Sound as a Countermeasure against Driving Fatigue Based on ECG

Driving fatigue is one of the main causes for fatal accidents. Environmental stimulus as the countermeasure against driving fatigue has been widely researched. For this paper a driving simulator experiment was carried out in order to validate the effect of sound as the environmental stimulus countermeasure. Firstly, the paper analyzed the change law of Electrocardiograph (ECG) with driving time, then validated that it was reasonable to consider ECG as an evaluation indicator of driving fatigue. Various indices of ECG recorded from alert to fatigue throughout the experiment were used to measure degree of fatigue using principal component analysis (PCA). Finally, being a countermeasure against driving fatigue, the validity of sound stimulus was verified and the optimal combination of sound was presented by orthogonal experiments. The results show that the alerting reaction exists in the sound signal stimulation during driving fatigue state, and there is a significant difference among different types of sound stimulus. Stimulating interval and sonic intensity are the most significant factors to fight driving fatigue, the impact of frequency and stimulating interval are weaker. The experimental method will lay a foundation for further study on light and vibration stimulus as countermeasures against driving fatigue.