MACS Monthly Newsletter - 2019 - SEP6

Condenser Replacement: Now I Need to Calibrate a Radar? Maybe!
tech changing a bumper to the HVAC tech replacing a radiator
condenser and even the tire store tech performing a front-end
alignment needs to be educated immediately on smart cameras,
radar sensors and LiDAR sensors which may need to be diagnosed and / or calibrated after such services are performed.
For example, an improperly calibrated adaptive cruise control's radar sensor can either cause the vehicle to slam on the
brakes when safely encountering another vehicle in an oncoming lane or (worse yet) not "see" the vehicle in front of it slowing
/ stopping while the driver depends on the adaptive cruise control to stop the car for them. ADAS awareness even extends to
repair shop service advisers as well for them to educate drivers.
Ever forget to use your turn signals while changing lanes? With
an ADAS feature such as LKA (Lane Keep Assist), a customer
who forgets to signal when changing lanes might be asking you
for tire or front-end service as they feel the unexpected (but normal) resistance in their steering wheel.

Today's vehicles have become safer and safer with advancements like air bags, ABS, stability controls, TPMS and now
ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems). What exactly is
ADAS? ADAS is any combination of systems that aid a driver
while driving. Systems such as adaptive cruise control, blind
spot monitoring, lane keep assist and emergency braking can be
combined to give the driver a much safer driving experience.
The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) defines 6 levels
of driving automation ranging from 0 (fully manual) to 5 (fully
autonomous). Level 0 has no automated features (like most of
us are used to working on) while level 1 is beginning to become
very popular on newer models with a combination of these
advanced safety systems that fall short of even limited autonomous driving. Level 2 would be considered a vehicle such as
a Tesla with its Auto Pilot feature or a Cadillac with its Super
Cruise. Either can accelerate, brake and steer for limited distances / limited conditions with driver supervision and ability to
quickly intervene. Level 3 is coming soon (Figure 6) and advances the responsibilities in an increasing manner to the vehicle's
autonomous abilities to the ultimate point of level 5 where the
vehicle is simply a robot without any means for driver controls
or interaction.
Level 1 and level 2 ADAS is becoming very common on
vehicles today and this means everyone from the body shop

HVAC and ADAS

Aptiv

The replacement of a radiator or A/C condenser on a vehicle
with ADAS (a forward radar sensor such as those used in adaptive cruise control) could be part of the R&R process on certain
vehicles. If you get a headlight misadjusted by just a little, the
result is often unnoticeable. Do that with a radar sensor and the

Figure 6: Aptiv may be a new name to some, but they've actually been around for decades before they invented the very first
Active Cruise Control system using a long range mechanically scanning radar sensor in the 1990's. Aptiv was formerly the
part of Delphi Automotive known as Delphi Electronics and Safety Systems. They've perfected ESR (Electronically Scanning
Radar) sensors which are now small, aﬀordable and very reliable. The illustration above shows the various ADAS systems
used on Aptiv's captive fleet of BMWs in the Las Vegas metro area. A level 3 semi-autonomous vehicle, these rideshare BMWs
(equipped with ADAS by Aptiv and operated by Lyft) pick you up with a driver on board, but the driver is mainly there "just
in case." Someday soon vehicles like this will be in your service bay. Note: LiDAR is like radar but uses lasers instead of radio
waves to obtain live 3D images of the vehicle's surroundings.

September 2019

MACS Service Reports

MACS Monthly Newsletter - 2019

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