The continuing evolution of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) is critical to the auto industry’s path toward fully autonomous driving.

A complex network of cameras, sensors and control systems enhance vehicle safety and improve the overall driving experience. Systems range from adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency braking to more advanced features such as lane departure warning and traffic sign recognition.

A variety of hardware and software tools make ADAS work. Physical components include high-resolution sensors for environmental detection, such as cameras, lidar and radar.

The systems also incorporate high-performance computing units for processing the recorded data and deriving driving maneuvers, while actuators are used to execute steering and braking maneuvers. Each component plays a crucial role in gathering and processing data to provide real-time assistance and alerts to drivers.

The ADAS market is set to grow by $33.7 billion between 2024 and 2028, according to a TechNavio report, driven by declining sensor prices, increasing consumer demand for safety features and regulatory mandates. Major players include Tier One suppliers, such as Aptiv, Bosch, Continental, Magna, Valeo and ZF.

Like all automotive suppliers, those firms are attempting to maximize flexibility, accelerate innovation, improve efficiency and reduce costs, while ensuring they can continually enhance the end user experience.

Design Challenges

“One of the primary challenges is creating lightweight yet durable ADAS components that do not compromise vehicle performance or fuel efficiency,” says Pedro Pacheco, vice president of research at Gartner Inc. “Achieving this balance requires the integration of advanced materials and innovative design techniques.”

Product design and packaging are crucial, because every additional gram impacts fuel efficiency, which is particularly critical in electric vehicles, where weight directly affects the range. Smaller, lighter and more powerful components support fuel efficiency and performance. As packaging becomes smaller, the level of innovation increases on multiple fronts, including use of materials with greater durability.

Engineers are also designing products that feature improved thermal properties for heat dissipation. They’re turning to high-strength, low-weight materials, such as aluminum, magnesium and carbon fiber-reinforced polymers. These materials offer the necessary strength to protect sensitive electronic components while contributing minimally to overall vehicle weight.

Durability is another important consideration, because ADAS components must be designed to withstand environmental stresses without performance degradation over the lifetime of a vehicle. Electronics and sensors need to function under extreme temperatures, vibrations and harsh weather conditions.

Innovative design techniques, such as miniaturization, allow components to be seamlessly integrated into vehicles without taking up excessive space.

“Miniaturization helps reduce weight and improves the aerodynamic profile of vehicles, further enhancing fuel efficiency,” says Pacheco.

Increasing system variants and the need to meet individual customer preferences add to complexity, with each variation often requiring unique design adaptations. Collaboration with automakers is crucial to ensure that ADAS systems are seamlessly integrated into vehicle platforms.

Shorter development times and the need to produce tens of millions—if not hundreds of millions—of sensors further complicate the process, requiring faster and more efficient workflows.

“This has led the leaders in the ADAS market to invest heavily in research and development to produce components that are not only high-performing, but also cost-effective,” Pacheco points out.

Advanced driver assistance systems are critical to the auto industry's path toward fully autonomous driving. Illustration courtesy Continental AG

Diverse Products

One key ADAS component is the forward-facing camera, which is typically mounted on the windshield. It captures images and monitors road conditions, traffic signs and lane markings. Cameras also include surround-view devices that provide a 360-degree views to aid parking and maneuvering.

Long-range radar sensors are used for adaptive cruise control and automated emergency braking. They detect objects at greater distances to ensure timely responses. Short-range radar sensors assist in close-up detection for functions like blind-spot monitoring and cross-traffic alerts.

Lidar provides high-resolution spatial data, enabling precise detection of obstacles, pedestrians and other vehicles. It’s crucial for functions like collision avoidance, lane keeping and autonomous driving. The technology is popular because of its ability to operate in low light conditions and its high accuracy in measuring distances.

However, lidar’s drawbacks include its higher cost compared to other sensors, potential performance issues in adverse weather conditions like heavy rain or fog, and the complexity of integrating it with other sensor data.

In addition to the various sensors, electronic control units (ECUs) serve as the brains behind ADAS. They process data from various sensors and make real-time decisions to control vehicle systems.

This image processing module features advanced perception technology that enables safety driving functions. Photo courtesy ZF Group

“We have plants around the world where these components are made, including the U.S., Mexico, China and Europe,” says Jamie Hertza, divisional head of engineering for ADAS, electronics and autonomous vehicle systems at ZF Group. “We have a footprint that allows us to support customers around the globe, depending on what their particular footprint and vehicle profile looks like.”

According to Hertza, the assembly process for camera components is similar to many other types of electronic devices. It starts with a printed circuit board (PCB), where components are placed and then soldered through reflow and optical inspection.

“The unique aspect of camera manufacturing lies in the imager and lens assembly, which is often done offline,” explains Hertza. “Depending on the generation, there might be a secondary PCB or a ribbon involved.”

The production process involves calibrating the lens to the imager to ensure accurate optics and avoid distorted images.

The PCB is first assembled in the housing, followed by the imager assembly. The entire system is then calibrated to ensure it sees things correctly, focusing both the lens and the imager.

“The final assembly combines everything with screws or glue, depending on the camera model,” says Hertza. More than 90 percent of the process is automated to ensure quality.

Designed for Longevity

Magna International Inc. produces a wide range of ADAS products, including cameras, radar systems and lidar sensors. All of those devices must be designed to withstand various environmental conditions, including moisture, extreme temperatures and exposure to the elements. The challenge to engineers lies in ensuring the repeatability and precision of these sensors, which are crucial for navigation and hands-free scenarios.

“We have to think about the sensors as not just use-and-throw-away products,” says

Steven Jenkins, vice president of technical strategy at Magna. “ADAS sensors must function reliably in challenging environments, such as Death Valley, CA, or the cold climates of northern Sweden, and are expected to last for 15 years or more.

“You have to have something that really is placed well,” explains Jenkins. “The optical components in cameras must be accurately positioned to achieve optimal performance. Radar systems demand similar robustness and precision.

Each ADAS component plays a crucial role in gathering and processing data to provide real-time assistance and alerts to drivers. Illustration courtesy Magna International Inc.

“When we’re manufacturing these sensors, the placement, the alignment, the clean room, the types of glues—everything needs to be cured in a specific way,” notes Jenkins.

When producing camera heads, sensors must be placed in a clean room to avoid dust contamination. Accurate alignment tools ensure the camera lens and sensor are precisely positioned before assembly. Epoxy adhesive is often used for the active alignment of optical modules.

Post-assembly, the cameras are housed in metal casings, with further steps including alignment validation and performance calibration.

Automation also plays a key role in Magna’s production process: From X-ray scanning to verify joint accuracy to automated placement of screws and sensors, repetitive and precision tasks are largely automated. However, human oversight remains crucial for quality control, especially during configuration and calibration stages.

“Where we can automate repetitive tasks with high accuracy requirements, we do,” says Jenkins. “But, certain steps still require human involvement to ensure quality.”

Additional design challenges revolve around the size of the components, with the design of smaller ADAS sensors a complex balancing act. Reducing the size of components is critical for cost efficiency, material savings and ease of integration into various parts of vehicles.

“The smaller, the lighter the product is, the cheaper it will be to produce, because you use less material and need less complexity,” explains Jenkins.

Despite those design and production challenges, the trend toward smaller and smaller sensors is likely to continue, driven by the need for unobtrusive integration into vehicle designs. Automakers want cameras to be discreetly placed without creating unsightly bulges.

“As cameras get smaller, you can place them in more places around the vehicle,” notes Jenkins.

Lidar sensors play an important role in advanced driver assistance systems. Photo courtesy Valeo

Global Production Strategy

Valeo, another Tier One supplier, manufactures a diverse range of sensors, each tailored to specific ADAS functions. Ultrasonic sensors are among its product offerings. They’re primarily used for close-range detection in parking assistance systems, enabling vehicles to detect nearby obstacles accurately.

The company also produces an array of cameras, including front cameras that support forward-looking functions such as lane departure warning and traffic sign recognition. Surround-view cameras provide a 360-degree view to aid in parking and low-speed maneuvering.

Valeo is well-known for its radar sensors, which operate at various frequencies to ensure precise detection of objects at different distances. The French company also offers lidar sensors and thermal camera for high-resolution mapping of vehicle surroundings. All devices must ensure accuracy and precision, despite being exposed to vibrations and temperature fluctuations.

“Our production facilities are equipped to handle intricate assembly tasks, emphasizing cost-competitiveness and large-scale manufacturing, while ensuring high quality and durability over a decade of use over millions of kilometers,” says Antoine Lafay, driving assistance research director at Valeo. “Robust design and industrialization capability form the backbone of our camera production,”

Valeo recently expanded its portfolio by partnering with Teledyne FLIR, a leading producer of thermal cameras. Instead of traditional imagers, these cameras use microbolometers. The semiconductor-based imagers enable the detection of temperature variations in the infrared spectrum.

“This technology allows the cameras to function effectively in low visibility conditions, such as night, fog, rain or snow, and to detect living beings like animals in darkness,” explains Lafay.

Valeo employs a “mother-daughter” manufacturing strategy to enhance efficiency and ensure consistent quality across its global operations. This approach involves establishing a primary plant, referred to as the “mother” where new processes are developed and fine-tuned. Refined processes are then replicated in “daughter” plants around the world.

To address these challenges, Valeo focuses on standardizing products through a strong platform strategy.

“We design components that are generic enough to be adapted with minimal effort in both design and manufacturing,” says Lafay.

This approach allows the company to produce different variants of sensors on a single production line, minimizing the need for extensive adaptations; the mother-daughter plant model plays a crucial role in this strategy. For instance, Valeo’s main factory for ultrasonic sensors is in Germany, while satellite plants are located in China, Eastern Europe, India and Mexico.

“Our North American OEMs want sensors produced in North America, and Chinese OEMs want sensors produced in China,” explains Lafay.

By fine-tuning processes in the mother plant and deploying them globally, Valeo ensures that quality remains consistent across all locations, meeting local market demands and maintaining high standards.

According to Lafay, this strategic approach optimizes manufacturing efficiency and ensures locally produced components.

A complex network of cameras, sensors and control systems enhance vehicle safety and improve the overall driving experience. Illustration courtesy Magna International Inc.

Complex Products

Aptiv is another leading supplier of ADAS technology. Among other innovations, the company was the first to launch mechanically and electronically scanned radar, and its products have been embedded in millions of vehicles around the world.

“Our open, scalable ADAS platform unlocks advanced safety and automation capabilities across all vehicle platforms with advanced 360-degree perception systems, enabled by artificial intelligence and machine learning,” says Sandeep Punater, vice president and managing director of advanced safety at Aptiv.

“Creating the physical components of ADAS is challenging due to several factors,” claims Punater. “First, these are safety-critical components, so the integrity of each part is paramount. This demands world-class test software, processes and calibration.”

The variety of products and processes is extensive, spanning sensors like cameras, lidar and radar for different applications, as well as increasingly powerful and complex computer platforms. Additionally, all system components, including those from other suppliers, must be integrated and reflected in the manufacturing and testing processes.

“This requires close collaboration between engineering and manufacturing teams from the beginning to address the challenges and pressures in this highly competitive market,” notes Patrick Lohr, vice president of global operations and integrated supply chain at Aptiv. “This maximizes re-use and fosters continuous improvements across all locations in a global network.”

ADAS technology enables collision avoidance and lane departure warning. Illustration courtesy Volkswagen AG

Constant Evolution

Like most innovations in the auto industry, ADAS technology first appeared as a special features in luxury vehicles. Today, the goal is to enable the products to trickle all the way down to entry-level vehicle segments by making it more affordable to automakers and consumers.

“Achieving this will require optimizing design, reducing costs and gaining driver acceptance of these systems,” says Valeo’s Lafay. “For us, the challenge is to make this technology affordable enough for widespread deployment.”

The automotive industry is now focusing on manufacturability and repairability to enhance energy and material efficiency, creating products that are easier to repair, thereby contributing to sustainability. For instance, Valeo recently dedicated a French factory to recycling and remanufacturing cameras. It has also partnered with third-party companies that will repair and reintroduce ADAS devices into the market.

“More and more, our customers are asking for more repairable products,” notes Lafay, who says the old approach of discarding parts is no longer tenable.

“When you have a domain controller that costs hundreds of dollars, it’s not acceptable to throw it away,” Lafay points out. “This shift is not only due to cost concerns, but also the environmental impact.”

According to ZF’s Hertza, the next big evolution will be a move toward centralized ADAS architectures.

This involves remote sensor heads and consolidating all processing into a single ECU, which is referred to as a high-performance computer.

“Centralization could be on a completely central architecture or domain-based architecture, with remote sensor heads,” says Hertza. “This centralization trend is where the industry is heading, streamlining the processing power to a central point.”

In addition, ADAS functionality is transitioning toward artificial intelligence-driven functions. Suppliers are exploring various set ups, from diverse networks with some hand-coded elements to fully end-to-end neural networks.

“The big research area is how best to use AI, what is the most efficient neural network architecture, and transitioning from today’s rule-based systems to really AI-based systems,” says Hertza.

This shift toward AI also raises significant questions about cybersecurity and safety. Different vendors are experimenting with various approaches, but the central challenge remains ensuring that AI-driven ADAS systems meet the stringent safety and regulatory standards required for widespread adoption.

“What does that mean for safety?” asks Hertza. “That’s the big question everyone in the industry is trying to answer.”