Seeing Machines has been awarded a $1.5million order for its Driver State System (DSS) from BHP Billiton. It follows a 17-truck trial at Mining Area C and Eastern Ridge, in the Pilbara, northwest Australia. In all, 110 trucks will be equipped with the devices, which use Seeing Machines’ breakthrough eye-tracking technology. It’s one of a series of similar transactions with the world’s big miners. The group also has a deal with American firm Caterpillar, which has been agreed to roll out the DSS via its dealer network.

The DSS solution is a robust, automatic platform that uses cutting edge eye tracking algorithms to detect operator drowsiness and distraction. It has been specifically designed for straightforward deployment into vehicles and environments where fatigue and attention must be monitored and managed in real time.

The DSS-IVS (in vehicle system) uses a small, console-mounted camera to track operator eye behaviour, determine the driver’s drowsiness state and detect micro sleeps the instant they occur. Audio and seat vibration alarms immediately alert the operator, and site dispatchers are notified of incidents in real-time.

The DSS system works equally well day and night, even if an operator wears tinted safety glasses or prescription eyewear. And, says Seeing Machines, “unlike other companies’ solutions that require drivers to wear awkward proprietary ‘tethered’ glasses with infrared eye sensors or caps with brain monitoring electrodes, DSS is non-contact and requires no calibration. Your drivers just get in and drive.”