Driver Behavior

The Driver Behavior component of IBM® IoT Connected Vehicle Insights provides microservices that you can use to gain valuable insights into driving behavior and vehicle usage patterns. The Driver Behavior component retrieves driver-related data that is captured by the Vehicle Data Hub (VDH) from connected vehicle devices.

Driver behavior definitions

The following definitions are provided for driver behavior terms that are used throughout the documentation.

• Driver Behavior component - A component of IBM IoT Connected Vehicle Insights that retrieves driver and vehicle data that is captured by the Vehicle Data Hub component from connected vehicle devices, and provides a means of analyzing the data to derive valuable insights.

• Driving behavior analysis - A feature of the Driver Behavior component of IBM IoT Connected Vehicle Insights that contains a Driving Behavior plug-in that can be customized to detect customer-specific metrics, context, and driver behavior.

• Trajectory pattern analysis - A feature of the Driver Behavior component of IBM IoT Connected Vehicle Insights that provides the start and end points of a trip that optimize the journey.

• Driving behavior plug-in - A part of the Driving behavior analysis feature that enables the customization of the metrics, context, and driver behavior that are analyzed by the Driver Behavior component. The custom plug-in can be developed with a software developer kit and deployed on the Driver Behavior component for online data analyses.

• Driver Behavior API - A REST API that can be used to analyze driver and vehicle data and produce insights and patterns about driver behavior. The API also enables analysis of geographical movement and route patterns of driving trips and creation of trajectory patterns.

Driving behavior analysis

You can analyze the behavior of drivers by using the data that is collected from the connected vehicles.

You can identify risky driving behavior and discover the actual driving patterns of a vehicle operator to identify unsafe practices or policy violations. For example, you can choose to detect many different types of driving behavior or events, including the following examples:

• Harsh acceleration
• Harsh braking
• Frequent braking
• Speeding
• Harsh high-speed turning
• Slow driving
• Frequent stopping
• Fatigued driving

Insights into driving behavior can help automotive manufacturers to optimize design and production, manage quality, improve safety, and simplify maintenance. Vehicle fleet operations management and insurance companies can get powerful insights into customer vehicle usage and risk assessment.

Configuring driving behavior analytics

You can set the criteria for the driving behavior analysis by configuring threshold parameters. For example, you can submit a request to the IBM Cloud team to customize the following threshold values:

• Speed limit
• Vehicle turn angle ranges
• Frequent acceleration and deceleration of vehicle speed
• Harsh acceleration and deceleration
• Frequent braking
• Other braking issues

You can also specify the context for various driving behavior criteria by developing custom Java™ plug-ins. You can specify different criteria for different time periods, road types, and other contextual conditions. For example, the speed limit threshold for a highway is different than a road in a built-up urban area.

Creating custom driving behavior analysis plug-ins

If you are an entitled customer, you can develop a custom driving behavior analysis plug-in project and create extension classes for customizing the Driver Behavior component of your IBM IoT Connected Vehicle Insights service. Alternatively, contact your local IBM representative to organize a services engagement with IBM Global Business Service.

Developing apps with driver behavior data

You can use the Driver Behavior REST API to integrate the analyzed driver data with other applications to gain valuable insights into driving behavior and vehicle usage patterns.

More information

To help you to configure and customize the Driver Behavior service, detailed information and guidance can be provided by IBM Global Business Services. For more information, contact your local IBM Representative.

• Configuring driving behavior types