining the driver's attentiveness level during driving of a motor vehicle are provided wherein steering angle data and vehicle speed data, respectively supplied from a steering angle sensor and a vehicle speed sensor, are sampled by a steering angle data sampling section and a vehicle speed data sampling section, respectively. Respective levels of road shape component, visual steering component, and corrective steering component of the steering angle data are detected by a steering angle data processing section, and a fuzzy inference output representing a driving attentiveness level is obtained by a fuzzy inference section in accordance with fuzzy rules and the three steering component levels. In accordance with the fuzzy inference output which has been subjected to vehicle speed-dependent correction by a vehicle speed correcting section, the driving attentiveness level is displayed at a display device, and also a warning mark is displayed if the vehicle speed-corrected fuzzy inference output is small.

Apparatus for judging driving attentiveness with respect to a ratio of

An apparatus and method for detecting heartbeat pulse information of a driver, including determining a level of awareness of the driver from the heartbeat pulse information, detecting a steering angle of the vehicle, determines the level of awareness, of the driver from the steering angle and activating at least one warning according to the level of awareness of the driver.

Apparatus and method for improving the awareness of vehicle drivers

An apparatus and method for a driver of a vehicle in which a level of awareness of the driver is determined, and compared with a reference value to determine a decrease in awareness. A warning is generated when driver awareness is low. The driver responds by terminating the warning. The reference value of the awareness determination means is corrected according to a response time of the driver to the warning.

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Kariya, Japan

Yoshinaka Kawakami