Camera System Analyzes Driver Behavior

A new windshield-mounted camera module could enable automotive fleet managers to monitor driving behavior of its employees and suggest coaching in some cases.

Designed by Drivecam, Inc., the unit watches drivers, stores video from their "driving events" and then uploads the video to remote servers for analysis. Drivecam engineers say they hope the technology will enable fleet managers to modify driver habits and mitigate risky behavior. They foresee its use by large car fleets, school buses, transit buses, waste trucks, taxis and even parents of teen-aged drivers.

"We'll be able to look at the event, determine if there was risky behavior and notify the driver's manager," says Peter Ellegaard, vice president of hardware and firmware engineering for Drivecam. "Then the manager can pull the driver in for coaching."

Drivecam's module employs two CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) image-sensing cameras from Micron Technology, Inc., along with a three-axis accelerometer, Texas Instruments (TI) MSP430 microcontroller and a separate video-optimized integrated circuit that incorporates a digital signal processor (DSP) core and an ARM core.

When an "event" occurs - such as a hard stop by a driver - the unit's accelerometer detects it, then sends the sensor data to one of the microcontrollers. At the same time, the CMOS cameras record video data and send it to the DSP for encoding. Using a Drivecam software algorithm, the unit examines the data, then decides whether to store the video data for later analysis. If so, it pulls the last few seconds of video data from a hardware buffer and marks it for storage.

"The event recorder will capture events whenever drivers do something erratic," Ellegaard says. "If they brake hard, or do a fast acceleration, or if they corner too sharply, the system records it."

Encoded data is stored in a 256-MByte onboard flash memory. At a later date - possibly when the vehicle is parked at night - the Drivecam uploads video of the event to the company's servers, located in Iowa and in the Philippines. There, the event data is examined by analysts who determine if a manager should be notified.

Activation of the Drivecam module is also automated. Drivers scan an RFID card in front of a TI TRF7961 RFID reader, also located in the module.

"The product reads the card and knows who the driver is," says Johnsy Varghese, manager of HF reader products for Texas Instruments. "Because the product also has GPS capabilities, it knows who the driver is and where the car is."

Drivecam executives say they have already begun selling the units to fleets and to individual vehicle owners, including parents of teen-aged drivers.

"We firmly believe we will see huge uptake of this technology," Ellegaard says. "It has application in the enterprise world and in the consumer world, as well."