Surface Electromyography Study Using a Low-Cost System: Are There Neck Muscles Differences When the Passenger Is Warned during an Emergency Braking Inside an Autonomous Vehicle?
Articles
Overview
published in
- SENSORS Journal
publication date
- August 2021
start page
- 1
end page
- 18
issue
- 16
volume
- 21
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
full text
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 1424-3210
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 1424-8220
abstract
-
Deaths and serious injuries caused by traffic accidents is a concerning public health
problem. However, the problem can be mitigated by the Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB)
system, which can avoid the impact. The market penetration of AEB is exponentially growing, and
non-impact situations are expected to become more frequent. Thus, new injury patterns must be
analysed, and the neck is particularly sensitive to sudden acceleration changes. Abrupt braking
would be enough to be a potential risk for cervical spine injury. There is controversy about whether
or not there are differences in cervical behaviour depending on whether passengers are relaxed
or contract their muscles before the imminent accident. In the present manuscript, 18 volunteers
were subjected to two different levels of awareness during an emergency braking test. Cervical
muscles (sternocleidomastoid and trapezius) were analysed by the sEMG signal captured by means
of a low-cost system. The differences observed in the muscle response according to gender and
age were notable when passengers are warned. Gender differences were more significant in the
post-braking phase. When passengers were relaxed, subjects older than 35 registered higher sEMG
values. Meanwhile, when passengers contract their muscles, subjects who were younger than or
equal to 35 years old experienced an increment in the values of the sEMG signals.
Classification
subjects
- Electronics
keywords
- surface electromyography; low-cost; autonomous bus; cervical muscles response; injury; emergency braking