IndiGo, India"s leading airline in terms of both passenger volume and fleet size, is actively developing a wrist device designed to gauge pilot fatigue and alertness levels before and after flights. As one of the world"s fastest-growing airlines, IndiGo recently disclosed its partnership with the French aerospace giant Thales Group, positioning itself as an "early adopter" of their cutting-edge Fatigue Analysis Tool.
In a press release issued on Wednesday, IndiGo affirmed that this will be a "proof-of-concept trial". According to ANI, IndiGo said in a statement: "This initiative is to develop a fatigue detection model that offers detailed insights into demographic data, including routes, pairings, crew profiles, and more, going beyond traditional scheduling-focussed biomathematical models." In an internal communication addressed to pilots, the airline informed them that over the past year, they have collaborated with global organisations specialising in fields such as sleep science and the effects of duty schedules on pilots, according to ANI.
IndiGo, operating approximately 1,900 flights daily, employs over 4,000 pilots who perform up to four take offs and landings per day. This, first-of-its-kind endeavour is set to position IndiGo as a leader in airline safety and innovation, establishing a benchmark within the industry. In a communication sent to the pilots, IndiGo said that the wrist-strapped device along with a ground device will be available for use in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai.
According to ANI, the programme, which has been developed after six years of extensive research, involves the analysis of specific flight patterns, with no video recordings being generated during data collection. The insights drawn from this data will guide determinations regarding pilot schedules, rest intervals, and overall duty rotations. Pilots will opt to employ the Thales ground device voluntarily to evaluate their alertness levels, dedicating a maximum of five minutes both before and after each flight.
As per the New York Times, one of the first drowsy-driving monitoring systems to appear in the truckers’ cab in the US was a driver-facing camera that alerted the driver when it registered eyelids and head droops. Privacy concerns kept this technology from going far.
Some safety technology companies in the United States and Australia have also developed methods for detecting driver fatigue. For instance, Optalert, a leading medtech company in the US specialising in drowsiness and impairment detection, manufactures glasses that monitor a driver"s eye blinking using an LED light monitor. Prolonged eyelid closure may indicate drowsiness, and real-time measurements are displayed on a dashboard-mounted device equipped with alarms and notifications.
Maven Machines, a prominent provider of trucking fleet management and transportation dispatch software in the US, has designed a headset capable of determining whether a driver is gazing ahead through the windshield, looking upward, downward or sideways. It also tracks mirror checks, which can decrease in frequency when a driver is becoming fatigued. The headset identifies head movements and sudden jerks, which are signs of a driver falling asleep.
SmartCap, an Australian company known for producing various industrial safety products, has developed a headband that can be worn with trucker caps, beanies or other headgear. This headband measures electronic brain waves and translates them into a measure of alertness or fatigue. It promptly notifies both the driver and a central monitoring system if the wearer appears drowsy.
First Published: Sep 14, 2023, 15:36
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