Christoph Vobis
Master Thesis Student
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I'm currently working on my master thesis supervised by Jonathan Diehl.{rss id= } In my thesis I will implement an iPhone application which rates the driving of the user and investigate if a mobile device can be used to improve driving behavior.
How’s My Driving?
Providing Driver Feedback to Improve Driving
Traffic safety has always been a relevant topic since driving and mobility have become an important aspect in daily life. Over the years, vehicles have improved constantly regarding traffic safety aspects. However, in most traffic accidents not the vehicle nor the environment is at fault. Studies have found that in most cases accidents are caused due to human error. With dangerous and aggressive driving maneuvers some drivers expose themselves and others to a risk. Regarding teenage drivers, car accidents are the leading cause of death.
Several approaches were developed over the last years with the aim to identify those drivers to help them to improve their driving behavior. Large commercial fleets equip their cars with special developed devices to identify dangerous drivers. In addition, insurance companies and parents are interested in system that help them to observe their customers/children to identify and negate potential risks.
This thesis will explorer how modern smartphones could aid drivers in the traffic environment. With constantly rising smartphone sells and the possibilities modern ones offer, smartphones represent a great development platform. The thesis will present a mobile application developed for an iPhone 4 that analyzes and rates driving based on internal sensor data. The application only relies on its own capabilities and provides real-time feedback as well as it allows the user to review his driving later on and to compare it to other users.
An user test was performed to validate that the system is able to identify risky driving actions. The experiment showed that the application is able to simulate a passenger’s view regarding certain driving actions. Thus, the application is able to act as an objective personal driving observer.
Publications
- Christoph Vobis. How’s My Driving? Providing Driver Feedback to Improve Driving. Master's Thesis, RWTH Aachen University,May 2012.
