Comma.ai

[Darksteel165]

Factory lane keep assist on RAM is a peace of junk. Comma 3 is completely different. Just noted the new price on their website. I paid $2200 14 months ago. One of the best purchases I ever made. Last SunnyPilot fork is so nice.

I don't think the factory lane keep is a peace of junk, it has kept me inside the lanes late at night

The reduced the price because it has become cheaper for them to make them. Not that they are using cheaper parts, but they have been able to do a lot in house now. I was one of the first to get it for the Ram and it has gotten so much better now than when we first started. We still have a few things to implement, but it just takes a lot of stress out of driving. I don't have any videos from my perspective, but I do have some from the Comma device. It is still a level 2 self-driving device which means you have to still pay attention. It can't sense other cars crossing into your lane if it can't see them. Its eyes are mostly out the windshield. It can see some of the sides, but again, you wouldn't want to ever rely on it. I cannot recommend it enough.

Yeah I wasn't inciting they started to use crap parts, just that the price is down.


The problem that you say you need to "still pay attention" depending on what action I need to take would be my problem.
For example I know if I set my cruse control (regular) to 74mph it will always be at or around 74mpg. I have 0 reason to look at my speed as it works 100% of the time.

If I use my speed adaptive cruise control and set to 74, I need to watch out for cars in front of me, or that go into my lane as the truck will legit slam on the bakes wasting gas be causing me to need to accelerate almost a second after it locked up the brakes
When using speed adaptive control I end up paying attention to exactly how close I get to the car in front of me so I can change lanes BEFORE it slows down, and also if a car pulls in front of me I need to turn it off to prevent it from slamming on the brakes when I can just take my foot off the gas and still have enough room in front of me.

You also say that it can't sense other cars crossing into my lane if it can't see them, but it leverages the built in cameras for the surround view doesn't it? Or can it only look straight?
With speed adaptive cruise control from the standpoint of not hitting anything I have never had a problem when the truck would of hit something, in fact it hit the breaks on the highway when the car 20 feet in front of me became part of a 3 car pile up. I took control a second after once I realized it was an accident and completely stopped to let the dust settle and then go around.

What I am concentered about are some of the things in the video where it was on the highway on a very minor looking bend, it went 50% into the lane left of the vehicle and there was an SUV that JUST passed the car, if it had weaved 5 seconds earlier it would of hit an SUV and caused a major accident possibly a death as it would of pushed an SUV left into a 3 lane highway.

I am also concerned if it ever would decide to just stop on the highway. My adaptive cruise control has SOMETIMES hit the breaks for no reason but it's super super rare, and it never stops completely, but I have seen it go down to 50mph when set at 74 because I slammed my foot on the gas confused and turned it off.

If anyone can upload some footage to like Youtube with a private link it something it would be much apricated.

 

[vincentw56]

As of right now, gas and brake are using the stock ACC system. I've never once had it go over the line and almost hit someone. I've had others come into my lane and I've had to take over. I even had a semi run me off the road. It does not use the 360 camera system. It has its own cameras. I didn't watch the video enough to see what you saw. But from my own experiences, this has been far safer than me driving during long distances. Stock ACC works well and it can go all the way to a stop and auto resume. As far as causing an accident, yes, that's a possibility because it isn't perfect just like us. If you aren't paying attention, there can be issues. I will say, I'd trust it more than most people on the road.

I'll work on getting a video uploaded to YouTube.

 

[Darksteel165]

As of right now, gas and brake are using the stock ACC system. I've never once had it go over the line and almost hit someone. I've had others come into my lane and I've had to take over. I even had a semi run me off the road. It does not use the 360 camera system. It has its own cameras. I didn't watch the video enough to see what you saw. But from my own experiences, this has been far safer than me driving during long distances. Stock ACC works well and it can go all the way to a stop and auto resume. As far as causing an accident, yes, that's a possibility because it isn't perfect just like us. If you aren't paying attention, there can be issues. I will say, I'd trust it more than most people on the road.

I'll work on getting a video uploaded to YouTube.

Yeah the section that concerned me is from 1:41 1:45
Need to change the video speed to .25 to match actual driving speed
at 1:42 the truck stats to swerve into the left lane right after an SUV passed by 1:43 the truck is 50% into the other person's lane, then it goes back into it's own lane.
I don't think I would be expecting to grab my steering wheel if that happened

Here is the clip (change speed)

YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtube.com

 

[vincentw56]

Yeah the section that concerned me is from 1:41 1:45
Need to change the video speed to .25 to match actual driving speed
at 1:42 the truck stats to swerve into the left lane right after an SUV passed by 1:43 the truck is 50% into the other person's lane, then it goes back into it's own lane.
I don't think I would be expecting to grab my steering wheel if that happened

Here is the clip (change speed)

YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtube.com

I saw it. And yes, that can happen on turns if it runs out of torque in the steering wheel. The Comma will warn you before that happens. So, yes, you need to still be alert. It's not real common, but it does happen. BTW, they are not in a truck.

 

[Darksteel165]

I saw it. And yes, that can happen on turns if it runs out of torque in the steering wheel. The Comma will warn you before that happens. So, yes, you need to still be alert. It's not real common, but it does happen. BTW, they are not in a truck.

They are in a Kia EV I think.
I didn't see a warning in the video, and the person never grabbed the wheel? Maybe it was just for the video?

Getting warned BEFORE it needs you would be fine, is it like a beep or something?

 

[Trooper4]

They are in a Kia EV I think.
I didn't see a warning in the video, and the person never grabbed the wheel? Maybe it was just for the video?

Getting warned BEFORE it needs you would be fine, is it like a beep or something?

What you saw was possibly perspective. What you see is from the centerline if the car, and from behind the drivers view. That is why he never reacted. He saw more than you saw from the video view. And remember, driving is a participatory thing. The Comma is not self driving autopilot, and like regular driving, you shouldn't use it if you aren't awake and aware of what is going on around you. The only side sensor it use in the blind spot sensor. In my ram, it will not change lanes if I activate it, and the sensor detects another car.
Also of note is that the drive to Taco Bell is a testbed version. The Ram software is not at that point yet. Correct me if I am wrong there Vincent.

 

[vincentw56]

They are in a Kia EV I think.
I didn't see a warning in the video, and the person never grabbed the wheel? Maybe it was just for the video?

Getting warned BEFORE it needs you would be fine, is it like a beep or something?

It's a constant sound and a warning on the Comma screen. Honestly, I can't comment on other vehicles just the Ram. I would really suggest to take advantage of their 30 day money back. You need to experience it for yourself. I've never heard one person returning it after using it.

 

[Darksteel165]

It's a constant sound and a warning on the Comma screen. Honestly, I can't comment on other vehicles just the Ram. I would really suggest to take advantage of their 30 day money back. You need to experience it for yourself. I've never heard one person returning it after using it.

I think i'm getting the point of just trying it.
I have have poor luck lately with new tech so i'm trying to be extra cautious.

I had a Sense device for 2-3 months and after reaching out several times to the manufacturer got the response that it doesn't work to do what it was advertised to do, and blamed it on AI learning. Luckily I was able to return it back to Amazon due to it's extended return policy for the holidays but I really wanted it to work. But that device was only around $360 of parts and I only lost around $40 of non-returnable parts on it.

I'm also leveraging the fact it's a regular dashcam also on a proper SSD and no on SDHC cards that always die and don't realize until you need it.
The 250GB version would be perfect with me as I would never need 1TB of footage as I would extract it somehow if and when I needed it. Sounds like I can plug into it to extract it, or maybe connect to a hotspot?

I reached out to Malodave as I think he makes some bracket or something to make these fit good in the Ram, vs just sticking it onto the windshield? I assume I need to buy the entire $200 "harness" or can I use my own cabling also?

Is is also possible to use PoE from something besides the ODB2 connector so I can plug my tuner or ODB2-BT adaptors in, or would I just remove the Comma3 plug when I need connect in?
Or maybe I can use something like this https://www.amazon.com/bbfly-A9-Splitter-Extension-Female-Adapter/dp/B0711LGRGQ/




Thanks again for all the info.

 

[vincentw56]

You can build your own harness, but you still need the dev harness because of the interface box. I would recommend buying their harness for the Ram. If Malodave doesn't get back to you, I can print the mount also. The ODB plug is only there to provide power when the vehicle is shutdown. Otherwise it has to do a full boot when you start the truck. So, you can either use an ODB y spilter or pass through or just unplug it when you need to use the port whiches what I do.

 

[Darksteel165]

You can build your own harness, but you still need the dev harness because of the interface box. I would recommend buying their harness for the Ram. If Malodave doesn't get back to you, I can print the mount also. The ODB plug is only there to provide power when the vehicle is shutdown. Otherwise it has to do a full boot when you start the truck. So, you can either use an ODB y spilter or pass through or just unplug it when you need to use the port whiches what I do.

If I don't mind waiting for a full boot can I avoid running any cables to my ODB2 connection at all for a cleaner setup?
I'm assuming its maybe 60-180 seconds for a boot?

I also don't want to build my own harness. I hate working with small wires.

 

[vincentw56]

If I don't mind waiting for a full boot can I avoid running any cables to my ODB2 connection at all for a cleaner setup?
I'm assuming its maybe 60-180 seconds for a boot?

I also don't want to build my own harness. I hate working with small wires.

Yes, you don't really need to OBD connection. It's only for power. I ran my above the windshield and down the A pillar. You can't see any of the wires.

 

[Darksteel165]

Ah good info.
I did see a video where the cable tucks away pretty easily.

I think I'm going to place an order for the 250gb varient on Monday.
I'll need to eventually find that bracket thingy I suppose. I don't know anyone with a 3d printer and I don't have the creative juices to bother purchasing one.

Worse case scenario if for some crazy reason it doesn't work well for me I'll probbly keep it as a very high quality dash cam recording to real storage. I have had problems with dash amd stop recording but you don't know until you go to grab footage and realize it's not there because they always use crappy SD cards.

My expectations are pretty low though. Just take the wheel for me on the highway. I enjoy driving too much to let it drive me on regular roads anyways. I can't even stand to sit in the passenger seat of wife's truck so she always let's me drive.

I am just very sceptical of self driving cars as I work in IT and I have seen so many things that seem cool and are auactally horrifying in practice. I havnt seen anything bad about comma ai though to be fair, at least not really bad. Nothing is perfect.

 

[vincentw56]

I can print you the bracket. Send me a PM for more info.

 

[Trooper4]

Ah good info.
I did see a video where the cable tucks away pretty easily.

I think I'm going to place an order for the 250gb varient on Monday.
I'll need to eventually find that bracket thingy I suppose. I don't know anyone with a 3d printer and I don't have the creative juices to bother purchasing one.

Worse case scenario if for some crazy reason it doesn't work well for me I'll probbly keep it as a very high quality dash cam recording to real storage. I have had problems with dash amd stop recording but you don't know until you go to grab footage and realize it's not there because they always use crappy SD cards.

My expectations are pretty low though. Just take the wheel for me on the highway. I enjoy driving too much to let it drive me on regular roads anyways. I can't even stand to sit in the passenger seat of wife's truck so she always let's me drive.

I am just very sceptical of self driving cars as I work in IT and I have seen so many things that seem cool and are auactally horrifying in practice. I havnt seen anything bad about comma ai though to be fair, at least not really bad. Nothing is perfect.

One recommendation is to join the discord ram group. A real wealth of information and help when you need it.

 

[Malodave]

I think i'm getting the point of just trying it.

I reached out to Malodave as I think he makes some bracket or something to make these fit good in the Ram, vs just sticking it onto the windshield? I assume I need to buy the entire $200 "harness" or can I use my own cabling also?


Thanks again for all the info.

DarkSteel

Where in Mass are you located? I live in Rindge NH and work in Hollis NH. I can give you a Demo ride if you want.

Malodave

 

[Darksteel165]

DarkSteel

Where in Mass are you located? I live in Rindge NH and work in Hollis NH. I can give you a Demo ride if you want.

Malodave

I'm in Shrewsbury.
You did offer before but I havn't been out your direction since. Working out to Springfield MA, near cape cod, and south of Prov RI so all the wrong directions from you.

I think i'm just going to roll the dice and order it (250GB with harness) and get the bracket from you and I think that covers everything I would need to buy.

 

[StuartV]

I'm still running a Comma 2 - which I bought used for $500, with the harness kit, except for the actual RAM wiring harness (another $20 from malodave).

None of the new development is being ported to the Comma 2, as far as I know. But, I have Steer-to-Zero, so I really cannot see any reason to spend for a Comma 3 at this point - even at the somewhat cheaper price. If it gets down to the same price that the Comma 2 sold for ($999), I'll probably buy a new one.

I can't remember exactly when I installed my Comma, but I think I've put about 15K miles on my truck since I put it in and I use it about 90% of the time - even in city traffic. It is not perfect, but it is awesome. It has DEFINITELY made long drives a LOT safer and easier, for me.

 

[StuartV]

So, as @Darksteel165 asked, what IS the current state of OpenPilot for RAM?

Is there anything new beyond steer-to-zero? Even in the custom forks?

Does it yet automatically slow down for curves? Recognize Stop signs or traffic lights?

 

[Malodave]

So, as @Darksteel165 asked, what IS the current state of OpenPilot for RAM?

Is there anything new beyond steer-to-zero? Even in the custom forks?

Does it yet automatically slow down for curves? Recognize Stop signs or traffic lights?

That will have to come once we get Long Control. There is a $ Bounty pledged for someone to do the Firmware
Update so everyone can get the full Steer to Zero and Extra Torque.

Malodave

 

[Darksteel165]

Did anyone happen to have any highway footage to share?