Technical Report - Introduction First Draft

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1.0 Introduction

This proposal was developed in response to the request for proposals on developing solutions for an engineering problem. It aims to provide Toyota Motor Corporation,  the brand with the most market value in Singapore (Wong, 2021), with an overview of how the implementation of physiological sensors in its cars might further improve the safety of its drivers if they are incapacitated.

1.1 Background

Personal health and well being is a major focus in today’s society. Studies have shown that physical wellness is directly associated with cognitive performance (Douw et al., 2014). Anderson et al. (2005) states that reduced cognitive ability leads to poor driving performance and an increased crash risk. Therefore, reduced cognitive ability can incapacitate the driver from safely controlling a vehicle. In this report, we define driver incapacitation as a person who is unable to control their vehicle due to fatigue (Dehais et al., 2020) or alcohol-related impairment (Voas & Fell, 2006). 

In the United States, 328,000 car crashes occur due to driver fatigue (National Safety Council, 2021), and more than 10,000 people die from drunk-driving accidents annually (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2019). Although the root of the incapacitation differs, the physiological responses are similar; a change in heart rate (Buendia et al., 2019; Whiteman, 2018)

Current safety sensors in Toyota cars focus on alerting the driver of external conditions like Lane Departure Alert, Pedestrian Detection, and Road Sign Assist (Toyota Safety Sense, 2020). However, the effectiveness of such sensors depend on the driver to apply corrective action. As there are currently no sensors to detect if the drivers are unable to react to such warnings due to incapacitation, the idea of installing sensors that can monitor the driver’s physiological condition in the car seat was suggested.

The installation of a pulse sensor will enable Toyota cars to react accordingly to an abnormality in the driver’s heart rate. This will significantly reduce the chances of the driver placing himself and other road users at risk of an accident.

1.1 Problem Statement

Ideally, there should be a sensor in cars that is able to determine if a driver is incapacitated and stop the vehicle to reduce the risk of accidents. However, there is no technology in current vehicles to monitor a driver’s condition. As of current, accidents due to driver incapacitation are still an occurring issue in the United States. The goal is to implement a pulse sensor in vehicles to measure the changes in the driver’s heart rate as an indicator of incapacity, and allow the car to react in response to the situation to protect the driver and other road users.

1.2 Purpose Statement

The purpose of this report is to recommend to Toyota Motor Corporation to implement a pulse sensor into the driver seats of its cars to detect an event of driver incapacity, and how it might be a valuable addition to their array of safety sensors.


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