Ford System Will Warn, Correct Lane-Drifting Drivers

PolygamousRanchKid writes "Ford says its new Fusion, which will debut at the North American International Auto Show in a couple weeks, will be the first mainstream midsize sedan in North America to offer a lane departure system. Lane departure systems are aimed at warning drivers, especially drowsy ones, if their vehicles wander out of their lane. A digital camera mounted on the windshield ahead of the rear-view mirror keeps a watch. The system not only causes the steering wheel to vibrate if it senses an unintentional lane departure, it will also steer the car back into the right lane. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 100,000 police-reported crashes occur every year as a result of drowsy drivers, leading to 1,500 deaths, 71,000 injuries and $12.5 billion in monetary losses." I'd just like to know how hard the AI will fight if it misinterprets a driver's intentional lane change.

Comments

`why not stop the car?

[MollyB]

The idea that we should promote drowsy driving by making it (hypothetically) less fatal to do so is laughably absurd. Sometimes a driver needs to swerve to miss an accident occurring--no time to signal, so into the pileup we go? Hmm...

Re:`why not stop the car?

[icebike]

The idea that we should promote drowsy driving by making it (hypothetically) less fatal to do so is laughably absurd. Sometimes a driver needs to swerve to miss an accident occurring--no time to signal, so into the pileup we go? Hmm...

From the linked story, (which you clearly didn't read):

When the system detects the car is approaching the edge of the lane without a turn signal activated, the lane marker in the icon turns yellow and the steering wheel vibrates to simulate driving over rumble strips. If the driver doesn't respond and continues to drift, the lane icon turns red and EPAS will nudge the steering and the vehicle back toward the center of the lane. If the car continues to drift, the vibration is added again along with the nudge. The driver can overcome assistance and vibration at any time by turning the steering wheel, accelerating or braking.

The return to lane feature only works if you start to drift into the other lane, not if you actively turn into the other lane, or supply any other common control input to let the system know you are in fact paying attention.

Its not too hard to distinguish an alert driver at the wheel from someone nodding off, because a normal driver supplies 10 to 30 small control movements to the steering wheel per minute (Steering Reversal Rate), and these are typically Greater than 2 degrees and less than 6 degrees regardless of road curvature or lack there of. Once this rate falls to less than 5 reversals per minute, the car's computer can assume from this single measurement alone that the driver is getting drowsy, and when there are almost no reversals at all, that the driver has fallen asleep.

So the mere presence of control frequent movements on the wheel would sufficient to distinguish an intentional lane cross from an unintentional one.

There is a large amount of research already available on the web about his stuff. Google steering wheel reversal rate. This stuff has been known and measured for decades.

exactly how far behind are they?

[Anonymous Coward]

from wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lane_departure_warning_system

snippets:

In 2007 Infiniti offered a newer version of this feature, which it called the Lane Departure Prevention (LDP) system. This feature utilizes the vehicle stability control system to help assist the driver maintain lane position by applying gentle brake pressure on the appropriate wheels.

In 2004, Toyota added a Lane Keeping Assist feature to the Crown Majesta which can apply a small counter-steering force to aid in keeping the vehicle in its lane.

2003: Honda launched its Lane Keep Assist System (LKAS) on the Inspire.[13][14] It provides up to 80% of steering torque to keep the car in its lane on the highway.

Re:Turn signals are a good thing

[jersey_emt]

Technically, NJ laws state that a turn signal isn't enough notice. The way the law is written, you are required to honk your horn before changing lanes. Seriously.

Re:Turn signals are a good thing

[aardvarkjoe]

As far as they are concerned, I'm one of those idiots, even though I am taking deliberate steps to avoid known-dangerous driving. Obviously, I think THEY are the idiots. At least one of us is wrong.

Not necessarily. You could both be idiots.