What is ADAS?
Description of the advanced technologies that assist drivers in safe driving
ADAS is attracting attention as a technology that supports safe and comfortable driving, such as maintaining the center of the lane and automatically applying the brakes when necessary. This article explains what ADAS is, including its definition, and how it differs from AD (automated driving). In addition, this article will explain the latest trends in ADAS, the expected size of the ADAS market in the future, and typical functions in ADAS.
What is ADAS?
ADAS is an abbreviation for "Advanced Driver Assistance Systems" and is a general term for functions and technologies that make full use of advanced technologies to assist drivers in driving operations.
Various sensors (radar, sensing cameras, etc.) are installed in vehicles. The sensors are like the "eyes" with which cars can sense their surroundings. Information about the vehicle's surroundings is obtained from the sensors. By processing the information from the sensors, the relationship with pedestrians and obstacles can be detected. The system determines whether or not there is a possibility of a traffic accident, and if necessary, provides support for avoiding accidents caused by driver error, through functions such as automatic braking, lane control, and warnings.
In addition, ADAS warns the driver when there is a risk of a traffic accident in driving situations that impose a burden on the driver, such as traffic jams encountered when driving on highways, and overtaking the vehicle in front. In other cases when the risk is low, ADAS supports the safety and comfort of the driver by controlling the accelerator, brakes, and steering.
In recent years, active research and development by automobile manufacturers and parts manufacturers has led to the installation of various ADAS functions in many vehicles.
Differences between ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) and AD (Automated Driving)
The difference between ADAS and AD is defined by the driver's and system's level of responsibility for driving.
ADAS is a function that supports how to avoid accidents and comfortably arrive at the destination based on the driver's driving actions. Therefore, in the event of an accident, the responsibility for driving lies with the driver. AD, on the other hand, is basically a function in which the driver does not need to drive, and the system performs driving operations. In that regard, in the event of an accident, the system may be responsible for driving.
The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) defines the levels of automated driving as follows. According to this definition, ADAS is a driver assistance function corresponding to Level 1 - Level 2, and AD is a Level 3 or higher.
Levels of Driving Automation
| Level 0 | No automation |
| Level 1 | Driver assistance |
| Level 2 | Partial automation |
| Level 3 | Conditional automation |
| Level 4 | High automation |
| Level 5 | Full automation |
Latest ADAS Trends: Advanced functions equivalent to Level 2+
Recently, Level 2 automated driving has become more sophisticated (also known as "Level 2+"), and vehicles equipped with advanced driver assistance systems have appeared on the market. However, Level 2+ is not uniform, and the functions differ depending on the specifications of the sensors that are installed, their installation positions, and the system configuration including the arithmetic processing unit.
Some Level 2+ vehicles are equipped with a number of sensors to monitor the vehicle's surroundings in 360° and to check the driver's condition. This enables drivers to drive on highways and exclusive motorways with the assistance of the system, without the driver holding the steering wheel.
In addition, there are some systems in which lanes are changed automatically after confirming the driver's intention through his or her operation of the directional signal, and some systems in which lanes are changed automatically after taking into account the speed difference from the vehicle in front and the surrounding conditions. The driver is freed from driving operations, but at Level 2+ the driver is solely responsible for driving, so he or she is required to respond if something happens.
ADAS market is expected to grow to 2.4 trillion yen in 2025
AEB (Automatic Emergency Braking) is becoming standard equipment in Japan, the United States, and Europe, and the market scale of sensors for automated driving is expanding. Shipments of high-frequency radars that detect the surroundings of vehicles, and sensing cameras that detect the front of vehicles, which are essential for ADAS, are rapidly increasing.
According to an announcement by the Yano Research Institute, the global market size of ADAS and automated driving sensors is expected to grow to 2,480.8 billion yen in 2025.
Global Market Size Forecast for ADAS/Automated Driving Sensors
Source: Yano Research InstituteGlobal Market Size Forecast for ADAS/Automated Driving Sensors 2020 (Announced on October 26, 2020)
1. Survey period: July-September 2020
2. Survey target: Automakers, auto parts manufacturers, automotive semiconductor manufacturers
Note 1: Based on manufacturer's shipment value
Note 2: Forecast for FY2020 and beyond
Note 3: Radars include 77GHz millimeter-wave radar and 24GHz quasi-millimeter-wave radar. Cameras include sensing cameras and rear/surround view cameras.
Due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the semiconductor shortage became serious, and the market temporarily declined, but in the future it will gradually recover and the development of ADAS and AD will accelerate. This requires software engineers involved in development for ADAS and AD.
There is a demand for eager and passionate software engineers in automotive automation. Areas include: recognition of the situation around the vehicle (position and relative speed of other vehicles, pedestrians, obstacles, etc.) from data acquired from each sensor, utilization of the vehicle's location information estimated from GPS and data obtained from each sensor, formulation of driving plans to efficiently guide the driver to the destination while ensuring safety, vehicle control to provide a comfortable driving environment, and so on.
Technologies that support the representative functions of ADAS
ADAS has a variety of functions. This section introduces some of the most common functions.
ACC: Adaptive Cruise Control
ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control System) is a function that automatically controls acceleration and deceleration to maintain an appropriate distance from the vehicle ahead within the speed preset by the driver when driving on a highway. Radar and sensing cameras installed in the vehicle constantly monitor the front and recognize the presence or absence of a vehicle in front, relative speed, and distance between vehicles. As a result, it is possible to move at an appropriate speed according to the movement of the vehicle in front.
When the detected vehicle in front stops, the system automatically stops the vehicle, and when the vehicle in front starts, the system continues to support driving when the driver operates the ACC switch or accelerator. It plays a role in reducing the burden on the driver when stopping or starting frequently, such as during traffic jams on highways.
LKS: Lane Keeping Support
LKS (Lane Keeping Support) is a lane keeping assist system that assists the driver in steering so that the vehicle can be kept in the center of the lane on the road.
The sensing cameras installed in the vehicle constantly measure and monitor the distance and direction between the left and right lanes and the vehicle, and when the vehicle is about to deviate from the lane, it alerts the driver to danger by vibrating the steering wheel and sounding a warning sound, and assists the steering operation to return to the center of the lane.
In this way, the burden of keeping the vehicle in the center of the lane can be reduced, and driving comfort is improved.
LCA: Lane Change Assist
LCA (Lane Change Assist) uses radars mounted at the rear of the vehicle to monitor vehicles in the driver's blind spots or vehicles approaching from behind.
In addition, a car-shaped symbol can be displayed on the side mirrors and an audible warning can alert the driver to potential dangers. It helps avoid dangerous situations that occur when changing lanes and contributes to the reduction of the risk of accidents.
In some cases, it may refer to a system that checks the safety of the surroundings when the driver's directional signal is operated, and automatically changes lanes while controlling acceleration/deceleration.
AEB: Automatic Emergency Braking
AEB (Automatic Emergency Braking) refers to collision avoidance braking. Using the vehicle's radars and sensing cameras, the system recognizes the speed difference and distance from the vehicle in front, and if the system determines that there is a high risk of collision with the vehicle in front, it emits an audible warning to alert the driver to take action to avoid a collision, or automatically applies the brakes to avoid a collision or reduce the damage in the event of a collision.
Even if the driver's avoidance actions (brake operation, etc.) are delayed, for example if a pedestrian suddenly enters into the direct path of the vehicle, collision avoidance braking is expected to reduce vehicle speed and reduce injury to pedestrians (reduction of fatal accidents).
From November 2021, the government has made it mandatory for new vehicles sold in Japan to be equipped with AEB.
TJA: Traffic Jam Assist
TJA (Traffic Jam Assist) helps drivers reach their destinations as comfortably as possible, even when there is a traffic jam.
When the system determines that there is a traffic jam based on the driving speed and the situation around the vehicle, it combines radars and sensing cameras to control the front, rear, left and right movements of the vehicle so that it follows the vehicle in front. This reduces the risk of a rear-end collision with the vehicle in front, which helps reduce the burden on the driver during traffic jams on highways.
*Information contained in this article is current at the time of data collection. (Published on November 17, 2022)