What is ADAS? Your Essential Guide

Cars today are safe. Extremely safe. But occasionally, they’re still let down by those in control of them. Yes, we humans are pretty smart - but we can and will make mistakes. Driving, sadly, isn’t an exception to this rule, with lives being lost every day due to accidents caused by human error. In fact, according to the road safety organisation ORSA, 94% of collisions occur as a result of human error. 

What can we do to bring that number down? ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) are the latest innovation designed to do exactly that. They’ve been around for a while now in high-end cars, but the technology has gradually trickled down to more affordable models. Today, ADAS tech is commonplace - and it’s leading the fight against road accident injuries and fatalities. 

What is it and how does it work?

ADAS is an umbrella term that encompasses a wide range of different systems, which we’ll outline below. Nevertheless, all ADAS systems function in a similar way, using a barrage of cameras and sensors (including radar, LIDAR and ultrasound) to build an accurate real-time picture of the environment around the car.

Advanced onboard computers process this data hundreds of times every second, identifying and categorising objects as they’re detected. If the driver fails to notice or react to a hazard, the ADAS systems then work in harmony to intervene, keeping the occupants of the vehicle - and those outside of it - safe from harm. 

Popular ADAS systems currently fitted to production cars include:

• Automatic emergency braking
• Night vision
• Automatic parking
• Adaptive light control
• Adaptive cruise control
• Blind spot monitoring
• Crosswind stabilisation
• Lane keeping assist or lane departure warning
• Pedestrian detection
• Traffic sign detection
• Driver monitoring

ADAS diagnostics systems

ADAS tech really is incredible - and this is just the beginning, with improved 5G-enabled features on the horizon for the cars of tomorrow. It’s only effective if the sensors and cameras onboard a vehicle are correctly calibrated and fully operational, however. That’s where our ADAS diagnostics systems come in. Discover more about them and how they work today, or get in touch with our experts for further details.