April 2019

APRIL 2019 AFTERMARKET 57 www.aftermarketonline.net "Every time we bring out a new model, there is either a new safety feature or an existing safety feature has been advanced. It is a big enough challenge for us to keep up with that, with all our retailers and our approved bodyshop network, let alone anybody else who sits outside of that." Steve also covered Volvo's Drive Me autonomous driving project where Volvo's driver assist technology is used by real families using specially equipped Volvo XC90s. The presentation also covered the 360 concept, which looks at where self-driving may impact on design principles. "We see this as future travel" added Steve. Camera Heading back to a Japanese brand, Andrew Fitzpatrick, Repair Support Manager for Toyota/Lexus took to the stage. He covered the ADAS systems being deployed by Lexus. Commenting on the impact of the systems, he said: "With the latest system, the car has the ability to follow the car in front. It really is the next step towards autonomous driving." Expanded use of the camera as opposed to other systems is key here: "The camera itself has actually improved quite a lot. The camera can now capture road images up to 50 metres, whereas in the past it was around 15 metres. The camera is now much more integral than it was on previous models more reliant on radar. They really do work together. It can see vehicles, pedestrians, road signs and cyclists. Performance is also far better at night time compared to the old system. Its ability to stop the vehicle has also increased." Diagnostics Nick Goodess, Paint and Body Technical Trainer at Volkswagen was the next speaker. He highlighted the importance of the human element: "The underlying belief in our diagnostic equipment is that you press that button and the technician looking at it will see the words 'calibration successful'. What I have trained the guys in and drawn them back towards is that actually what we want them to do is perform a successful calibration. We don't want the machine to do it." He also emphasised the importance of performing ADAS calibration under the correct conditions: "I can't say that figure in the MOT. What does that do to the MOT garage network? Are they going to be able to sign that form to say that all the ADAS features on that car are working? It is a big problem. Which tool are they going to use to see the ADAS is working, as well as the horn and the headlight?" On the likelihood of ADAS self- calibration, Rupert opined: "I'm not sure it can ever happen, and I hope I am wrong, but I think there are so many sophisticated systems on vehicles now, and so many different systems needed to operate. We do have a degree of self-calibration through dynamic calibration however." Autonomous cars David Elphick, Parts and Accessories Sales Manager at Mazda UK, was next up. "I know I am here to talk about autonomous driving, but Mazda are not going for it at this point in time because we are very much driver- centric. It is all about the fun of driving. Call me old school, but I actually enjoy getting in my car and driving it. That's not to say we don't have autonomous on our radar, and we obviously will be going autonomous. "Personally, having an MX5 where you just sit there driving with your arms folded defeats the object of having an MX5. It is a slightly different tack, but Mazda does not necessarily follow the norm. We like to do things a little bit differently and we like to challenge. We keep up to date with the latest legislation though, and we do have all the latest safety features to make the car safe. So we do have ADAS." David went onto provide a whistle-stop tour of how Mazda is applying ADAS across its range. Safety ADAS is helping make the historically safe output of Volvo even more safe, as Steve Plunkett, Body and Paint Program Development Manager for Volvo, explained: "A few years ago, we came up with the statement, that by 2020 no one would be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo. It may have seemed quite sweeping at the time, but at the time we asked Sweden and they told us that at that time we were 6% away from that. Coming into 2019 we are pretty much on it. it is impossible to perform an ADAS calibration on someone's driveway, but at the same time I couldn't say that it is impossible to perform heart surgery on the bonnet of a car. The reason you shouldn't though is that the element of risk is raised massively." Nick also provided another example: "If the vehicle is loaded during calibration, it could change the pitch angle by 1.77° which could cause a misalignment. If there is a 0.6° difference, the camera reads a 32 metre difference. The estimated distance would be 82 metres when the actual distance is 50 metres." Autodrive Rounding off the tally of speakers was Tim Armitage, Associate Director at ARUP who covered UK Autodrive, the project to introduce autonomous vehicles to the UK. "When will connected and autonomous vehicles be introduced to the UK?" asked Tim. "Actually, they are already here. I would put money on the fact that the way autonomous vehicles are formally defined, you all came here today in a autonomous vehicle if you drove a car. There are six levels Level 0 is effectively a classic car with no autonomous control systems whatsoever. We then go through level 1, level 2 and level 3. Level 1 will control effectively either steering and acceleration or braking but not both. Level 2 will control both at times. Level 3 will not rely on the driver. The driver can be out of that loop for some parts of that journey, but if ADAS can't cope an alarm will go off. Level 4 is a fully autonomous vehicle. That car is limited to particular geography. Level 5 is can operate on its own absolutely anywhere. The problem with that is that it is a lot of use cases. The industry has been rubbish at explaining this. It just talks about autonomous. There are cars out there, and they are getting cleverer and all the ADAS features are moving us towards a fully autonomous vehicle. There is a big debate on whether or not an individual will ever own a level 4 vehicle, because of the maintenance required and the limitations. There is a big question mark over how the ownership model might change because of this." The day ended with a panel discussion, and the whole event provided plenty to think about. www.aftermarketonline.net