Thanks for that explanation. When I initially installed openpilot and mounted the unit on the windshield, I plugged it in and took off for a test drive with the wires dangling and the cover laying on the seat beside me.
I immediately initiated ACC while still on neighborhood streets and driving around 30-35 mph. When I got on the freeway it acted erratically or not at all. I was ready to return it for a refund. But after taking a deep breath and reading this thread I started over... took it inside, connected it a charger, Reset it and installed sunnypilot. Went back out and took it for another drive and waited to initiate ACC until I was on a highway with good lane markings going a steady 55mph. It's worked "perfectly" ever sense. By "perfectly" I mean "has met or exceeded my expectations."
My previous experience with lane keep assist is in a 2017 Audi with that feature, "stop & go," and "traffic jam assist." The Audi is a pleasure to drive in all aspects and it's "Driver's Assistance" is a huge help, especially on long trips. So much so that I was experiencing serious buyer's remorse when the RAM system proved so ineffectual in the 2019 Limited I recently purchased.
But with the Comma3 working this well it's actually markedly superior to the Audi.
- Comma "sees" the road more clearly and almost instantaneously in almost all reasonable conditions. The Audi sometimes takes a long while to see the lane markings and easily loses them, sometimes for no perceivable reason. The Audi is no help at all on roads without clear lane markings: with faded yellow lines on your left or on two lane roads with no white stripe on the right it can be more harmful than helpful.
- Comma doesn't annoy you with constant beeping to put your hands on the wheel. Even with your hands on the wheel, the Audi beeps on any straight road unless you jiggle the wheel within 15 seconds. It beeps so often you're tempted to ignore it.
- Comma doesn't "fight" you for control or make quick, unpredictable steering adjustments. The Audi often tries to take an exit and on rare occasions will swerve unexpectedly. For example, this morning there were light sprinkles that were causing distortions through the windshield. I was passing a truck in narrowed lanes when the Audi suddenly jerked to the right. Fortunately, I was anticipating that could happen and had my hands firmly on the wheel. I should have turned it off.
I suspect the Comma's advantages stem from the fact it "sees" the lanes and tries to steer down the lane, while the Audi only sees lines and tries to steer between them. I don't have enough experience with how the Comma deals with stop and go traffic jams to compare the Audi, but in limited experience it seems promising.