If you have been paying attention to emerging automotive technology and advancement, electric vehicle development has been taking the lion’s share of headlines, social media posts, and even internet arguments.
If you are an automotive technician, another technology, one that is more prevalent, has been showing up more and more: ADAS.
ADAS, or advanced driver assistance systems, is one of the quickest moving technologies in the automotive field today. While it is a catch-all phrase, it describes several systems on new cars designed to aid drivers and protect them from themselves and other cars or objects on the road.
There are six different levels to ADAS, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and they range from zero to five. Each level has a qualifier of equipment or ability the car must possess.
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Level zero has no system at all, so you can consider this a normal operating vehicle, while level five would be able to operate under any weather condition with no human interaction. We are currently at level two to three in the United States, depending on who you ask and by what standards are used.
The main reason for the development of these systems is to reduce vehicle collisions and save lives by keeping drivers alerted to dangers.
Paired with active and passive restraint systems and automotive structural design, some companies like Volvo have declared goals of zero fatalities by certain dates.
I just finished training on these systems a few weeks ago, and while I do believe they will reduce accidents and injuries, they will present problems along the way. ADAS uses many sensors, cameras, LIDAR, and RADAR units mounted strategically among the bodywork and interior of the car.
All of these systems have to be working at 100% or the whole system will fail.
Even the slightest damage to the vehicle, such as a cracked windshield or tiny bumper strike, will cause the system to flag codes, warning messages, and disable itself. This system also comes at a financial cost, adding thousands of dollars to new cars that are already at record highs.
Servicing of these systems is fairly easy once trained, but the space and equipment used to repair and calibrate them are out of reach of smaller shops. It takes an investment of over $30,000 in equipment and a minimum unobstructed shop space of 40 by 50 feet to perform the work on most of these systems.
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Training technicians to work on cars with ADAS runs around $500 per person at a minimum. ADAS is so important that it has spawned its own certification level from the National Institute of Automotive Service Excellence, also known as ASE. These tooling and training requirements will cause the costs of vehicle repairs to rise.
New technology as complicated as ADAS rarely launches without faults or controversy. With anything computer controlled, serious questions will have to be answered to the satisfaction of federal regulators before any further implementation.
Just this week, ethical cyber security hackers were able to gain control of several systems in a Tesla equipped with self-driving technology. It is one thing for a hacker to get your social security number or bank information, imagine if someone got control of your steering or brakes.
Ethical questions are also being asked, such as if the system fails and someone loses their life, will the driver get charged with vehicular manslaughter? Is the automaker now more liable than the owner? The answers will most likely come from the judicial system.
It is quite a slippery slope.
As for me, I’ll see you on the road, driving my car myself.
Taylor Bryant is an automotives instructor for Augusta Technical College.
