Publications

As with any research and development effort, the DADSS Research Program has published findings throughout the process. In the links below, you can access these articles and research papers, published from 2009 through the present.

Driver Alcohol Detection System For Safety (DADSS) – Pilot Field Operational Tests (PFOT) Vehicle Instrumentation & Integration of DADSS Technology

Proceedings of the 26th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles

Paper Number: 19-0260-O

Publish Year: 2019

The Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety Program – a joint effort between the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety since 2008 – has been developing unique, in-vehicle breath-and touch-based alcohol detection systems to address the problem of alcohol-impaired driving. The sensors under development are intended to be passive, seamless with the driving task, non-intrusive, accurate, fast, reliable, durable, and requiring little or no maintenance. When installed in vehicles, the technology is intended to prevent alcohol-impaired driving when the driver’s blood alcohol concentration is at or above 0.08 %. Sensor technology, now in Phase III of development, is undergoing more extensive testing in real-world driving environments. Research vehicles are being fitted with breath-based alcohol sensors and comprehensive Data Acquisition Systems (touch-based sensors will be integrated once they have completed the requisite test protocols). Pilot Field Operational Trials have recently begun, and data are being collected. In this paper, an overview is provided of the instrumentation and integration of the test vehicles in readiness for field trials. Data is being collected from the DADSS alcohol sensors as well as from breath-alcohol reference sensors. Instrumentation also has been installed to track environmental conditions, vehicle system data, and test participant video. The data are uploaded via 4G and WIFI and stored in the cloud. These data will be critical in determining the effectiveness (accuracy, precision) of the DADSS sensors in real-world driving environments and when compared with breath alcohol reference sensors. They will also be used to evaluate the effects of repeated use and vehicle mileage on sensor function and in diverse environments, analyze driver behavior and user acceptance, analyze and assess the impact of the DADSS sensors using real-world data, improve awareness of in-vehicle alcohol detection systems and assess potential impact of the sensors on alcohol-impaired driving. The findings will be used to refine the DADSS Performance Specifications and ultimately for modifying the systems designs and enhance product development. The DADSS technology, if proven to be reliable and reproducible under diverse environmental and biological conditions, would represent a significant technological breakthrough in crash avoidance and a significant advance in driver monitoring technologies in vehicles.

Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) – Human Testing of Two Passive Methods of Detecting Alcohol in Tissue and Breath Compared to Venous Blood

Proceedings of the 26th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles

Paper Number: 19-0268-O

Publish Year: 2019

Alcohol-related traffic crashes and deaths remain a major problem in the United States as data indicate that there are approximately 37,000 traffic fatalities yearly, with 30% (~11,000) of them alcohol related. The Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety (ACTS) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) entered into a Cooperative Research Agreement to explore the feasibility of using passive technologies as an in-vehicle alcohol detection system that is less intrusive than ignition interlocks, but still able to reduce the incidence of drunk driving. Two passive technologies (TruTouch™ and Senseair™) were tested against breath (Alco-Sensor-FST™) and venous blood under a number of environmental scenarios in which individuals engage every day. A total of 92 healthy male and female volunteers (age 22-38) signed an IRB-approved informed consent and participated in experiments in which they consumed 0.9 g/kg of alcohol under a variety of drinking regimens and scenarios that mimicked real-life situations. The volunteers then provided passive breath and tissue (finger touch) samples and had their blood drawn at 5 min intervals for quantification of alcohol via gas chromatography. Lag time of appearance of alcohol, peak concentration, time to peak, and elimination rate were the primary dependent variables. The overall aim of the experiments was to test whether the alcohol concentrations measured by the two prototype devices correlated with venous blood under the following scenarios: lag time, eating a snack, eating a full meal, exercising, and “last call.” Each scenario was simulated in the experimental laboratory. The lag time experiment revealed that the order of alcohol appearance after drinking was (from first to last): breath, blood, and tissue, although early breath samples were contaminated by mouth alcohol. However, with over 4,000 matched points, the concentration-time curves for both prototypes paralleled that of blood with correlation coefficients of 0.7876 and 0.819 for touch- and breath-based technologies, respectively. Similar profiles were observed in the “last call” experiment with a “surge” of alcohol being observed after an extra drink was consumed during the distribution phase. The exercise scenario revealed similar profiles, and finally, the two eating scenarios indicated that blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) were lower after consuming a meal compared to a snack; the breath and tissue samples paralleled this profile. The data not only support the proof-of-concept that two different passive technologies (breath and tissue) can detect alcohol fast enough to be useful in a motor vehicle environment, but extend the parameters by demonstrating that the measurement of alcohol in the human body is not affected by many of the common scenarios that are known to alter blood alcohol concentrations. The passive devices each tracked the time course of BAC regardless of the situation demonstrating that these two compartments provide a high degree of accuracy while at the same time minimizing the disruption to the driver. These two devices, if proven to be reliable and with reproducible results under additional environmental and biological conditions, represent a significant technological breakthrough in strategies to reduce alcohol-impaired individuals from driving a vehicle and causing injuries and/or deaths.

Assessing System Implementation Readiness of the Driver Alcohol Detection System For Safety (DADSS) To Reduce Alcohol-Impaired Driving in a Real-World Driving Pilot Deployment Project

Proceedings of the 26th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles

Paper Number: 19-0263-O

Publish Year: 2019

The Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety Program – a joint effort of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety – has been developing unique, in-vehicle alcohol detection systems to more effectively address the problem of alcohol-impaired driving. These technologies, both breath-and touch-based, are intended to be seamless with the driving task, non-intrusive, accurate, fast, reliable, durable, and require little or no maintenance. Now in Phase III of development, the breath- based technology is ready for real-world road testing in a naturalistic setting in the State of Virginia, U.S.A. The Driven to Protect Powered by DADSS initiative, is a partnership with the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles Highway Safety Office and the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety. As the technical and program management lead, KEA Technologies, Inc. has instrumented and deployed a small fleet of pilot test vehicles to examine the data from breath-based prototype sensors under various environmental, driver/user interaction, and user demographics conditions. The alcohol detection system is known to be accurate, precise, reliable, and maintainable based on laboratory and controlled test results. This pilot program seeks to obtain data from naturalistic, uncontrolled test conditions. The pilot program will determine if: a) the system is generally accepted by drivers, b) there are any technical modifications required to significantly improve the system, and c) the system is ready for wider implementation in fleet, privately-owned, commercial, or other vehicles. Four 2015 Ford Flex “For Hire” commercial livery service vehicles have been instrumented with in-vehicle breath- based alcohol detection sensors including supporting data collection and transmission systems. The Pilot Deployment Project is ongoing with a goal of collecting at least 15,000 data points from the sensors. Lessons learned will be used to refine the performance specifications, sensor technology, and data acquisition systems for future on-road vehicle testing.

Vehicle Integrated Non-Dispersive Infrared Sensor System for Passive Breath Alcohol Determination

Proceedings of the 26th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles

Paper Number: 19-0296-O

Publish Year: 2019

The objective of the present investigation performed within the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) program is to demonstrate the effect of further recent improvements of the breath-based nondispersive infrared sensor technology in realistic settings. More specifically, sensor systems installed in vehicles have been tested by: a) exposing them to a controlled, realistic breathing pattern from artificially generated gas pulses mimicking that of an intoxicated driver and b) human subjects entering a test vehicle and performing a simulated drive while under the influence of alcohol. The tests with artificial gas pulses correspond to human directed forced exhalation from positions up 70 cm from the sensor. The tests provide experimental evidence that in-vehicle, driver breath alcohol determination is feasible with a single sensor positioned at the top of the steering column. The human subject study was designed to test both active and passive detection modes. Good correlation to the breath alcohol reference instrument was found in both cases over the full range of alcohol intoxication exceeding 0.08 percent (the legal limit in most U.S. states). Time to detection is a remaining challenge of the passive mode but is manageable by requesting an active breath in the absence of reliable data. The results illustrate the feasibility of using breath-based NDIR based sensors in different operational modes. In the active mode, a simple exhalation directed towards the sensor is enough for a test to be approved and the alcohol content quantified. In the passive mode, the operator does not actively interact with the sensor. In a real-world scenario, sensors set to a passive mode could be used for driver monitoring and to assist the driver to choose a smarter option when alcohol is detected. The overall conclusion from the present investigation is that in-vehicle breath-based alcohol determination is feasible with the current state of the art sensor technology.

Passive In-Vehicle Driver Breath Alcohol Detection Using Advanced Sensor Signal Acquisition and Fusion

Traffic Injury Prevention

Paper Number: N/A

Publish Year: 2017

Objective: The research objective of the present investigation is to demonstrate the present status of passive in-vehicle driver breath alcohol detection and highlight the necessary conditions for large-scale implementation of such a system. Completely passive detection has remained a challenge mainly because of the requirements on signal resolution combined with the constraints of vehicle integration. The work is part of the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) program aiming at massive deployment of alcohol sensing systems that could potentially save thousands of American lives annually.

Method: The work reported here builds on earlier investigations, in which it has been shown that detection of alcohol vapor in the proximity of a human subject may be traced to that subject by means of simultaneous recording of carbon dioxide (CO2) at the same location. Sensors based on infrared spectroscopy were developed to detect and quantify low concentrations of alcohol and CO2. In the present investigation, alcohol and CO2 were recorded at various locations in a vehicle cabin while human subjects were performing normal in-step procedures and driving preparations. A video camera directed to the driver position was recording images of the driver’s upper body parts, including the face, and the images were analyzed with respect to features of significance to the breathing behavior and breath detection, such as mouth opening and head direction.

Results: Improvement of the sensor system with respect to signal resolution including algorithm and software development, and fusion of the sensor and camera signals was successfully implemented and tested before starting the human study. In addition, experimental tests and simulations were performed with the purpose of connecting human subject data with repeatable experimental conditions. The results include occurrence statistics of detected breaths by signal peaks of CO2 and alcohol. From the statistical data, the accuracy of breath alcohol estimation and timing related to initial driver routines (door opening, taking a seat, door closure, buckling up, etc.) can be estimated.

The investigation confirmed the feasibility of passive driver breath alcohol detection using our present system. Trade-offs between timing and sensor signal resolution requirements will become critical. Further improvement of sensor resolution and system ruggedness is required before the results can be industrialized.

Conclusions: It is concluded that a further important step toward completely passive detection of driver breath alcohol has been taken. If required, the sniffer function with alcohol detection capability can be combined with a subsequent highly accurate breath test to confirm the driver’s legal status using the same sensor device. The study is relevant to crash avoidance, in particular driver monitoring systems and driver–vehicle interface design.

Learn More >

Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) – Preliminary Human Testing Results

Proceedings of the 25th International Technical Conference on the Enhance Safety of Vehicles

Paper Number: 17–0304

Publish Year: 2017

Alcohol-related traffic crashes and deaths remain a major problem in the United States as 2014 data revealed that there were 32,675 traffic fatalities that year, with 31% of them being related to alcohol. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety (ACTS) began research in February 2008 aimed at identifying potential in-vehicle approaches to the problem of alcohol-impaired driving that are sensitive, reliable and less intrusive than ignition interlocks. The Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) was created, and two passive technologies based on breath- and touch (tissue)- based systems for detecting alcohol were selected to be tested against a research grade hand-held breathalyzer device and venous blood.

Healthy male and female volunteers (age 21-40) signed an Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved informed consent and participated in experiments in which they consumed 0.9 g/kg of alcohol (vodka) under a variety of drinking regimens and scenarios that mimicked real-life situations. The volunteers then provided passive breath and tissue (i.e., finger touch) samples and had their blood drawn for subsequent quantification of alcohol via gas chromatography. The lag time of appearance of alcohol in each sample as well as peak concentration, time to peak, and elimination rate were the primary dependent variables. The overall aim of the experiments was to test whether the alcohol levels measured by the two prototype devices correlate with venous blood under the following scenarios: lag time, eating a snack, eating a full meal, exercising, and “last call”.

The lag time experiment revealed that the order of alcohol appearance after drinking was (from quickest to slowest): breath, blood, and tissue, although the early breath samples were contaminated by mouth alcohol. However, the concentration-time curves for both prototype devices paralleled that of blood. Similar profiles were observed in the “last call” experiment with a “surge” of alcohol being observed after an extra drink was consumed during the distribution phase. The exercise scenario revealed similar profiles, although the touch-based device registered a slightly higher alcohol level. Finally, the two eating scenarios indicated that blood alcohol concentrations were lower after consuming a meal compared to a snack, and breath and touch samples reflected these patterns.

The sample size of 10 individual participants is small, but individuals served as their own controls by participating in more than one experiment. Furthermore, the study is ongoing and so the sampling limitation will be addressed. The data support the proof-of-concept that passive technologies can detect alcohol quickly and are not affected by many of the common scenarios that alter blood alcohol concentrations. Such devices, if proven to be reliable and reproducible with additional human testing, represent a significant technological breakthrough in strategies to reduce alcohol-impaired individuals from driving a vehicle and causing injuries and/or deaths.