Vehicle Steering Wheel With Heart-Rate Monitor - Assignment Example

? A STEERING WHEEL WITH HEART-RATE MONITOR (Engineering Design) of (affiliation) Name: Date of Submission: VEHICLE STEERING WHEEL WITH HEART-RATE MONITOR Demographic Trends – this motoring device will find great and ready acceptance in the market because of the modern-day lifestyle that people lead today. Fast foods, lack of enough physical activities or exercise, a hectic lifestyle at work, at the school, or even at home, and the pressured demands to achieve more with less, causes people to suffer many chronic ailments. An end result of these various factors is increased level in obesity leading to lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart attacks or strokes. In fact, obesity is now considered to be an epidemic such that it has alarmed public health officials and policy makers to consider some methods to reduce the high rates of obesity (Pool, 2000). As a note, obesity is measured using the body mass index (BMI) of a person. BMI is computed by dividing the body mass (in kilograms) by the square of that person's height (in meters); hence the BMI is given in units of kgs/m2. A person whose BMI is below 18.5 is considered underweight; a BMI between 18.5 to 25 is normal weight or optimal; a BMI above 25 up to 30 indicates the person is overweight, and finally, a BMI of above 30 is accepted as obese, while anyone with a BMI of over 30 is morbidly obese (or a condition of morbid obesity, which means there is now a real danger of physical complications and even death). The American Medical Association (AMA) had recently declared obesity as a disease by itself that is now so prevalent worldwide (The Boston Globe, 2013). More people are also finding it more convenient to drive their own motor vehicles to work or to go someplace rather than take the public transport system, like the bus or the metro rail system. Moreover, there are now more senior citizens driving their own cars due to increasing longevity from better health interventions; people who are sixty years and above are considered as senior citizens by the World Health Organization (WHO) as older adults (WHO, 2002). Considering all these, it is fair to expect a demand and people will buy this new gadget once introduced to the market. What has to happen – the number of driver-related road accidents are increasing every year due to a number of factors, such as reckless driving (teen-aged drivers ignorant of traffic laws and ignore safety in proper driving procedures), driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (DUI), people who were drowsy or sleepy or worse, even fell asleep as they were driving, those who still drive despite being diagnosed with hypertension (high blood pressure) which can affect both their judgment and reflexes, and finally, people who suffered a stroke (heart attack) while driving such as those mentioned earlier (people who are at increased risk for strokes such as elderly drivers) or older adults in their sixties, seventies, and even in their eighties and nineties who still drive their own motor vehicles despite the increased risks for collisions and accidents. In the United States of America, which has one of the highest density of motor vehicles ownership, the number of accident statistics grouped by age brackets by the U.S. Department of Commerce showed the age group 25-34 years-old as having the highest rate of fatal accidents (19.8%), followed by the 35-44 years-old age bracket (17.6%), then next is the 45-54 years-old age group (16.7%), followed next by the 20-24 years-old age bracket (15.0%), and the youngest age group of 19 years-old and under (12.2%). For older drivers who belong to the 55-64 years-old age bracket, the accident rate per 100,000 licensed driver is 10.4%, followed by the next age group of 65-74 years old at 5.0%, and lastly, those who are 75 years old or above, at 3.3% (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2012); for these last three oldest age groups, their collective rate is at a cumulative 18.7% which is close to the highest rate of 19.8% belonging to the 25-34 group. Feeling sleepy or drowsy does not discriminate between any specific ages because a particular driver may feel sleepy because of fatigue, lack of sleep, insomnia, or taking some medications. In the United Kingdom, it is the Department for Transport that is charged with data collection regarding road accidents as reported to the police under its STATS19 system, using a variety of sources such as hospital admissions, death registrations, and coroner's reports, among others (U.K. Department for Transport, 2013). For example, the number of fatalities and those seriously injured (killed and seriously injured or KSI) for the quarter ending in September 2011 showed a total of 26,330 fatal events (1,900 killed and another 24,430 seriously injured) as latest data available showed. Car accidents happen for a variety of reasons, as mentioned earlier in the paper, but most of these accidents are actually avoidable or even preventable. For example, those driving despite their health conditions could have requested another driver to take the wheels for them instead for safety reasons. This proposed technology using a new gadget of heart monitors installed on the steering wheel can prevent these accidents from ever happening again. The number of vehicle ownership on a global basis is increasing each year because of an increase in economic development, higher incomes, and living standards. Statistics gathered by the World Health Organization showed the 15-29 age group as having the highest death rate resulting from traffic accidents (motor vehicle collisions, overturns, hitting a barrier, etc.), then followed by the 44-59 age bracket, and surprisingly at third-highest ranking, the 69 years old and above age group. Male fatalities (73%) outnumber the females killed in vehicular accidents (Worley, 2006). Road traffic accident is the leading cause of death due to injury and is expected to become the third-leading cause of death by the year 2020 (ibid.). But what is more significant is that road accidents are highly preventable and predictable if public safety laws are enforced strictly, such as use of seat belts, observance of speed limits, and adoption of new technologies. Various stakeholders – consumers or car buyers are the foremost stakeholders if ever the new gadget will finally be adopted in the automobile industry, either first as an optional kind of feature or to become later as a standard equipment required in all new car models, like in the case of air bags which were first offered as optional or extras but which later on was adopted as an industry standard for all car models as a safety precaution. Another stakeholder group is of course the commuting public, whether using public buses or privately-owned vehicles, who are safer if sleepy or drowsy drivers are taken off the road because of this new device. Advocacy groups such as consumer groups fighting for safer and better motor vehicles would welcome this newest development in car safety technology, together with the earlier air bags and anti-roll technology which prevents cars from rolling over in case of accidents or over-speeding, as many fatalities tend to occur when vehicles rolled over and occupants were thrown about inside the vehicle, the cause of severe injuries and deaths due to the force of the impact from the collision. Air bags were not required by government regulators during its early development because of the many design issues, such as air bags not inflating quickly enough during impact, before all these were resolved satisfactorily by improved engineering processes (Huber, 1991). Other stakeholder groups include the vehicle manufacturers who will see improved car sales if people see new safety features are being added to newer models. This will entice them to buy new models and ditch their older models without this new heart-monitor device installed. The new gadget can be considered as part of an overall passive-restraint system of a vehicle, the same category as seat belts and airbags. The design trajectory of this heart-rate monitor could be the same as that of air bags, first offered as an option but then became a standard requirement. Government regulatory agencies are also interested stakeholders for this new device, as they are mandated by law to oversee consumer safety in products being sold in the market. These agencies will welcome such a new development, as it will enhance safety on the road for drivers and passengers alike as well as the motoring or travelling public. Again, using the air bag history as an example, vehicle manufacturers were at first reluctant to install air bags as these were quite expensive at that time and added to the overall price tag of a vehicle, but then the government got in and mandated air bags should be a standard equipment in all vehicles, as early as in the 1970s and so today, there are many types of air bags available, primary of which are the driver’s air bag (frontal), the passenger-side air bag, and the side-impact air bags for backseat passengers. The more advanced types of frontal air bag systems automatically determine the speed of the bag inflating based on the severity of an impact, seat position (how many degrees is the seat reclined) and the body size of the driver, using sensor inputs which also can deflate the air bag just a few seconds after impact to prevent the driver from being suffocated by the fully-inflated air bag. A particular group of passengers and drivers who will benefit greatly from this gadget is the elderly, which is a population that is particularly vulnerable to vehicles crashes and collisions because the elderly segment suffers from bone degenerative diseases such as osteoporosis. This is a medical condition where bone density is poor due to old age, and yet many older people today still continue to insist to drive and be on the roads. This stakeholder group will benefit if the heart-rate monitor is installed and adopted by the car manufacturing industry, because elderly drivers tend to be more drowsy (due to some maintenance medications taken), have less visual acuity due to poorer eyesight, slower reflexes, and oftentimes easily distracted. Elderly people as a group is susceptible to injurious sudden neck movement such as what happens in a whiplash (Transportation Research Board, 2004) and so an installed heart-rate monitor will greatly help in preventing such accidents which can cause severe pain, paralysis and death. The monitor will be an added safety feature in all motor vehicles similar to the early stages of air bag development when safety experts debated whether either an air bag alone or just a seatbelt will suffice or should these be used in combination (both air bag and seatbelt should be installed). The insurance industry can also be considered as a stakeholder for this new gadget. This industry will welcome its further development because it will increase road safety and thereby be a cause for fewer insurance claims. Moreover, the insurance and the car manufacturing industries will be glad for the new device to come along because they will not face liability claims from car buyers who will use the lack of a heart-rate monitor as the basis for a product defect allegation in terms of vehicle safety features. This is again quite similar to the eventual adoption of anti-roll technology in all vehicles today, which greatly improved the survival rates of driver involved in such types of road accidents. The anti-roll system utilizes a sway (anti-roll or stabilizer) bar that connects opposite wheels together to improve stability while making fast turns around a corner or when the vehicle unexpectedly encounters road bumps, big potholes or road imperfections. In addition, this technology was integrated into the electronic stability control (ESC) systems of modern-day vehicles or dynamic stability control (DSC) in the computerized car technology. The anti-roll vehicle system was originally adopted from stabilization techniques used in ships before (Sobey, 2009). Further, the ESC today has been incorporated into the anti-lock braking system (ABS) which is a series of little (cadence) brakes applied repeatedly to maintain road traction to prevent a wheel from locking up that is the cause of most skidding. The ABS is an adoption from the airline industry; ABS is used in most planes to prevent skidding on runways while landing. Who can finance the development of this technology – the more obvious groups who will most likely be willing to pay for the development of this proposed technology are vehicle manufacturers and also the insurance companies. Vehicle makers would pay for the research and development of this new technology because it will give them a competitive advantage in their market for motor vehicles because of the added safety innovation it will bring and attract buyers. A crucial aspect of convincing potential investors in this project is to obtain a patent for this new invention to prevent piracy of the idea, similar to the first inventors of air bags, who used a bit different techniques in inflating the air bag but using basically the same idea, that of sudden air expansion to cushion the impact of a collision. The earliest patents were applied as early as in the 1950s using compressed gas but the first successful air bag system using electro-mechanical sensor safety system was patented in 1968 and it took some two decades (1988) before it became a standard safety feature in all vehicles and was made mandatory another ten years later (1998). It will probably take some hard selling to convince the car industry to adopt the heart monitor as an additional safety system, together with air bags, seat belts, anti-roll technology, and the ABS. Perhaps the primary considerations or drawback might be the cost and its reliability. The insurance industry is another potential investor for this new device, because they will be the ones most benefited from fewer insurance and liability claims resulting from improved road safety. Fewer accidents mean fewer claims to pay for, and insurance companies make money from paying fewer claims (sometimes denying some claims outright), by making better investments with their premium collections, and then finally, also from the lapse of many insurance policies due to non-payment of premiums. An insurance firm and a particular vehicle manufacturer could jointly invest in the new device, as both have a stake in the successful and eventual adoption of the heart-rate monitor in their respective industries. The application for the patent could be the clincher that will convince both companies because it will protect their own investments in the research and development of the monitor from copycats while giving them a competitive or unique advantage over others who will not have access to this new technology for a number of years before the patent expires and the invention enters the public domain. Another alternative is to tap joint-venture companies (JVC) that will invest in the start-up that will be formed to develop further the heart-rate monitor. These companies will invest in return for a proportionate stake in the start-up firm by way of shares of stocks. There are many venture capitalists on the lookout for innovative technologies which will gain market share very quickly and provide them tremendous financial returns in terms of stock price appreciation and also high dividends if profits are plentiful because the product found a receptive market for it. A key thing to do to convince venture capitalists to come on board the start-up firm is a good plan, in terms of operations, marketing, and sales. A good business plan must outline a quite specific strategy of how the inventor will get from here to there, preferably within a five-year time frame. This is because most start-up investors or venture capitalists expect to recover their investments within this period and then invest in another start-up which they had spotted or discovered. The venture capitalists provide not only private equity but also sage management advice, help in the internal administration, implement fair compensation schemes, devise strategy and new tactics, and in some cases prepare the start-up for another round of raising larger financing through an initial public offering or IPO (Finkel & Greising, 2009). Venture capital firms are the most likely source of financing for this invention because they are risk takers and expect higher returns. The banks can also be approached for temporary financing but most banks require a track record. Government agencies can also be tried for financing because some of them have grants which are available to pioneering technologies for further research and development. One needs to write a request for a public grant in order to gain access to financing and some grants are aid which need not be repaid at all or if repayable, only at very minimal or concessional interest rate. Examples are government agencies or department engaged in science and technology. Another possible alternative are universities which provide their research facilities for free, such as in the early stages of Apple, Inc. when Steve Jobs used the laboratory at Stanford University for free. In extreme cases, universities can also provide financing through grants because some of these colleges and universities have substantial endowment funds which they use to encourage some leading-edge research which will enhance and extend the boundaries of knowledge of mankind. Government agencies and educational institutions often provide financing to start-up companies precisely because these firms are young and highly innovative (Noll, 1998) but with a high risk of failure that other commercial sources of financing will not risk putting their funds into. Who will pay me to develop this technology further – the various stakeholders already mentioned previously are the most likely groups who will willingly pay for further development of this technology. However, the most obvious groups are the car industry, insurance industry, and the government agencies charged with public safety on the roads. These three groups do not have the profit motive as their primary consideration but rather how to enhance vehicle safety in relation to the riding public or their car buyers who are their target market segment. In particular, banks, and other financial institutions such as lending firms have a profit motive to think about before they invest and not pay for such a risky venture, except the venture capitalists. Who will manufacture this technology – the different aspects of the manufacturing process of the proposed heart-rate monitor can be outsourced either domestically or abroad. This means the manufacture can be made in a modular fashion, with one part or aspect done by one outsourced firm, and then another makes the next step, and then another makes the final step. An alternative is to hire an entire manufacturing facility to do the entire job in one setting or location as has been done by Apple, Inc. which surprisingly, does not own a single factory in its name as part of its tax-minimization strategy by not owning large pieces of real estate such as factories (Duhigg & Kocieniewski, 2012). Apple, Inc. is very secretive about its products but it managed to manufacture its products by outsourcing practically everything, mostly to overseas suppliers. An outsourcing strategy will minimize the burn rate of the cash resources of any start-up firm as it reduces the need for capital expenditures like factories and manufacturing equipment. Software development can be done in-house while the hardware components will be outsourced and final installation on the steering wheel can be accomplished by the vehicle manufacturers. Analyzing possible risks – the greatest risk of this new gadget is providing a wrong heart beat reading or what is termed a false positive. The result if this happens can be confusing, and at best, it is also irritating to the driver and even potentially dangerous if a driver with a very low blood pressure reading was given a wrong signal to drive the vehicle because the monitor did not work and the alarm was not sounded. The firm making the heart-rate monitor is exposed to suits about wrong claims regarding the reliability of this monitor to prevent drivers from driving if ever they have something wrong with their physical conditions that impair their driving abilities. Safety is compromised and the integrity of the firm suffers, leading to a probable bankruptcy. How this technology works – other than giving a wrong output, a driver may forget to input his own medical data into the microcontroller, so the solution to this problem is configure the car software program on the heart-rate monitor such that the car will not start the ignition if no data is received or inputted into the microcontroller. This also solves another potential problem which is the wrong driver taking the seat; since an input is required before the car will start, then this solves a problem of having the wrong driver because whoever is the driver will be forced to input his data and avoids a situation where the monitor incorrectly identifies the said driver. The monitor has either a manual option or an automatic option (identify a previous driver using biometrics by scanning the eyes using a small driver-facing camera) which is both convenient to use and easy to install, near the sun visor and connected to the microcontroller. An important additional feature is a breath analyzer that works in conjunction with the heart monitor to determine if a driver has dangerous levels of alcohol; if so, then the car will not start either. It is already being used in some cars as an experiment (prototype) and is called an interlock system, which is a small breath analyzer device that is wired to a car’s electrical system just very similar to a theft-deterrence alarm; if alcohol is detected, the car will not start (Bannan, 2000). The device works by using four main components, firstly: an electronic device that is integrated into the steering wheel (overlaid on the horn button) which reads the driver’s blood pressure by using the number of heart beats (heart rate) indicated by gripping the steering wheel. This cardiac reading is done by counting the pulses and transmitted electronically by a wireless technology to the microcontroller connected to the electronic device on the steering wheel. The second component is the microcontroller which contains a database of the medical records of all drivers who happened to have handled or driven the particular car previously. The heart rate and blood pressure readings of the driver presently in the seat will be compared with the records in the database and if everything is normal, then the ignition is activated and the car will now start. A third component is the alarm system connected and integrated into the microcontroller which sounds the alarm to alert a driver is he or she is sleepy based from a reduction in blood pressure. If the alarm is not manually turned off by the driver, then the alarm system will enter a second stage wherein the hazard lights of the vehicle are activated to avoid rear-end collisions before the brake system is activated; a sudden stop might cause other drivers to bump into it, so the hazard lights will serve as a warning to all other drivers near the vicinity of the stricken driver. A fourth component is the global positioning system (GPS) device which will be activated to make a distress signal, give the exact location of the vehicle, makes an automatic call to the doctor chosen by driver and makes another call to a hospital for an ambulance service or alternatively, to any chosen first responders within the immediate vicinity, whichever of them is nearer. The software program of the microcontroller should be able to correctly identify drivers so that wrong readings of heart beats, blood pressure, and alcohol levels will be avoided. This is to improve the reliability of the heart-rate monitor system and ensure its commercial success in the market and create demand for it to eventually make the government decide it is mandatory to increase sales, similar to air bags today which are already standard safety equipment in all cars. The microcontroller of the monitor should be sensitive enough to detect slight decreases in blood pressure of the driver, preferably within +/-5% of the normal blood pressure of that driver. In future versions, the heart-rate monitor should be able to distinguish changes in blood pressure due to sleepiness (a decrease of 5%), due to hypertension (an increase of 5%) and due to thirst or dehydration (a decrease of 10%). Additionally, the monitor can be configured to tell or alert the microcontroller if a driver is about to suffer a heart attack, such as by detecting the amount of the grip pressure the driver exerts on the steering wheel; a sudden loss of pressure or sudden increase in the grip is already a warning sign that a driver is about to suffer a stroke or is already stricken. “Hearty” monitor Breath analyzer If okay, ignition starts. Driver falls asleep Car alarm sounds Hazard lights activated Hazard lights alert other drivers GPS gives location Emergency calls to doctor & ambulance Figure 1. “Schematic diagram of the process flow of the heart-rate monitor on steering wheel of the vehicle, from starting the car to possible alternative scenarios as envisioned.” References Figure 2. “Steps to bring the “Hearty” monitor successfully to the market.” Four (4) Major Components of this New Technology A blood pressure monitor is integrated The microcontroller contains the medical into the steering wheel (similar to the photo records of all drivers who had handled or Shown on page 14) driven this particular motor vehicle The car alarm system is activated if the The GPS device is activated if the alarm Driver is sleepy based on the blood pressure system is not manually turned off by the Readings generated by the heart monitor driver and the hazard lights are turned on References Bannan, K. J. (2000, June 15). “Device helps keep D.W.I. offenders and others safe.” New York Times. Retrieved September 13, 2013 from http://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/15/technology/device-helps-keep-dwi-offenders-and-others-safe.html Duhigg, C. & Kocieniewski, D. (2012, April 28). “How Apple sidesteps billions in taxes.” New York Times. Retrieved September 12, 2013 from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/business/apples-tax-strategy-aims-at-low-tax-states-and-nations.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Finkel, R. & Greising, D. (2009). The masters of private equity and venture capital. Dubuque, IA: McGraw-Hill Professional Incorporated. Huber, P. W. (1991). The liability maze: The impact of liability law on safety and innovation. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. Noll, R. G. (1998). Challenges to research universities. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. Pool, R. (2000). Fat: Fighting the obesity epidemic. Oxford, UK; Oxford University Press UK. Sobey, E. (2009). A field guide to automotive technology. Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press. The Boston Globe (2013, June 29). “The AMA defines obesity: A disease, and an epidemic.” The Boston Globe. (Editorial). Retrieved September 10, 2013 from http://www.bostonglobe.com/editorials/2013/06/28/ama-obesity-declaration-makes-third-america-ill/02nZ0a90RtlKE3hOWy59KK/story.html Transportation Research Board (2004). Transportation in an ageing society: A decade of experience. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. U.K. Department for Transport (2013). “Road accidents and safety statistics: Reported road casualties in Great Britain: Quarterly provisional estimates Q3 2011.” www.gov.uk Retrieved September 10, 2013 from http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120104201631/http://assets.dft.gov.uk/statistics/releases/road-accidents-and-safety-quarterly-estimates-q3-2011/road-accidents-and-safety-quarterly-estimates-q3-2011.pdf U.S. Department of Commerce (2012). “The 2012 statistical abstract: Motor vehicle accidents and fatalities.” United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 11, 2013 from http://www.bostonglobe.com/editorials/2013/06/28/ama-obesity-declaration-makes-third-america-ill/02nZ0a90RtlKE3hOWy59KK/story.html World Health Organization (2002). Keep fit for life: Meeting the nutritional needs of older persons. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO Press. Worley, H. (2006, March). “Road traffic accidents increase dramatically worldwide.” Population Reference Bureau. Retrieved September 11, 2013 from http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2006/RoadTrafficAccidentsIncreaseDramaticallyWorldwide.aspx Read More