Northeast Frontier Railway To Introduce Device That Can Detect Drowsy Driver By Counting Blinking Of Eyes

New Delhi: In a major development, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) is developing an AI-powered device that can detect if train drivers are sleepy by tracking their eye blinking. If the device detects that a driver is drowsy, it will sound an alarm or apply the emergency brakes. The device, called the Railway Driver Assistance System (RDAS), is currently under development and is expected to be rolled out in the coming months.

IRLRO working president Sanjay Pandhi said that every high-speed train engine has a foot-operated lever (pedal) that the driver needs to press once every 60 seconds. If the driver fails to do so, the emergency brakes will be applied automatically and the train will stop. Pandhi believes that this system is sufficient to ensure that the driver is alert.

The Railway Board asked the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) in June to develop a device that can detect the alertness of train drivers by tracking their eye blinking. The device, called the Railway Driver Assistance System (RDAS), will not only sound an alarm but also apply the emergency brakes if a driver loses alertness for a certain period of time. The RDAS will be connected to a vigilance control device that will activate the emergency brakes, as per a report in the news agency PTI.