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DrivingSystemTM Request this Article
Driver Distraction Driver distraction is a major concern for
drivers, and all enterprises associated with mobility; e.g.
legislators, medical community, auto companies, insurance carriers
and so on. In a “Connected”-“Information” based economy,
drivers have no choice but to continue doing what they do. Other
enterprises associated with mobility, tackled the problem using
their business model; Legislators added new laws, the food industry
for example developed portable foods and large cups that fit into a
smaller holder. The automotive industry added cup holders, speech
recognition and Paid Concierge service. The phone industries changed
the name of the device from car phone to cellular phone. The result
are laws disobeyed, products and services that has no effect on the
core problem, and continued problem with distraction. The reason that the problem persists is apparent
from the solutions provided. These solutions treat each symptom of
distraction as a standalone problem and try to solve it from the
perspective of the business model concerned e.g. legislative,
ergonomic, legal liability etc. The Human Frailty Research quoted by Pilz GmbH Safety Manual states
that for each 1000 action taken by a human, one action will be
faulty The Necessary Experience & Vision To solve Driver Distraction problem, we used a proven QA method of indentifying what are the element that are failing and causes that can and do lead to the problem. We then added our Computer Engineering and Industrial Machinery Safety experience to morph the findings into a solution. Example 1: Assembly Process Model In spite of best effort by Designers, Tooling, Assembly operators and Quality Inspectors, defective products still make it to the consumer. Process Engineers in Assembly & Manufacturing environment learned to “control” the way products are assembled by “fool proofing” the way components go together and by introducing Programmable Work Process2 and Line Balancing 3, (Workload Management), as well as Process Measurement for “Feed back”. The overall process is then permanently monitored in a continuous cycle of Plan-Do-Check-Act4. The result is a complex operation involving various parts by various operators providing repeatable and reproducible assemblies.Example 2: Industrial Machinery Safety Take for example an industrial press capable of molding a 1/8” steel sheet into a complex shape. The operators of such equipment witness on a minute to minute basis the awesome ability of such machine to inflict a serious damage, yet they still fall prey to accidents by introducing limbs into the jaws of the press or enter the path of a robot at the wrong time. Like the Assembly Process solution, the Industrial Machinery Safety discipline introduced “fool proofing” e.g. Light Curtains, Safety Mats and other hardware that “controlled” interaction between the operator and dangerous machines. In summary, these two industries used Temporal and Physical coordination to separate workers from Faulty Conditions based on understanding about what’s involved and then measuring their progress and making necessary correction to assure required results. The Driving Experience: A review Driving experience is in reality not very different than what these two industries experience in their failures. Automotive accidents have the same elements, Man, Machine, and sequences of event that can lead to a bad combination and this result in an accident. But, unlike the other two industries, the driving experience have more complex Environmental and Temporal factors because the vehicles is traveling from one place to another at various speeds and with different surrounding and variables all the time. For example, while a machine operator or an assembly line worker are usually stationary and deal with repetitive predictable process under environmentally stable condition, e.g. Location, Temperature, Operation flow, Machine movement, etc., a driver of an automobile faces variable elements that intrude into the driving task and makes it much riskier. These elements that seem harmless on their own, become a threat when they are combined with the driving task, for example:
Some of these cases noted above are inevitable due to human nature. Others are manageable by lifestyle choice. Waking up early is one method to avoid eating or putting on makeup in the car. Having a pet in a transport carrier is a sure way to avoid pets physical disruptive behavior but not vocal annoyance. Turning off the phone is a good way to avoid getting distracted by the phone. But are all of these reasonable and workable solution? We believe the answer to be ABSOLUTELY NOT. For the few, extremely disciplined individuals who were born with the right temperament and raised or trained to be strictly disciplined, avoiding the above scenarios is possible but at a great social and economic cost. But the other scenarios where physiology and children are involved are totally uncontrollable and no one can impose a general statement on the problem due to the amount of cultural, social and environmental variables involved. The Real Issue Based on feedback from the general public , (Passive observation as well as active solicitation from focus group), the real issue is not whether or not there is a problem, but how to solve it. Are we going to ban children from cars? Should we put a muzzle on pets while in transport? Do we need highway signs warning us to close windows because of bugs in area? In a “Connected”-“Information” based economy, turning off the mobile phone is an economic suicide for the majority of professions. Turning the phone off for working parents is a sure way to bring a carefully crafted schedule into full chaos if one parent is late due to bad traffic and the children are waiting to be picked up at school. The real issue then is how to use what we know about accidents causes and to protect against them. The solution is not Banning Cell Phone, Letting the Kids wait late and alone, or missing important calls. Driver Distraction Solution To solve Driver Distraction, We used the Assembly Process approach. We started by defining the elements that contribute to the situation. We concluded that the DrivingSystem™ consists of Man, Machine, Environment, History and Regulations that is tuned to the Driving Application. Like the industries used in the examples, we believe the solution is a Temporal and Physical coordination between all the elements of the system. What we do next is formulate a process that take into account all element of the driving experience, just like a manufacturing engineer would do, and then set alarms on combinations based on what we know to be dangerous, and set acceptable solution, just like a manufacturing engineer would do, we term that as KnowledgeWare™. The Knowledgeware™ is then morphed into software in a computer that is connected to sensors to keep track of all element of the DrivingSystem™ and a Memory to recall necessary solutions for the emerging combinations and to activate other equipment and alarms to mitigate the known dangerous situations. We just avoided human frailty. The Result is DrivingSystem™ that consists of real time monitoring and control of Man, Machine, Environment, History and Regulations that is tuned to the Driving Application and can learn and store experiences for future use. This is what we call Safe Telematic Monitoring and Control Gateway, STMCGATEWAY™.FAQ • Q- Is the system Hand Free?A -Yes. And under certain requirements, we can even monitor hands location on the steering wheel.• Q- But I heard that Hand free is not safer then hand held!A -We disagree very strongly. Drivers experience behind the wheel can be categorized as cognitive exercise and motor skill reaction. Thus we believe that hand free devices still maintain advantage over hand held devices because the driver motor skills are still free to deal with emergencies.• Q- But scientific measurement show that the driver is distracted while talking!A -The results are correct, but the experiments and the context are faulty.- Our system gets around the causes of distraction noted in those experiments by implementing creative HMI solutions that eliminatethe known causes for the effect of the conversation. - Independent research by others institutions show that what we proposed as a solution (in our IP portfolio), is more effective is resolving theconcerns showing up in others experiments • Q- How does your system compare to Bluetooth® ?A -Bluetooth® is not a safety technology. It can be replaced with simple cable.• Q- What’s the Auto industry opinion about your solution?A -Impressed but no commitment. Some companies began to implement our various IP, but the implementation is still crude and results in restrictive “One Solution Fits All”.• Q- Why didn’t the automotive industry implement such a systemA -The industry requires long lead time to implement new technology.- Industry can not risk attaching new technology to costly vehicles without regulatory cover (similar to EU mandates on Active Safety). and"certain" market demand. • Q- What do legislators say about your solution?A -Impressed and we are still working on promotion and education.• Q- What about insurance companies?A -Impressed, want to see a production quality device for evaluation.• Q- What do consumers say about your solution?A -88% believe it is safer than everything else on the road (Onstar® and imitators ,and Sync®)- 60% believe the product is cooler then Ford Sync®- 87% are willing to purchase the product or order it on a new vehicle -All parents want it for their children/young drivers safety.References: 1 Pilz GmBH, The Spirit of Safety, 19952 Programmable Work Process, a MAZDA illustrative flow chart that shows the assembly process for each station. It includes order of the operation as well as cautionary points and time required for each operation3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methods_engineering4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shewhart_cycle5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_curtain6 http://www.sti.com/products/intro3.htm
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