These tools of IIT-Kharagpur can check loco pilot’s alertness before and during duty
IIT Kharagpur, has come up with a tool that will check the alertness of locomotive pilots, both before and while they are at the wheel.
Kharagpur: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, has come up with a tool that will check the alertness of locomotive pilots, both before and while they are at the wheel.
The tool is a tamper-proof device that will measure the drowsiness of the loco pilot in real-time and create alertness based on the analysis of normal and near-infrared facial images.
The device will use the camera to capture images of the loco pilot’s face to compute a metric of drowsiness by observing the dynamics of eyelid motion.
“In the event of loss of attention, it will sound an alarm and can also send an alert to the control room. The algorithm residing on the processor computes the percentage of eye closure over time, and based on a predetermined threshold, the driver is declared as drowsy,” said IIT-Kharagpur electrical engineering professor Aurobinda Routray.
“The gadget consists of an embedded computing unit, a camera, a near-infrared lighting facility, and a warning system. It is a completely non-invasive solution that will not interfere with drivers’ operations, and its installation will not require any significant changes to existing ergonomics. The proposed system is tamper-proof and can easily be interfaced with any communication network,” he added.
“The eye movements are recorded using electrooculography (EOG) signals, which essentially give the voltage difference between the cornea and retina of the eye. A special spectacle has been designed by us to accommodate the electrodes. This arrangement makes it comfortable for the user to wear it while his EOG signals are recorded and relayed to the gaming computer,” said Prof. Routray.
“To perform the test, a loco pilot will be asked to sit comfortably on a chair and wear spectacles containing electrodes. The pilot will then be asked to perform a psychomotor vigilance task in a kiosk for about three to five minutes,” he further added.
The tools have been already presented to the Ministry of Railways.
