ADAS > (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) Calibration Service - Page 1 of 3

On an ADAS equipped vehicle (the forward facing camera or cameras) mounted to or behind your vehicle’s windshield are one of the main players for the system to perform properly. When we perform a windshield camera calibration on your vehicle what we are actually doing is placing the forward looking windshield camera (or camera’s) center point on what is referred to, in the engineering world as The Vanishing Point of a straight and level well marked highway at a very specific distance in front of your vehicle. In order for your vehicle’s ADAS Systems to perform as the manufacturer intended it to it is absolutely imperative that the camera’s center point be placed as close to perfect as possible to the green target point in the center of the camera’s field of view just like the image above illustrates, where the lines on the highway intersect in the distance. There are two types of windshield camera calibrations, Static and Dynamic and there are some vehicles that actually require both types of calibrations be performed on them. Static calibrations All vehicle manufacturers require static camera calibrations to be performed in a controlled indoor environment that consists of bright even lighting without windows or back ground clutter on a flat level floor. A calibration stand is placed in front of the vehicle at an exact distance from the exact center line of the vehicle with specific targets. The targets are then placed at an exact (to the millimeter) position on the calibration stand. After that the camera is activated by a calibration tool that adjusts it’s zero point position to the target or targets. Dynamic Calibrations To perform a dynamic calibration it takes two people to do it safely, one person drives the vehicle while the other person monitors the calibration tool. The vehicle is driven under a very specific set of driving conditions. It must be done in the day light hours in good lighting and weather conditions. A typical speed is from 35 to 56 mph on well marked flat straight as possible roads. Lane changes must be kept to a minimum as well as maintaining an adequate following distance behind vehicles. The vehicle must be driven past objects the camera can recognize such as parked cars, guard rails, mail boxes, bill board and road signs. The more objects you present to the camera the more accurate the calibration will be and the calibration time will also complete faster. Under the right conditions a dynamic calibration is much easier and faster to accomplish in most cases. There are some exceptions to that statement, some vehicles like a Tesla for example which must be driven under the above conditions in excess of 100 miles before the dynamic calibration will be accomplished. How long does it take to perform a windshield camera calibration on a vehicle? • Static calibrations in general take 1.5 to 3.5 hours to complete • Dynamic calibrations in general take 30 minutes to an hour to complete • A static and a dynamic calibration together in general takes 2 to 4 hours • The above times do not account for the actual windshield installation which usually takes 1.5 to 3 hours 99% of the time we accomplish your windshield installation and ADAS calibrations the same day but here at Phoenix Glass we honestly ask you for a 2 day service window to repair your ADAS equipped vehicle. The time it takes to do a static calibration depends on your specific vehicle’s setup requirements. The actual circumstances involved can vary greatly for each make of vehicle even among the same make model and year. If your vehicle requires both a static and a dynamic calibrations there will be more time needed to complete it. If your vehicle requires a dynamic calibration weather and traffic conditions vary greatly throughout any given day and we would be lying if we promised you we can accomplish these types of calibrations by appointment on any given day in a small window of time. It’s much easier to part with your vehicle if you plan on it being out of service for 2 days rather than having a company promise it will be ready in a few hours and then telling you it won’t be ready until the weather breaks or the traffic subsides which may be tomorrow or the next day. An even worse case scenario would be telling you that you would have to bring your vehicle back on another day which puts you in the position of having to drive an unsafe vehicle until you could return it for the calibration to be completed. What if the camera or cameras are not properly calibrated? If your vehicle is equipped with Lane Departure Warning (LDW) depending on what other ADAS systems your vehicle may or may not have if the vehicle’s windshield camera or camera’s are mis calibrated by so much as 1 degree: • Low - The vehicle will still alert you if you fail to maintain it within the center of the lane but the camera will not see a vehicle you’re approaching in time to stop or alert you in time to prevent a collision. • High - The vehicle will still alert you if you fail to maintain it within the center of the lane but the camera won’t see a vehicle you’re approaching at all and will not alert you to stop the vehicle to prevent a collision. • Left of Center - The vehicle will constantly alert you to steer your vehicle to the left into another lane or across the center line into oncoming traffic. • Right of Center - The vehicle will constantly alert you to steer your vehicle to the right into another lane or off the road. If your vehicle is equipped with Lane Keep Assist (LKA) depending on what other ADAS systems your vehicle may or may not have if the vehicle’s windshield camera or camera’s are mis calibrated by so much as 1 degree: • Low - The vehicle will still be able to maintain itself within the center of the lane but the camera will not be able see a vehicle you’re approaching in time to stop the vehicle to prevent a collision. • High - The the vehicle will still be able to maintain itself within the center of the lane but the camera won’t see a vehicle you’re approaching at all and will not make any attempt to stop the vehicle to prevent a collision. • Left of Center - The vehicle will constantly try to steer your vehicle left into oncoming traffic. • Right of Center - The vehicle will constantly try to steer your vehicle right into another lane or off the road. OEM Vs OEE Windshields Two OEM or OEE windshields made at the same plant at the same time on the same manufacturing line can and do in most instances (in our real world experience’s) have camera mounting brackets that are slightly misaligned but still within tolerance. The windshield placement in the vehicle can also be slightly misaligned during installation. If the windshield brackets and the actual windshield installation in the vehicle are within tolerances and the camera or cameras are calibrated properly everything should go well. You can and we have searched the Internet’s various web sites and found data and studies that have found various issues with OEE windshields but once again we would have to say that in our real world hands on experiences we have yet to personally see any. That being said we need to say that here at Phoenix Glass we are a small company and do not turn out turn out anything near the volume of windshield installations as our big box chain store competitors do year in and year out. In past years we have had various car dealers calibrate our windshield cameras as well as companies that we have sub contracted our calibration work too and we have never had a calibration failure. In our experiences from 2004 to June 2023 we have not seen it make a difference if we installed an OEM or an OEE windshield providing that: • The windshield is inspected for defects which we often find in both OEM and OEE parts. • The mounting brackets the camera or cameras mount to are properly attached and aligned on the windshield glass. • The windshield is properly installed in the correct position in the vehicle. • The vehicle is correctly pre conditioned prior to the windshield camera calibration procedure.

ADAS Windshield Camera Calibration Many newer model vehicles are equipped with advanced driver assistance systems (typically referred to as ADAS systems) that use one or more cameras as well as light detecting and ranging sensors known as LIDAR. Added to that are a host of other sensors such as rain, humidity and light sensors mounted on the windshield that can affect how your car functions. We are going to try and stay focused on your vehicle’s windshield camera and sensors on this page but there are some vehicles that also require a radar calibration when your windshield camera is calibrated.

When Calibration is Necessary

Camera • Windshield repaired or replaced. • Camera has been disconnected removed or replaced • Any air bag deployment • Wheel alignment (most vehicles) • Suspension work like struts, springs, shocks. • Changes in ride height • Changes in tire size • Diagnostic trouble codes are present

Radar • Radar sensor is removed or replaced • After a minor collision • Major collision repair • Bumper covers are removed or replaced • Grill removed and replaced • Wheel alignment • Diagnostic trouble codes are present

The wheel alignment on your vehicle also has a great deal to do with an ADAS windshield camera calibration

If your specific vehicle requires it t he examples below will explain and show you why it’s important we check the wheel alignment on your vehicle before we perform an ADAS windshield camera calibration on your vehicle.

An ADAS equipped vehicle needs to be maintained properly for all the systems to be able to perform as the manufacture intended. Dependent on your vehicle’s manufacture as well as the year make and model it maybe a requirement that you have a your vehicle’s wheels realigned and your windshield camera re-calibrated on a regular basis. Different manufacturers have different ideas of what that is. It ranges from every other oil change to every 60,000 miles. Again (dependent on your vehicles year make and model) every time you have your wheels aligned you may have to have your windshield camera re-calibrated. If your vehicle’s wheel alignment is outside of the manufacturers specifications and we calibrate your windshield camera the system will not be able perform correctly. That does for a fact place you in an unsafe situation which is why here at Phoenix Glass (if your specific vehicle requires it) we check your wheel alignment before we calibrate your windshield camera.

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