I-CAR announced at the SEMA Show a groundbreaking information resource for collision repair professionals: a vehicle-by-vehicle guide to calibration requirements for advanced driver assist systems (ADAS) for every 2016 make and model sold in the U.S.
The “OEM Calibration Requirements Search” feature, available online through the I-CAR Repairability Technical Support (RTS) Portal, describes calibration requirements for each vehicle when repairing vehicles equipped with systems such as:
- Adaptive cruise control
- Active park assist
- 360-degree camera
- Collision warning
- Collision braking
- Blind spot detection
- Lane departure warning
- Lane keep assist
- Backup assist
This type of calibration guide is the first of its kind in the collision repair industry and will be available exclusively to current RTS Portal subscribers. The portal is free to professionals at I-CAR Gold Class and Road to Gold shops, those who have earned Platinum recognition and individuals currently undergoing training. There are approximately 110,000 current subscribers.
“I-CAR is committed to helping the industry respond to the ‘technical tsunami’ and the emerging arena of diagnostics, or scanning, and calibration is an area where I-CAR has established an industry leadership role to ensure proper knowledge and skills are developed and applied in the repair process,” said I-CAR CEO and President John Van Alstyne. “We are actively working with the inter-industry to clarify and resolve points of technical confusion, and developing related information tools and curriculum enhancements that will roll out in the coming years. This new search tool, which represents hundreds of hours of time to develop, is representative of the value our Repairability Technical Support, or RTS services, are delivering to the inter-industry.”
The first phase of the calibration matrix, being released on Nov. 1st, 2016, will include information on up to 90 percent of 2016 model-year vehicles sold in the U.S. In early 2017, I-CAR expects to have 100 percent coverage of 2016 U.S. models, with a focus on 2017 model-year vehicles and ongoing tool enhancements beginning shortly thereafter.
“I-CAR believes this will be a great resource for repair professionals to leverage during the damage analysis process,” said Jason Bartanen, I-CAR director of Industry Technical Relations, who demonstrated the tool onstage at SEMA. “If, during damage analysis/blueprinting, an estimator or auto physical damage appraiser (APDA) identifies that a vehicle is equipped with ADAS, a quick visit to the RTS Portal will identify those conditions that will require post-repair calibration for that system. This will help in development of the repair plan, and doing this work in advance will improve cycle time.”
Users can search on the matrix for the vehicle make and model they are repairing. The listings, which are color-coded for each system, display all of the options and events that will necessitate calibrations for that system. For each safety option, the calibration matrix shows which cameras and sensors are involved, where they are located and the calibrations required for them. Conversely, it shows which ADAS are affected by each camera and sensor. The listing also indicates whether scan tools and/or special tools are required for the calibrations and whether the system will illuminate a Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) or set a Diagnostic Trouble Code (DTC) if the system detects an error during the pre- or post-scanning process. Troubleshooting notes are included with each calibration.
In addition to furnishing calibration information, the search function provides links to vehicle system definitions, repair information from each automaker and additional information housed in the portal.
A preview of the calibration matrix is available here. To learn how to subscribe to the RTS Portal, visit https://rts.i-car.com/.
