Fuell

Driver fatigue, one of the most common and serious hazards on the road is a threat to both the person behind the wheel as well as others on the highway. Several factors are the cause behind driver fatigue including physical tiredness, long hours of work, and sleep deprivation. All these can lead to accidents. According to studies published by the CDC, when surveyed an estimated 1 in 25 adult drivers reported having fallen asleep on at least one occasion while driving in the previous 30 days. More alarmingly, an investigation conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Admission estimated that driver fatigue was responsible for 72,000 crashes, 40,000 injuries, and 800 deaths in a year alone. Commercial drivers and shift workers are among the job categories identified as most susceptible to driver fatigue and sleepiness. While technology cannot completely eliminate accidents caused by driver fatigue–as long as humans have some control over some aspect of machinery, drowsiness will continue to be an issue—it can significantly reduce the number.

Technologies such as fleet management solutions provide the ability to monitor driver hours and raise alerts on violations before they occur. Telematics tools facilitate work schedule management and allocate work hours evenly to avoid stressful and fatiguing situations. A technology that shows promise in addressing driver fatigue is wearables. These devices can be used to monitor and analyze key biometric data to improve driver safety.

London-based Fuell provides the means for autonomous passenger monitoring. The company helps autonomous vehicle drivers remain in control and not become drowsy or fall asleep.

Using the Fuell app, drivers can monitor the duration and quality of sleep in the last 24 hours and find more information about their stress levels before, during, and after each shift, and identify potential risk patterns. Fuell offers physiological fatigue detection that delivers effective and timely drowsiness alarms, multiple sensor inputs and learning algorithms unique to every individual person, and real-time tracking.

The Fuell Healthscore platform has been designed to work out-of-the-box or integrated into an existing ecosystem. Fuell HealthScore is available to trial in the company’s smartphone app for IOS and Android. It can be integrated into an existing smartphone app through Fuell’s developer Software Development Kit (SDK). Fuell HealthScore prevents unnecessary sharing of private health information and uses edge computing techniques and data aggregation to protect highly personal data. It also combines sensor data to understand behaviors such as stressful routes, driver fatigue, and shift patterns. Leveraging the HealthScore APIs, clients can create and build their control center or use Fuell’s pre-built demo control center for testing.

Fuell HealthScore can be delivered to a fleet of drivers as a standalone solution delivered over a smartphone or embedded within existing vehicle systems. It leverages the power of the smartphone to deliver tracking anywhere and maintain privacy. In addition, the Fuell HealthScore fatigue algorithms can leverage existing driver-facing cameras. Fuell has helped improve the overall safety of drivers for several clients. According to one such client testimony, “Fatigue is a major problem in certain industries. Having worked with the team at Fuell for several years, I applaud them for taking physiological fatigue detection from the lab into the real world and making it accessible. Their ability to track underlying health metrics and indications of issues like Sleep Apnea which can cause fatigue is a significant step forward.” Fuell is a simple and engaging platform that can be used to promote the wellbeing of people and lower health risks.