General Motors Posts ADAS Resources

General Motors (GM) recently published a guide for auto glass businesses, auto insurers and consumers about Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). The recently published document provides a list of available systems, components involved, and when these require a calibration procedure be performed.

“During the course of vehicle diagnosis and repair, part replacement, or collision repair, components related to Advanced Driver Assistance Systems may need to be accessed or removed,” a portion of GM’s guide reads. “In some cases, a calibration may need to be performed after service to ensure proper operation of the system.”

GM advises industry members to refer to the “appropriate service information document for specific calibration instructions, as well as any additional programming operations needed if the component was replaced.” The Guide specifies the official name, abbreviation and “regular production option” (RPO) code of each ADAS feature. It also explains when calibration would be required and the cause of calibration issues for certain parts.

For front-view windshield cameras GM states calibration is required if: the windshield was replaced removed or reinstalled, it were re-moved from the bracket and rein-stalled, and there was collision re-pair or airbag deployment.

“SPS programming is required after replacement. Some vehicles will immediately begin calibration after programming, others may require calibration to be started using GDS2. Refer to Service Information for specific programming and calibration instructions after replacement,” a portion of GM’s post, in the section related to front-view windshield cameras reads.

According to GM, if the front-view windshield camera is slow to calibrate or if the calibration will not complete, you should make sure the vehicle is being driven in an area conducive to calibration. An ideal calibration environment, according to GM, is a two-lane divide highway with lane makings on both side of the lane, driving the vehicle between 35-56 miles per hour. The auto manufacturer notes that any of the following conditions may increase the length of time require to complete calibration or result in an inability to complete calibration:
• Heavy traffic;
• Stop and go traffic;
• Mountain roads;
• Curves in the roadway;
• No or poor lane markings;
• Botts Dots-type lane markings;
• Dirty windshield glass;
• Operating the vehicle outside of the 35-56 miles per hour range;
• Driving in adverse weather, such as snow, fog, or extreme rain, or driving directly into the sun;
• Cracked or damaged windshield;
• Vehicle add-on equipment that blocks the front-view windshield camera, such as a windshield tint strip or vinyl banner, or equipment that blocks the view of the road, such as bug deflectors or grill guards; and
• Windshield not properly centered in the windshield opening.
https://www.genuinegmparts.com/pdf/techinfo/gm-driver-assistance- systems-aid.pdf

ADAS Calibration is Crucial

Arecent webinar highlighted the importance of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) calibrations and why your technicians should have a record of what they’ve done during the process. The webinar featured Brent John-son, Chief Collision Technology global product management director, and was sponsored by the Collision Industry Electronic Commerce Association (CIECA).

“ADAS need a real-world reference,” said Johnson, as he was com-paring the program’s need for training to teaching a teenager to drive.

“At distances needed for safety, small errors create big problems. If you’re going down the road and have a very small error, the system reacting improperly or failing to react will create havoc on the road,” Johnson added. “All vehicles are calibrated in the factory using static calibration methods, so this gives the vehicles, as they’re coming off the production line, a re-al-world reference.”

According to Johnson, most systems do have artificial intelligence and have the ability to learn. He did note: that “like a teenager driving, it will take them a little while to pick up what they should and should not ignore.”

ADAS should be calibrated if a sensor has been replaced or reoriented, if a vehicle has sustained structural damage and has been repaired, or if the sensor is behind the windshield, panel or facia that has been repaired or replaced, ac-cording to Johnson.

Johnson also highlighted a few reasons to keep documentation of ADAS calibrations. He said that for each repair the technician should keep track of who performed re-pairs on the vehicle, including scanning and calibrations, along with their training level. Auto glass records should also state all repairs that were done to each vehicle, ac-cording to Johnson.

“Part of your quality control procedures should include making sure that your calibration tool software is up-to-date, and then document when those updates happened and what version of the software you used. It could save you a great deal of grief in the future if you can prove that you were using the current software version at the time that the calibration took place,” Johnson said.

Briefly

Isreal-based Foretellix has partnered with VIRES, part of Hexagon, to create a new technology solution that they say improves the quality of ADAS and autonomous vehicle testing through intelligent data-driven automation. The new, integrated workflow connects Foretellix’s Foretify platform with the VIRES Virtual Test Drive (VTD) simulation software to provide coverage-driven verification. … LeddarTech, a provider of auto and mobility LiDAR platform, is now working with STMicoelectonics, a semiconductor company, to create a LiDAR Evaluation Kit. The companies say that the kit will demonstrate technical concepts and offer development capabilities in a functional LiDAR for automotive Tier 1-2 suppliers and industrial system integrators to develop a LiDAR solution based on LeddarEngine technology … Audi announced the opening of a new office in Silicon Valley, specifically to focus on ADAS research and development for the North American market. At the time of the announcement in June, the company was looking to hire 60 engineers for the Audi Automated Driving Development office, called A2D, located in San Jose, Calif. … Phantom AI Inc., developer of a vehicle-agnostic autonomous driving platform, announced in June a joint development with Renesas Electronics Corporation, a supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, of full stack Level 2 ADAS solutions … Frank Petznick will take over the management of the ADAS business unit at Continental, a German technology company, upon the departure of Karl Hauput, who was scheduled to leave on July 31, 2020 after almost seven years at the helm of the business unit and over 36 years of company service.

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