Researchers at Nottingham Trent University are making a different kind of semiconductor, named as Plessey Semiconductor which will be used to create an Electronic Potential Integrated Circuits (EPIC). These circuits will be fitted into the seats of vehicles and their aim is to measure the heart beat of driver, respiration and other vitals which are important to determine the fatigue level.
These guys at Nottingham Trent University are experts in developing the semiconductors for sensing, measuring and controlling applications. These innovative car seats are the evidence of their expertise. Although this project is in developing phase and is far away from the production phase however, it is clear that the cars in future will adopt the technology to improve road safety.
Plessey Heart Beat Rate Monitor
Essentially these seats are knitted with the sensing semiconductors to sense the driving behaviours; these sensors will detect the driver’s fatigue level and warn him if he or she is feeling too weary to dive in safe and attentive way. This innovative technology has great potential to transform your vehicle into a self driving car by associating to its cruise control and lane keeping functions when drivers feel drowsy. The sensors will send the information to other systems and they will act accordingly in case driver fails to respond to the warnings positively. Professor Tilak Dias said that Plessey semiconductor has already demonstrated that cardiac behaviour can be measured by using the capacitive sensors. EPIC is just required to test for reliability and consistency of data and then it can be used for proposed purposes
At the first step this technology will help the truck and lorry drivers as they spend the longest hours behind the wheel. Secondly, high end luxury car makers such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes are likely to adapt the EPIC technology.
