ROME – In a premium flagship such as the DS 9 E-Tense plug-in hybrid sedan, the standard equipment offers the latest electronic systems dedicated to the safety of the car, driver and passengers. Devices able to constantly monitor what is happening inside and outside the car, to read road signs and to check the trajectory of the car. Despite being technologically advanced, all these systems require in any case that the car safety supervisor is always the driver, who must have the highest level of attention while driving.
Distraction and fatigue are constantly lurking phenomena even during short journeys: a moment is enough to put the safety of the driver and passengers at risk. Precisely to avoid these dangers, the designers of the DS 9 E-Tense have developed the “DS Driver Attention Monitoring” system, which continuously checks the attention threshold and any signs of driver fatigue.
The device uses an infrared camera installed above the steering wheel, while a second camera has been placed in the upper part of the windshield. Both constantly monitor the driver’s eyes for fatigue, monitoring the frequency of the blink, the direction of the gaze and the movements of the head. In addition, thanks to infrared technology, monitoring is performed even in the dark, or when wearing sunglasses. At the same time, the system checks the car’s trajectory with respect to the lines of the road, managing to interpret deviations or pressure on the brake pedal.
In practice, the system can quickly detect any loss of attention, the result of disordered and imprecise movements, or the closure of the eyelids. Driver Attention Monitoring does not escape even if the driver turns it towards the smartphone screen, interpreting this behavior as a loss of attention, promptly signaled with an acoustic alarm and a visual alert on the central display. (maurilio rigo)
.