|
|
Aura Hernandez-Sabate, Jose Elias Yauri, Pau Folch, Daniel Alvarez, & Debora Gil. (2024). EEG Dataset Collection for Mental Workload Predictions in Flight-Deck Environment . Sensors, 24(4), 1174.
Abstract: High mental workload reduces human performance and the ability to correctly carry out complex tasks. In particular, aircraft pilots enduring high mental workloads are at high risk of failure, even with catastrophic outcomes. Despite progress, there is still a lack of knowledge about the interrelationship between mental workload and brain functionality, and there is still limited data on flight-deck scenarios. Although recent emerging deep-learning (DL) methods using physiological data have presented new ways to find new physiological markers to detect and assess cognitive states, they demand large amounts of properly annotated datasets to achieve good performance. We present a new dataset of electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings specifically collected for the recognition of different levels of mental workload. The data were recorded from three experiments, where participants were induced to different levels of workload through tasks of increasing cognition demand. The first involved playing the N-back test, which combines memory recall with arithmetical skills. The second was playing Heat-the-Chair, a serious game specifically designed to emphasize and monitor subjects under controlled concurrent tasks. The third was flying in an Airbus320 simulator and solving several critical situations. The design of the dataset has been validated on three different levels: (1) correlation of the theoretical difficulty of each scenario to the self-perceived difficulty and performance of subjects; (2) significant difference in EEG temporal patterns across the theoretical difficulties and (3) usefulness for the training and evaluation of AI models.
|
|
|
|
Saad Minhas, Aura Hernandez-Sabate, Shoaib Ehsan, & Klaus McDonald Maier. (2022). "Effects of Non-Driving Related Tasks during Self-Driving mode " . IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, 23(2), 1391–1399.
Abstract: Perception reaction time and mental workload have proven to be crucial in manual driving. Moreover, in highly automated cars, where most of the research is focusing on Level 4 Autonomous driving, take-over performance is also a key factor when taking road safety into account. This study aims to investigate how the immersion in non-driving related tasks affects the take-over performance of drivers in given scenarios. The paper also highlights the use of virtual simulators to gather efficient data that can be crucial in easing the transition between manual and autonomous driving scenarios. The use of Computer Aided Simulations is of absolute importance in this day and age since the automotive industry is rapidly moving towards Autonomous technology. An experiment comprising of 40 subjects was performed to examine the reaction times of driver and the influence of other variables in the success of take-over performance in highly automated driving under different circumstances within a highway virtual environment. The results reflect the relationship between reaction times under different scenarios that the drivers might face under the circumstances stated above as well as the importance of variables such as velocity in the success on regaining car control after automated driving. The implications of the results acquired are important for understanding the criteria needed for designing Human Machine Interfaces specifically aimed towards automated driving conditions. Understanding the need to keep drivers in the loop during automation, whilst allowing drivers to safely engage in other non-driving related tasks is an important research area which can be aided by the proposed study.
|
|
|
|
Saad Minhas, Zeba Khanam, Shoaib Ehsan, Klaus McDonald Maier, & Aura Hernandez-Sabate. (2022). "Weather Classification by Utilizing Synthetic Data " . Sensors, 22(9), 3193.
Abstract: Weather prediction from real-world images can be termed a complex task when targeting classification using neural networks. Moreover, the number of images throughout the available datasets can contain a huge amount of variance when comparing locations with the weather those images are representing. In this article, the capabilities of a custom built driver simulator are explored specifically to simulate a wide range of weather conditions. Moreover, the performance of a new synthetic dataset generated by the above simulator is also assessed. The results indicate that the use of synthetic datasets in conjunction with real-world datasets can increase the training efficiency of the CNNs by as much as 74%. The article paves a way forward to tackle the persistent problem of bias in vision-based datasets.
Keywords: Weather classification; synthetic data; dataset; autonomous car; computer vision; advanced driver assistance systems; deep learning; intelligent transportation systems
|
|
|
|
Aura Hernandez-Sabate, Lluis Albarracin, & F. Javier Sanchez. (2020). "Graph-Based Problem Explorer: A Software Tool to Support Algorithm Design Learning While Solving the Salesperson Problem " . Mathematics, 20(8(9)), 1595.
Abstract: In this article, we present a sequence of activities in the form of a project in order to promote
learning on design and analysis of algorithms. The project is based on the resolution of a real problem, the salesperson problem, and it is theoretically grounded on the fundamentals of mathematical modelling. In order to support the students’ work, a multimedia tool, called Graph-based Problem Explorer (GbPExplorer), has been designed and refined to promote the development of computer literacy in engineering and science university students. This tool incorporates several modules to allow coding different algorithmic techniques solving the salesman problem. Based on an educational design research along five years, we observe that working with GbPExplorer during the project provides students with the possibility of representing the situation to be studied in the form of graphs and analyze them from a computational point of view.
Keywords: STEM education; Project-based learning; Coding; software tool
|
|
|
|
Aura Hernandez-Sabate, Jose Elias Yauri, Pau Folch, Miquel Angel Piera, & Debora Gil. (2022). "Recognition of the Mental Workloads of Pilots in the Cockpit Using EEG Signals " . Applied Sciences, 12(5), 2298.
Abstract: The commercial flightdeck is a naturally multi-tasking work environment, one in which interruptions are frequent come in various forms, contributing in many cases to aviation incident reports. Automatic characterization of pilots’ workloads is essential to preventing these kind of incidents. In addition, minimizing the physiological sensor network as much as possible remains both a challenge and a requirement. Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals have shown high correlations with specific cognitive and mental states, such as workload. However, there is not enough evidence in the literature to validate how well models generalize in cases of new subjects performing tasks with workloads similar to the ones included during the model’s training. In this paper, we propose a convolutional neural network to classify EEG features across different mental workloads in a continuous performance task test that partly measures working memory and working memory capacity. Our model is valid at the general population level and it is able to transfer task learning to pilot mental workload recognition in a simulated operational environment.
Keywords: Cognitive states; Mental workload; EEG analysis; Neural networks; Multimodal data fusion
|
|
|
|
Debora Gil, Aura Hernandez-Sabate, Julien Enconniere, Saryani Asmayawati, Pau Folch, Juan Borrego-Carazo, et al. (2022). "E-Pilots: A System to Predict Hard Landing During the Approach Phase of Commercial Flights " . IEEE Access, 10, 7489–7503.
Abstract: More than half of all commercial aircraft operation accidents could have been prevented by executing a go-around. Making timely decision to execute a go-around manoeuvre can potentially reduce overall aviation industry accident rate. In this paper, we describe a cockpit-deployable machine learning system to support flight crew go-around decision-making based on the prediction of a hard landing event.
This work presents a hybrid approach for hard landing prediction that uses features modelling temporal dependencies of aircraft variables as inputs to a neural network. Based on a large dataset of 58177 commercial flights, the results show that our approach has 85% of average sensitivity with 74% of average specificity at the go-around point. It follows that our approach is a cockpit-deployable recommendation system that outperforms existing approaches.
|
|
|
|
Katerine Diaz, Jesus Martinez del Rincon, Aura Hernandez-Sabate, & Debora Gil. (2018). "Continuous head pose estimation using manifold subspace embedding and multivariate regression " . IEEE Access, 6, 18325–18334.
Abstract: In this paper, a continuous head pose estimation system is proposed to estimate yaw and pitch head angles from raw facial images. Our approach is based on manifold learningbased methods, due to their promising generalization properties shown for face modelling from images. The method combines histograms of oriented gradients, generalized discriminative common vectors and continuous local regression to achieve successful performance. Our proposal was tested on multiple standard face datasets, as well as in a realistic scenario. Results show a considerable performance improvement and a higher consistence of our model in comparison with other state-of-art methods, with angular errors varying between 9 and 17 degrees.
Keywords: Head Pose estimation; HOG features; Generalized Discriminative Common Vectors; B-splines; Multiple linear regression
|
|
|
|
Oriol Rodriguez-Leon.A.Carol, H.Tizon, Eduard Fernandez-Nofrerias, Josefina Mauri, Vicente del Valle, Debora Gil, et al. (2005)." Model estadístic-determinístic per la segmentació de l adventicia en imatges d ecografía intracoronaria" . Rev Societat Catalana Cardiologia, 5, 41.
|
|
|
|
Enric Marti, J.Roncaries, Debora Gil, Aura Hernandez-Sabate, Antoni Gurgui, & Ferran Poveda. (2015). "PBL On Line: A proposal for the organization, part-time monitoring and assessment of PBL group activities " . Journal of Technology and Science Education, 5(2), 87–96.
|
|
|
|
Patricia Marquez, Debora Gil, R.Mester, & Aura Hernandez-Sabate. (2014). "Local Analysis of Confidence Measures for Optical Flow Quality Evaluation " In 9th International Conference on Computer Vision Theory and Applications (Vol. 3, pp. 450–457).
Abstract: Optical Flow (OF) techniques facing the complexity of real sequences have been developed in the last years. Even using the most appropriate technique for our specific problem, at some points the output flow might fail to achieve the minimum error required for the system. Confidence measures computed from either input data or OF output should discard those points where OF is not accurate enough for its further use. It follows that evaluating the capabilities of a confidence measure for bounding OF error is as important as the definition
itself. In this paper we analyze different confidence measures and point out their advantages and limitations for their use in real world settings. We also explore the agreement with current tools for their evaluation of confidence measures performance.
Keywords: Optical Flow; Confidence Measure; Performance Evaluation.
|
|
