The Task
Driver monitoring systems (DMS) must reliably detect driver conditions such as distraction, tiredness, and impairment. Regulatory requirements such as the EU General Safety Regulation (GSR), UN ECE R171 ("DCAS"), and programs such as EURO NCAP 2026 make these systems a legal requirement for new vehicles with the aim of further reducing the number of road accidents.
The goal for DMS development and validation is therefore clear:
- A robust function across many driver characteristics (diversity)
- Reliability under varying lighting conditions
- Reproducible and comparable validation throughout the entire development process
The Challenge
Conventional validation of driver monitoring systems with real test subjects quickly reaches its limits in practice:
- Time & costs: Real tests are time-consuming – you often need an interior and an IR camera before you can carry out meaningful testing.
- Test subjects: Limited availability of test subjects with required diversity makes the breadth of validation difficult.
- Reproducibility: Different people carry out tests differently, which limits regression tests and comparability.
- System integration: The interaction between driver state and the automated driving function is complex and can hardly be systematically covered in real tests.
The Solution
Develop and test driver monitoring systems virtually, making them reproducible, scalable, and without real drivers. With AURELION Driver Monitoring, OEMs, and Tier 1s can validate their system at an early stage in a virtual environment – including vehicle interior, driver, and a physics-based infrared camera simulation.
- Virtual DMS development without real drivers and with a large selection of 3D human assets
- Reproducible driver states and scenarios (distraction, tiredness, ...)
- Physics-based infrared camera simulation for realistic sensor data in real time
- Focus on productive tests in SIL and HIL
- Real-time IR camera simulation for HIL testing, seamlessly integrated with the dSPACE Environment Sensor Interface (ESI) Unit to inject raw sensor data directly into the ECU
- Simplified SIL integration with easy-to-use interfaces for recording simulated data and connecting to the software-under-test via Ethernet
- Support for validation with certified software (ISO 26262)