Today’s vehicles come fully loaded with a suite of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) designed to reduce collisions by alerting the driver to any potential hazards. Common features include lane departure warning, blind-spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, and park assist.
ADAS sensors are located diversely around the car and are quite sensitive to the external environment. Usually, they are housed in bumpers, windshields, tyres and side-view mirrors – all places that can easily get hit during a collision.
When there is any physical damage to your vehicle, these sensors can stop functioning correctly, meaning the information you get is no longer accurate.
Automotive service and repair professionals must therefore ensure that any repairs that directly involve or impact ADAS sensors are carried out so that the safety and functionality of the vehicle are not compromised.
ADAS sensors may also require re-calibration after any physical change to the vehicle, such as the addition of bull bars, or wheel alignment, tyre upgrades and suspension repairs.
What sort of problems can result from a faulty sensor?
Failure to properly repair or calibrate a sensor can result in faulty information that will cause the ADAS sensors to operate improperly or not at all. Imagine you are trying to reverse but the parking camera misjudges the distance between your vehicle and the wall behind you. It doesn’t end well.
Faulty sensor input can also cause steering wheel vibration, vehicle steering pull, or increased steering effort among others.
How do I repair ADAS sensors?
While ADAS systems are common, they are complex and, relatively speaking, a new technology. Getting to the grips of what it does, how it works, and the requirements of working with it demand training. MTA Queensland recently partnered with ADAS Solutions Australia to offer three new training courses on this technology.
Learn more in this short explanatory video.
Want to learn more?
The ADAS AWARENESS COURSE is aimed at business owners, estimators, assessors, and people who need to understand what ADAS is, need to know the fundamentals, and may have a workplace requirement to identify ADAS components. It is a comprehensive introduction to the technology.
The ADAS VEHICLE GLASS COURSE focuses on windscreen-mounted cameras – perhaps the most common ADAS-related component today, and one of the earliest pieces of ADAS technology to appear on cars.
Finally, the two-day ADAS TECHNICIAN COURSE is aimed at those with prior ADAS diagnostic experience and offers a deep dive into the technology.
1 December 2021
Please note the information contained on this page is general in nature and does not take into account your specific needs or circumstances. You should consider whether the information is appropriate to your needs, and where appropriate, seek professional advice.