Automobile technology has progressed leaps and bounds in the last 20 years. Whether it’s in the form of increased fuel efficiency, improved airbag deployment, or the electric vehicle revolution, the automotive industry stays on the forefront of technological evolution. However, some of the safest advancements, and the ones we work most closely with in the auto glass world, is ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) which include features like adaptive cruise control, lane sway warnings, and hazard detection- sometimes forcing the vehicle to take corrective action before the driver has time to react. ADAS has become synonymous with driver safety; in fact, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety recently predicted that ADAS features have potential to prevent 37 million crashes, 14 million injuries and nearly 250,000 deaths over the next 30 years. That being said, vehicles’ ADAS features need sometimes to be maintained just like any other vehicle component, which has become an integral part in windshield replacement since the front-facing camera that the safety features depend on looks through the windshield. That’s where camera “recalibrations” come into play so that the camera can be re-focused through the new piece of glass. An easy analogy to understand this is as someone blinks to refocus their eyes after putting on a pair of eyeglasses. The recalibration process is essentially “blinking” to refocus the ADAS camera through the new windshield.
Each year, make, and model of vehicles with ADAS features requires its own unique camera recalibration process, but can most often be divided into two categories: static or dynamic (there is also a third category called dual recalibration, but more on that later.) Whether a car requires a static or dynamic recalibration relies entirely on how the manufacturer designed its front-facing camera, but it can most often be determined by whether the manufacturer is a domestic company (US based) or a foreign company (based outside of the US.)
Domestic vehicle manufacturers such as Ford, GMC, Chrysler/Ram, and Chevy most often require dynamic recalibrations. The process of a dynamic recalibration is straight forward; we (the auto glass shop or vehicle dealership) connect to the front camera via a specialized diagnostic tool and proceed to drive the vehicle on a well-paved and painted road. The camera then can see the lines, lanes, and signs on the road, and recalibrate itself to be properly aligned through the new windshield. Foreign manufacturers like Toyota/Lexus, Honda/Acura, Audi and Subaru on the other hand require static recalibrations. Static recalibrations require more equipment than dynamic ones because the recalibration process requires specialized targets that the camera focuses on in a stationary state. The camera recognizes the patterns on the targets and orients itself so that it refocuses through the new windshield properly. It works similarly to how a cell phone recognizes a QR code and directs the user to a specific website. Each year, make, and model have their own pattern that the car recognizes; and the recalibration will not work if the wrong target is used.
As mentioned before, there is a third category of recalibrations that is starting to appear more in newer vehicles and that is dual calibrations. Dual calibrations are simply a combination of dynamic and static calibrations; often starting with a static calibration and then proceeding into a dynamic calibration.
ADAS features are the industry standard for driver safety nowadays and are heavily affected by windshield replacement. That’s why it is very important that you trust an experienced and reputable auto glass shop like Roadrunner Auto Glass and Window Tint to recalibrate those features to ensure yours and others’ safety!