december2021 - 40

DIAGNOS TIC S
» The TOPDON Phoenix ADAS Mobile can
collapse for easy storage and transport.
It takes about 30 minutes to set up.
TOPDON
what they're supposed to in terms of mitigating
risk, " said TJ Thomas, director of marketing
and customer solutions, controls, at Bendix
Commercial Vehicle Systems.
" Depending on the vehicle and the equipment
on the vehicle, there will be 200+ sensors
with over 20 directly related to the ADAS
system such as cameras using light of various
spectrums and radar systems, " Thinkcar's
Alexander offered.
ADAS calibration:
a matter of millimeters
Technicians can't be off the mark when it comes
to replacing ADAS sensors and cameras after
a repair job, or truck safety will suffer.
By Mindy Long
As the transportation industry continues to
adopt advanced driver assistance safety
systems- which include blind-spot monitoring,
front collision warning, lane-keep assist, and
park assist systems-the number of cameras
and sensors on vehicles is increasing. Installing
these measures goes a long way to improving
vehicle safety, but it is vital that fleets understand
that after repair work, those sensors and
cameras must be calibrated and recalibrated to
ensure they are functioning correctly.
" If something is off by a minuscule proportion
on a camera or radar, its ability to sense what
is in front of it or around it is impacted significantly, "
said Tom McGuire, COO
of Precision Diagnostics. " If it
is trying to steer the vehicle,
a millimeter or two could
determine if [that vehicle] goes
down the road straight or not. "
Improperly calibrated sensors and cameras,
especially on heavy-duty vehicles, can have
» Thinkcar ADAS
Mobile is portable
and can calibrate
in seconds.
Thinkcar
catastrophic results.
" Even if a camera is off just 0.6 degrees,
that could affect the accuracy of the
information being received by the
safety system, " said Allison Whitney,
content manager for Autel U.S. " And in the case
of a collision warning or automated braking
system, that might mean the vehicle doesn't
stop in time to avoid a crash. "
40 Fleet Maintenance | December 2021
A lane-departure warning sensor may fail
to detect another vehicle, and if the driver
is depending on the system, an accident
can occur, according to Brandon Alexander,
marketing manager for ThinkCar.
" Improperly adjusted front sensors related to
adaptive cruise control can allow the vehicle to
get too close to other vehicles, making a safe
'panic stop' impossible, " he said. " Conversely,
out-of-position sensors may result in the ADAS
becoming overly sensitive and making unnecessary
corrections or warnings, causing the
driver to ignore or defeat the system altogether. "
" Many of us have experienced lane departure
assistance in our personal vehicles where
we feel the steering wheel tug while switching
lanes without a turn signal, " noted Jason
Hedman, product manager at Noregon, which
makes the JPRO scan tool. " This feeling is
greatly amplified in a commercial truck, so a
misaligned lane departure system can leave
a truck driver fighting the steering wheel to
stay in its lane. "
Most if not all heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers
offer radar and camera-based systems
on new tractors and trailers. Plus, new technologies
such as autonomous driving along with
an increased attention toward safety will boost
ADAS sensor implementation.
" The take rates continue to climb, driven
by the fact that the systems do a good job of
Inching toward standards
Currently, ADAS technology is not mandated
by law on commercial vehicles, and is not
as common as in passenger cars, so it is still
new and unknown to most technicians, said
Dario Peruch, managing director of TEXA
USA. " However, it's here, and it's happening
now. Getting familiar with it ahead of time
will definitely help technicians and shops in
the future, " he said.
The rise of ADAS has complicated what were
once routine procedures. " Traditionally, replacing
a windshield meant taking out the old one
and installing a new one. Today, technicians
must recalibrate the ADAS and test drive the
truck to ensure everything is aligned correctly
before handing the vehicle back to the customer, "
Hedman explained.
Several services, including bodywork, windshield
replacement, tire alignment, or suspension
repair, require sensor re-calibration for the
vehicle to return to operation safely. ADAS
sensors and systems, like any other electronic
component on vehicles, require the use of scan
tools to diagnose the problem, find information
about the issue, and, if needed, recalibrate
those systems according to the OE specs.
According to Scott McKinney, senior product
manager for ADAS diagnostics at Bosch, there
are different distance and height requirements
when recalibrating sensors, and every vehicle
is different. " We're sort of in the Wild West right
now for ADAS in that there isn't a lot of standardization, "
McKinney surmised.
He did note that the SAE and AAA have identified
20 recognized systems and five categories
of systems.
" One issue with sensors is the challenge of
locating them; given their size and the fact that
their location can vary based on component
or manufacturer, simply locating the sensor
without assistance can be a difficult task, "
Hedman said.
Measuring success
Precision Diagnostics utilizes tools from Autel
and OEMs. " We work for one large rental organization-any
work we do for them has to be
done with OEM equipment. Otherwise, it is
not valid in their world, " McGuire said, adding
that technicians will also cross-reference the
december2021

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