Machine learning based driver monitoring system: A case study for the Kayoola EVS

With the ever-growing traffic density, the number of road accidents has continued to increase. Finding solutions to reduce road accidents and improve traffic safety has become a top priority for Kiira Motors Corporation, a Ugandan state-owned automotive company. The company seeks to develop intelligent driver assistance systems for its market entry product, the Kayoola EVS bus. A machine learning-based driver monitoring system that would monitor driver drowsiness and send out an alarm in case drowsiness is detected has been developed in an attempt to reduce drowsiness-related accidents. The system consists of a camera positioned in such a way as to keep track of the driver's face. The camera is interfaced with a Raspberry Pi minicomputer which carries out the computations and analysis and when drowsiness is detected, an alarm is triggered. Dangerous driver behavior including distraction and fatigue has long been recognized as the main contributing factor in traffic accidents. This paper therefore presents the development of a driver monitoring system for the Kayoola Electric City Bus to address the increasing occurrences of road accidents. The machine learning-based driver monitoring system is designed to be non-intrusive with continuous real-time operation.