Research has revealed that drowsiness is one of the most frequent causes of highway accidents. So Mercedes-Benz engineers have developed the ATTENTION ASSIST system, which is now standard on several new models, including the E-Class Coupe.
A “coffee cup” icon just below the gauges is evidence that your vehicle is enabled with system. If the system detects you’re becoming too drowsy to drive, the icon lights up and alarms go off.
How does it determine drowsiness? Monitors continuously evaluate 72 different parameters of your driving. It first determines a baseline algorithm that represents your own, unique driving style.
“Then it determines when you, as that very unique driver, are getting tired,” noted Chris Goczan, Manager of Product Planning, Mercedes-Benz Canada. “If you drive wild to start with it will assume you’re a wild driver… It looks for deviations to a particular driving style.”
The “stop and go” of city driving makes it impossible to develop a consistent base line for that kind of driving, so the system only operates at speeds over 80 km/h. But Mercedes-Benz contends that the system is more valuable at highways speeds, where drivers are more vulnerable to drowsiness.
Steering behavior has proven to be one especially good indicator of drowsiness. Several years of practical research by Mercedes-Benz has revealed that drowsy drivers tend to make tiny steering errors that they frequently correct very quickly and in a characteristic manner. A special steering wheel angle sensor recognizes this steering behavior.
photo:Mercedes-Benz
A “coffee cup” icon just below the gauges is evidence that your vehicle is enabled with system. If the system detects you’re becoming too drowsy to drive, the icon lights up and alarms go off.
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How does it determine drowsiness? Monitors continuously evaluate 72 different parameters of your driving. It first determines a baseline algorithm that represents your own, unique driving style.
“Then it determines when you, as that very unique driver, are getting tired,” noted Chris Goczan, Manager of Product Planning, Mercedes-Benz Canada. “If you drive wild to start with it will assume you’re a wild driver… It looks for deviations to a particular driving style.”
The “stop and go” of city driving makes it impossible to develop a consistent base line for that kind of driving, so the system only operates at speeds over 80 km/h. But Mercedes-Benz contends that the system is more valuable at highways speeds, where drivers are more vulnerable to drowsiness.
Steering behavior has proven to be one especially good indicator of drowsiness. Several years of practical research by Mercedes-Benz has revealed that drowsy drivers tend to make tiny steering errors that they frequently correct very quickly and in a characteristic manner. A special steering wheel angle sensor recognizes this steering behavior.
photo:Mercedes-Benz