Estimation for grasp behavior of vehicle driver by using steering wheel sensor system

A vehicle´s steering wheel is a special interface because it needs to be grasped by the driver´s hand while driving. This is very useful from the viewpoint of biological instrumentation. This may achieve steady instrumentation for biological information, and by using this information, an estimate of the driver´s state can also be made. In past research, a steering wheel sensor system was proposed by the authors. It has 28 pressure sensor points, and several of its characteristics have been analyzed. In this paper, an estimation method of grasp behavior is proposed based on the distribution of grasp pressure data. Four kinds of steering wheel grasp states are defined. Finally, the estimation method and its results are evaluated experimentally.