Automotive textiles: Embedding sensors in car seats to warn drivers of fatigue

摘要

In a bid to prevent drivers falling asleep at the wheel, a UK company is teaming up with one of its country's universities in order to develop a heart-rate sensor system that can be embedded in vehicles' seats. Plessey Semiconductors is based in Plymouth and has already developed a sensor system (EPIC) capable of measuring electrocardiograms (ECGs). Now the company will work with Tilak Dias and William Hurley of Nottingham Trent University's Advanced Textile Research Group to assess if it is possible to integrate the system into a car seat's fabric. The nine-month-long feasibility study began in July 2014 and has won funding of more than £88 000 from the UK Government's Swindon-based Technology Strategy Board.