Driver Monitoring System, also known as Driver Attention Monitor, is a vehicle safety system first developed by Toyota in 2006 for its and Lexus

Lexus

is the luxury vehicle division of Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corporation. First introduced in 1989 in the United States, Lexus is now sold globally and has become Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. The Lexus marque is marketed in over 70 countries and territories worldwide, and has...

 latest models. It was first offered on the GS 450h. The system's functions co-operate with the Pre-Collision System (PCS). The system uses infrared sensors to monitor driver attentiveness. Specifically, the Driver Monitoring System includes a CCD

Charge-coupled device

A charge-coupled device is a device for the movement of electrical charge, usually from within the device to an area where the charge can be manipulated, for example conversion into a digital value. This is achieved by "shifting" the signals between stages within the device one at a time...

 camera

Camera

A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...

 placed on the steering column which is capable of eye tracking

Eye tracking

Eye tracking is the process of measuring either the point of gaze or the motion of an eye relative to the head. An eye tracker is a device for measuring eye positions and eye movement. Eye trackers are used in research on the visual system, in psychology, in cognitive linguistics and in product...

, via infrared

Infrared

Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...

 LED

LEd

LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....

 detectors. If the driver is not paying attention to the road ahead and a dangerous situation is detected, the system will warn the driver by flashing lights, warning sounds. If no action is taken, the vehicle will apply the brakes (a warning alarm will sound followed by a brief automatic application of the braking system). This system is said to be the first of its kind.

In 2008, the Toyota Crown

Toyota Crown

The Toyota Crown is a line of full-size luxury sedans by Toyota. The range was primarily available in Japan and some other Asian countries, originally designed to serve as a taxi...

 system went further and can detect if the driver is becoming sleepy by monitoring the eyelids.

In 2009, Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...

 unveiled a system called Attention Assist which monitors the driver's fatigue level and drowsiness based on his/her driving inputs. It issues a visual and audible alarm to alert the driver if she is too drowsy to continue driving safely.

Vehicles

Lexus models that have adopted the Driver Monitoring System to date, listed by model year

Model year

The model year of a product is a number used worldwide, but with a high level of prominence in North America, to describe approximately when a product was produced, and indicates the coinciding base specification of that product....

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• 2006 Lexus GS 450h
• 2006 Lexus LS 460
• 2007 Lexus LS 600h
• 2010 Lexus HS 250h
• 2010 Lexus GX 460

Toyota models that have adopted the Driver Monitoring System:

• 2008 Toyota Crown Hybrid (includes drowsiness detection)

External links

• Driver Monitoring System at Lexus.eu