Level-2 suite of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) features on the India-market Honda City, Elevate and now the third-generation Honda Amaze, is enabled by French Tier-1 major Valeo’s cost-effective, front-mounted camera module with integrated microcontroller.
15 Mar 2025 | 971 Views | By Mayank Dhingra
Honda Cars India, which has become the sole OEM in the country to offer Advanced Driver Assistance Systems or ADAS features across its three-vehicle portfolio including the Honda City, Elevate and Amaze, has committed to move towards a collision-free society. With the launch of the third-generation Honda Amaze compact sedan ...
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Honda Cars India, which has become the sole OEM in the country to offer Advanced Driver Assistance Systems or ADAS features across its three-vehicle portfolio including the Honda City, Elevate and Amaze, has committed to move towards a collision-free society. With the launch of the third-generation Honda Amaze compact sedan in December 2024, the Japanese carmaker democratised this life-saving safety technology that is increasingly being embraced by the Indian passenger vehicle buyer.
Marketed under its globally-renowned brand – Honda Sensing – the Level-2 ADAS package is designed to enhance safety and driving convenience by offering features such as adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, and collision mitigation braking (CMBS) – also popularly known as autonomous emergency braking – across ADAS suites offered by various OEMs.
Honda Sensing, which represents the Japanese automaker’s commitment towards safer and more intelligent mobility, is a vision-based ADAS system that relies on a high-resolution monocular camera mounted behind the front windshield. This camera continuously scans the road ahead, detecting vehicles, pedestrians, and other obstacles to optimise the driver’s response time and enhance road safety.
Among the key enablers of this system is French Tier-1 supplier Valeo, which provides this front-windshield-mounted camera module – the prime component that empowers Honda Sensing to deliver its advanced functionalities. Globally, Valeo has been a supplier of advanced safety systems on Honda’s models, and in 2021, the French major won the Honda Supplier Award for equipping the Honda Legend with world’s first Level-3 automated driving system authorised for commercial use. The system featured five Valeo Scala 3D LiDARs and two front cameras.
VALEO'S COST-EFFECTIVE ADAS SOLUTION
On Honda’s offerings in India, Valeo’s high-resolution front-mounted camera module serves as the backbone of Honda Sensing by capturing and processing real-time data to enable accurate object recognition, lane detection, and predictive braking responses.
Honda uses Valeo’s Smart Front Camera all its three models on sale in India: the Amaze and City sedans, and the Elevate midsize SUV.
Doing duty in the three models currently on sale in Honda’s India portfolio is Valeo’s Smart Front Camera, which, with its Smart Cam Entry module offers a cost-effective and scalable front camera-based one-box ADAS solution. The wide-angle camera with its 120-degree field of view and sophisticated software algorithms embedded within the camera module ensure precise monitoring of the surroundings, making Honda Sensing constantly work in the background. The camera is powered by computer vision technology from MobilEye, and leverages Infineon’s Aurix TC3x7 family to derive its host microcontroller.
However, while with a sole camera-based integrated setup, the system significantly reduces cost by eliminating other sensors such as radars and LiDARs, it limits the technology’s performance and efficacy in low-light conditions such as those encountered while driving through a tunnel, or under heavy fog and rain. The performance is also hindered if the camera’s view is obstructed by dirt, mud, or any accessory or sticker that blocks its view outside.
KEY HONDA SENSING ADAS FEATURES
Honda’s ADAS technology includes a host of features that collectively provide a partially-autonomous driving experience, mitigating risks and reducing driver fatigue, particularly on long journeys. The Honda Sensing suite on the Elevate, City and Amaze includes several active safety features that operate through real-time data analysis from the Valeo-supplied camera. Some of the prominent Level-2 ADAS functionalities in these cars include:
If the driver fails to react, CMBS automatically applies the brakes to minimise impact or avoid the collision altogether. This technology is especially beneficial in urban environments, particularly when the vehicle speed is between 5kph to 30kph, and where sudden braking due to erratic traffic movements is common.
These are some of the main features on offer with Honda’s camera-enabled ADAS suite. While ADAS is a continuously evolving technology that is increasingly making its way into modern cars, trucks, and other multi-wheeled vehicles, India is likely to see a faster adoption of the technology, with as much as 50% penetration likely by 2030. According to industry experts, a regulatory push will give a fillip to ADAS adoption, thus, driving costs further down for mass implementation.
Moreover, while the primary goal of ADAS is to enhance road safety, the technology is also often seen getting misused with several users neglecting the requirement of continuous driver attentiveness. While Level-2 systems may offer the convenience of the vehicle driving, maintaining a lane, and braking on its own, the technology is still what can be termed as semi-autonomous driving. Hence, user awareness is critical to drive the safe and effective usage of ADAS in India.