Calibration Research Tips: Ford/Lincoln ADAS Suites

While searching for information on advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) on an OEM repair information site, you may come across unique calibration procedures or events. These events can vary by year and model, even within a particular make. As the RTS team has been researching these systems, we have been identifying these atypical circumstances. In order to help you better understand them, we are putting together a series of articles that help with the repair and calibration of ADAS. Let’s take a closer look at Ford/Lincoln.

Some Ford and Lincoln vehicles have available systems called:

  • Active Drive Assist
  • Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control
  • Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control With Lane Centering
  • Adaptive Cruise Control With Lane Centering

These systems are ADAS suites that are made up of a combination of different ADAS. Let’s go into detail about these three ADAS suites.

Active Drive Assist, also known as highway assist, is a suite that maintains the vehicle speed and keeps the vehicle centered in the lane. This system also allows "hands-free" driving in certain situations. The ADAS that is combined to make this suite are:

  • Adaptive cruise control (Adaptive Cruise Control)
  • Lane keep assist (Lane Keeping System)

Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control is a suite that maintains and adjusts speed based on speed limit signs on the road. The ADAS that are combined to make this suite are:

  • Adaptive cruise control (Adaptive Cruise Control)
  • Traffic sign recognition (Speed Sign Recognition)

Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control With Lane Centering is a suite that maintains and adjusts speed based on speed limit signs on the road, while keeping the vehicle centered in the lane. The ADAS that are combined to make this suite are:

  • Adaptive cruise control (Adaptive Cruise Control)
  • Traffic sign recognition (Speed Sign Recognition)
  • Lane keep assist (Lane Keeping System)

Adaptive Cruise Control With Lane Centering is a suite that maintains vehicle speed while keeping the vehicle centered in the lane. The ADAS that are combined to make this suite are:

  • Adaptive cruise control (Adaptive Cruise Control)
  • Lane keep assist (Lane Keeping System)

The inputs (cameras/sensors) used for these ADAS suites are:

  • Cruise Control Module (CCM), which is a radar sensor that is typically behind the front bumper cover/grille.
  • Image Processing Module A (IPMA) Camera, which is a forward-facing camera near the rearview mirror.

Another camera that is typically used for the Active Drive Assist system is the Driver Status Monitor Camera that is a camera mounted in the dash panel that allows the vehicle to monitor the driver's attentiveness.

Understanding Ford/Lincoln ADAS is important when it comes to diagnosis and calibration. It is important to know that all of these systems are working together to form an ADAS package, while sharing a camera and a radar sensor as inputs. This means that if one of the inputs is not calibrated or it is damaged, it can cause more than one system to become inoperative.

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