advanced driver-assistance system
In plain wordsCar features that help the driver but do not replace them, such as automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping help, adaptive cruise control and blind-spot warnings.
A vehicle system that uses sensors — cameras, radar, ultrasonic sensors and sometimes lidarlidar, n.: A sensor that measures distances by firing laser pulses and timing their reflections, building a 3D picture of its surroundings out of millions of points; widely used on robots and self-driving cars. — to warn the driver or intervene in steering, braking or acceleration to improve safety or comfort, while a human remains the driver responsible for supervising the vehicle. Examples include automatic emergency braking, collision and lane-departure warnings, lane-keeping and lane-centering assistance, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, intelligent speed assistance and driver drowsiness monitoring. In the SAE taxonomylevels of driving automation, n.: A six-step scale, from Level 0 to Level 5, describing how much of the driving a car's automation does and how much the human must still watch the road and be ready to take over., features that control steering or speed are Level 1, and those combining both under continuous human supervision are Level 2 ('partial automation'), the category of highway-assist systems such as GM's Super Cruise and Tesla's Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (Supervised). Several ADAS functions are mandatory for new vehicles in the European Union under the General Safety Regulation (EU) 2019/2144, phased in from July 2022. A 2024 US rule, FMVSS No. 127, requires automatic emergency braking on new light vehicles from September 2029, though in 2026 the Department of Transportation said it would propose amendments giving manufacturers two more years. Because Level 2 systems invite overreliance, effective driver monitoring is now considered essential.
The car's ADAS braked for the stalled truck before I had even seen it.
Origin
Grew from earlier driver aids such as anti-lock braking (in production cars from the 1970s) and cruise control, patented by Ralph Teetor (filed 1948, granted 1950), and from European research such as the PROMETHEUS program (1987–1995). 'Advanced driver assistance systems' was established in automotive engineering by around 2000.
Usage note
Names are not standardized — the same function is sold under many brand names — and terms such as 'Autopilot' have drawn regulatory and legal criticism for implying more capability than Level 2 provides. automation biasautomation bias, n.: The habit of trusting a computer's suggestion too much: following it even when it is wrong, or missing problems because the machine did not flag them. is the main human-factors risk.
Related
- levels of driving automationlevels of driving automation, n.: A six-step scale, from Level 0 to Level 5, describing how much of the driving a car's automation does and how much the human must still watch the road and be ready to take over.
- autonomous vehicleautonomous vehicle, n.: A vehicle, usually a car, truck or shuttle, that can drive itself, sensing the road, deciding what to do and steering, braking and accelerating with no human driving.
- automation biasautomation bias, n.: The habit of trusting a computer's suggestion too much: following it even when it is wrong, or missing problems because the machine did not flag them.
- sensor fusionsensor fusion, n.: Combining readings from several different sensors, such as cameras, radar, lidar, GPS and motion sensors, to get a more accurate and reliable picture than any one sensor gives alone.
- human oversighthuman oversight, n.: Keeping people able to watch, understand, question and, if necessary, stop or overrule an AI system, rather than letting it act unchecked.
- overrelianceoverreliance, n.: Leaning on an AI system more than its reliability justifies: accepting its answers without checking, or letting it make decisions it often gets wrong.
- autonomous vehicleautonomous vehicle, n.: A vehicle, usually a car, truck or shuttle, that can drive itself, sensing the road, deciding what to do and steering, braking and accelerating with no human driving.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) 2019/2144 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 on type-approval requirements for motor vehicles (General Safety Regulation). Official Journal of the European Union L 325.
Mentioned in
autonomous vehicleautonomous vehicle, n.: A vehicle, usually a car, truck or shuttle, that can drive itself, sensing the road, deciding what to do and steering, braking and accelerating with no human driving., levels of driving automationlevels of driving automation, n.: A six-step scale, from Level 0 to Level 5, describing how much of the driving a car's automation does and how much the human must still watch the road and be ready to take over., operational design domainoperational design domain, n.: The specific conditions an automated vehicle or robot is designed to work in, such as particular roads, speeds, weather and times of day, outside of which it must not operate on its own.