On-Road Evaluation of an Unobtrusive In-Vehicle Pressure-Based Driver Respiration Monitoring System

Abstract

Highlights: What are the main findings? Non-intrusive pressure-based sensors integrated into vehicle seats can reliably estimate the respiration rate in a moving vehicle, even amidst significant noise and artifacts. Experimental evaluation during on-road driving demonstrates accurate performance for real-world applications, effectively closing the gap with practical deployment. What is the implication of the main finding? These results enable the development of unobtrusive driver and occupant monitoring systems for real-time, in-vehicle health and safety assessments, which are critical for post-crash care and impairment detection. In-vehicle physiological sensing is emerging as a vital approach to enhancing driver monitoring and overall automotive safety. This pilot study explores the feasibility of a pressure-based system, repurposing commonplace occupant classification electronics to capture respiration signals during real-world driving. Data were collected from a driver-seat-embedded, fluid-filled pressure bladder sensor during normal on-road driving. The sensor output was processed using simple filtering techniques to isolate low-amplitude respiratory signals from substantial background noise and motion artifacts. The experimental results indicate that the system reliably detects the respiration rate despite the dynamic environment, achieving a mean absolute error of 1.5 breaths per minute with a standard deviation of 1.87 breaths per minute (9.2% of the mean true respiration rate), thereby bridging the gap between controlled laboratory tests and real-world automotive deployment. These findings support the potential integration of unobtrusive physiological monitoring into driver state monitoring systems, which can aid in the early detection of fatigue and impairment, enhance post-crash triage through timely vital sign transmission, and extend to monitoring other vehicle occupants. This study contributes to the development of robust and cost-effective in-cabin sensor systems that have the potential to improve road safety and health monitoring in automotive settings.