ADAS Adoption

There’s this perpetual tug-of-war. Old school vs. new technology. John Henry vs. the machines. Luddites vs. technology. And a good deal of Don’t Tread on Me vs. Big Brother.

With that in mind, here’s yet another acronym: ADAS — advanced driver assistance systems.

The ADAS technologies “use various sensors and cameras to monitor the vehicle’s surroundings, providing warnings or even taking control of certain functions to help drivers avoid accidents or navigate more easily.” Says Wikipedia.

This is, in a way, just another advancement on safety devices that we’ve put on vehicles since at least 1908, when J.E. Francis gave us the Slip Prevention Regulator for Rail Vehicles. That evolved into the anti-lock braking system (ABS), which, um, keeps our wheels from locking up while braking.

ADAS involves a lot more:

• adaptive cruise control

• collision avoidance

• obstacle alerts

• lane departure

• lane centering

• satellite navigation

• traffic warnings

• automated lighting

So, maybe to ease us through that Don’t Tread on Me approach, they’ve come up with ADAS levels. In Level 0, ADAS simply provides information. (think of a chirp or flash in your sideview mirror when you veer out of your lane). Level 1 works to take over one function. Level 2 assumes control over multiple functions. Levels 3 to 5 angles toward fully autonomous vehicles.

Think of adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency brake assistance, lane centering, lane keeping.

As our friends at Transport Topics describe it, “FMCSA has reported that trucks with both automatic braking and forward collision warnings were associated with about a 40% ­lower crash rate compared with trucks without ADAS.”

Those numbers are quite impressive in terms of increasing safety on our roads.

Also on the horizon? Get ready for automated valet parking, which “allow(s) a car to park itself in certain parking lots or garages, without a driver in the vehicle.” And don’t forget to tip your programmer.