A 14-channel system has been constructed for the simultaneous recording of physiological data with automobile control and motion parameters. The system has been installed in a Dodge Polara police cruiser for the California Highway Patrol, and over 30 hours of data have been recorded during high speed driving on the CHP emergency vehicle training facility at Sacramento, California.
FM-FM telemetry was used to obtain 4-channel electroencephalogram, 2- channel electrooculogram, and electrocardiogram signals from the drivers. Vehicle sensors indicating throttle position, steering wheel position, brake pedal force, road position and lateral acceleration levels, both front and rear, were simultaneously monitored. FM multiplexing was used to compress the 13 data channels onto two direct-record tape cassette tracks.
The 13 data channels and a time code were subsequently dubbed onto paper charts at 1 cm/sec. Several novel measures of driving performance have been derived from these charts utilizing a contingent scoring of lateral acceleration levels, vehicle control operations, elapsed block times, eye movements and heart rate.