Real time car passengers comfort monitoring by means of environmental and vibrational measurements

The aim of this paper is to present an integrated system for the real time monitoring of a set of parameters inside the passenger compartment of cars. In particular, among the different parameters that may affect the comfort of drivers and passengers during the travel (temperature, noise, vibration and gas concentration), the system focuses on the monitoring of vibrations, that are primary cause of motion sickness, and gas concentrations. Among the various gases, Oxygen (O2) and Carbon Monoxide (CO) are taken into account: this last one in particular is one of the main byproducts of combustion processes and a cause for numerous poisonings every year. While data is currently stored inside a local data-logger, the system is expected to be provided with local area wireless connectivity, with the aim of making available the collected data in real time to the users, possibly providing alerts in case of critical situations that may harm the comfort of travelers.