[Image by Ascential linked to their website via
At ADAS Depot, we believe selling the tool is just the start—helping shops use it well, prove results, and drive ROI is the mission. We sat down with Bruno Moretti, President of Ascential Technologies—which recently published a well-read white paper on ADAS—to talk calibrations, ADAS, and where regulation is headed.
Redefining “a good calibration”
A standout theme in our conversation: evidence. Ascential built a study to answer a basic but strangely unanswered question—what does good look like? They wanted to distinguish between three types of calibrations:
- Baseline vehicle performance after time in the field
- Poor calibration practices (common shortcuts seen in the field)
- No calibration at all
The results affirmed what many technicians suspect: poor or skipped calibrations hurt system performance. More surprising: even the baseline showed measurable drift. That points to a future where calibration becomes a scheduled maintenance item—e.g., mileage- or time-based—rather than only a post-collision step.
Policy tailwinds and an industry coalition
Ascential isn’t waiting for policy to arrive. They’ve briefed House and Senate subcommittees and are assembling a coalition, including names like Opus, Revv, AirPro, Repairify, and Caliber, to pursue:
- Mandated post-collision calibrations when required
- Recognition of periodic ADAS maintenance
- Language for verification in transportation reauthorization
From our vantage point in California, we also see potential with the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR). The state’s smog program proves that high-volume, low-friction testing networks are possible. If ADAS verification can match that throughput and deliver accuracy, BAR’s decentralized testing program could be a model.
Data as a strategy (and why we’re aligned)
Ascential’s team is very data-driven. Their first white paper quantified how poor/no calibration degrades performance and flagged baseline drift. The next paper may focus on the economic net benefit of proper calibrations across safety outcomes, insurance costs, and consumer impact.
That meshes with ADAS Depot’s approach. We see that the aftermarket industry has a lack of data available to industry players. As a distributor, we pair equipment with education and ROI guidance, and we publish an annual benchmarking survey of calibration shops. Recent highlights:
- Many respondents reported strong year-over-year growth
- Insurance friction remains the #1 headache
- Wide spreads in what shops charge for front radar, LDW, AVM, BSM, and dynamic procedures: this underscores the need for standards and transparency
What this means for shops—right now
- Education is key: Educate your customers, the public, and, similar to Ascential, even policymakers and regulators. Let people know that these are an essential part of automotive repair, armed with the knowledge that ADAS system drift happens in vehicles that have not been calibrated in a while.
- Adopt verification thinking: Expect more customers, insurers, and regulators to seek evidence that systems behave correctly after service—not just a DTC-free scan. Some players like ADAS TRAK are developing documentation software that helps shops justify calibrations.
- Plan for ADAS maintenance: Start preparing for a world where ADAS calibration may move toward time/mileage-based schedules as evidence of drift builds. Watch regulations in other states as precursors to rollouts in other states.
The bottom line
The industry is moving from “Did you calibrate?” to “Can you prove it works?” and is now beginning to ask “how long are the calibrations good for?” We appreciate how thought leaders like Ascential are gathering data and relaying it back to the industry for further discussion and dissection. ADAS Depot hopes to play a role in standardizing calibrations with our benchmarking survey and other informational guides.
Want the latest ADAS Depot Benchmarking Survey or a walkthrough of automated calibration + verification workflows? Get in touch—we’ll share the data and help map the ROI for your shop.
