ADAS In India - Segments That Can See Faster Penetration In Prospects

Praveen Kumar Oct 04, 2020

Around 3,700 people die in traffic every day around the world, and 100,000 are injured. The automotive industry is striving to make driving safer. Today, every vehicle around the world has an average of two sensors for advanced driver assistance systems. These are usually cameras (front/surround view), radar (forward / backward-looking), or ultrasonic sensors. ADAS in India is comparatively in a nascent stage. However, it is gradually gaining pace. The government's upcoming safety regulations and consumer awareness will give further impetus to this movement.

ADAS is not just a value-add today; it is also a critical aspect of vehicle safety. The intelligent sensors like lidars, cameras, and radars help model the environment - analyze the situation - take decisions to alert the driver or if necessary, take necessary actions to prevent accidents. If observed closely, it has a “Sense – Plan – Act” chain of effect.

Looking at a broader scale, the advantages received from ADAS in India have been manifold, like reduction in loss of property and life, decrease in accident rates, the safety functions designed to minimize motor vehicle accidents and severity. The various assist functions like parking systems, surround-view systems, and rear-view systems are evolving to provide increased comfort, safety, and assist drivers in low-speed maneuvering. Also, Artificial intelligence (AI) and deep machine learning are used to increase the precision and accuracy of environmental perception and classification. Researchers and engineers are continually working on the ADAS segments to predict the unforeseen driving scenarios to virtually model and test them so that all the possible scenarios on the roads are taken into consideration.

ADAS Technologies in India which will gain acceptability and popularity in the coming five years:

The safety initiatives in India are improving significantly. Post the ABS mandate, the next natural step is Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB). AEB compensates for insufficient driver action on brakes. Drivers in emergencies either apply insufficient pressure or release the brake too early leading to a strong possibility of an accident. AEB not only addresses this problem, but it can also reduce stopping distances significantly. Since AEB is a collision avoidance feature, it integrates the state-of-the-art driver assistance systems with Electronic Stability Control (ESC). This intelligent system aims to avoid collisions with all types of obstacles including - not only limited to – cars, trucks, motorbike/scooter, bicycles, pedestrians, and road debris. Alternatively, if AEB senses that an accident is unavoidable then the system targets for maximum reduction of the impact speed so that the damage is minimized.

Failing to see the car approaching rapidly from behind in adjacent lane or the blind spot of any car easily happens irrespective of the nation, especially in heavy traffic on multi-lane freeways or highways and in urban traffic as well. The Blind Spot Detection (BSD) system can monitor this area and take much of the strain off the driver and avoid hazardous situations. Sensors monitor the road area behind and next to the vehicle and warn the driver when one tries to switch lanes when there is not enough space available.

Right-Turn-Assist is another ADAS function that can be useful in Indian conditions where the vehicles are parked at junctions obstructing the incoming traffic view. It makes the turning-off significantly safer and provides welcome support for vehicle drivers, especially in the complex situations that frequently occur in urban traffic. Alongside this, the safety function also protects pedestrians and scooter riders.