The Driver Alert system comprises a small forward-facing camera connected to an on-board computer. The camera is mounted on the back of the rear-view mirror and is trained to identify lane markings on both sides of the vehicle.
When the vehicle is on the move, the computer looks at the road ahead and predicts where the car should be positioned relative to the lane markings. It then measures where the vehicle actually is and if the difference is significant, the system issues a warning.
"Let’s imagine the driver is tired, their concentration levels start to drop and the vehicle starts to drift from side-to-side,” said Ford engineer Margareta Nieh, who helped develop Driver Alert. “The software will detect this change in the vehicle’s behaviour, triggering a two-stage warning process.”
First a soft warning will pop up in the instrument cluster as a text message and will stay there for 10 seconds with an accompanying chime. If the driver continues to demonstrate drowsy behaviour, a hard warning will appear in the instrument cluster which the driver must acknowledge by pressing an OK button.
“The technology is very clever,” Nieh said. “It’s been programmed to recognise intentional lane changing manoeuvres so it won’t issue a warning whenever you overtake, for example.”
Driver Alert is now available on the all-new Ford Focus and Ford Mondeo, as well as the S-MAX and Galaxy models.
Google News