2021 F-150 CoPilot 360 hack for completely hands free driving

[Sentinel1201]

Yes you are correct. I saw another moron doing this on a two lane road in a snowstorm! With oncoming traffic. Fortunately nature has a way of getting rid of these idiots… just don’t take mom and her kids with you.

People with this kind of attitude never change the world. Try and be more open minded about tech instead of bashing it. We won't get to solving world hunger or going to Mars by being risk averse and hiding in the comfort what we know well.

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[xtraman122]

I weighed my little makeshift device with the socket, it was 1lb 3.5oz. And that seems to be about the minimum to keep it happy. Only once it popped up when the message for a second then cleared itself, otherwise it’s never complained. I did try just stuffing a water bottle in the little opening at the 6:00 position on the wheel, but it wasn’t making enough resistance to keep it happy.

 

[RT21KRH]

People with this kind of attitude never change the world. Try and be more open minded about tech instead of bashing it. We won't get to solving world hunger or going to Mars by being risk averse and hiding in the comfort what we know well.

I’m all for high tech it’s what I do for a living, including neural control systems. If you want to do this don’t do it on public roads… rent a race track and test there. Or go to school, get a Ph.D. in control system design and apply for a job at Ford Research. Do you actually think an ankle weight on your steering wheel is a robust solution?

 

[Sentinel1201]

Again, if the mainstream "get a job at Ford Research" was the only way to innovate, we won't have Elon Musk who is a college dropout literally changing the way humanity goes about living.

Using an ankle weight is an experiment. I'm sure Ford will counter it with an OTA, and another workaround will be invented. That's how the state of thinking moves forward - with a zig and a zag. If everyone kept their hands firmly planted on the wheel (which is incredibly 100% dumb design decision by Ford BTW as it completely negates the advantage of lane centering), we won't have any innovation.

 

[RT21KRH]

Again, if the mainstream "get a job at Ford Research" was the only way to innovate, we won't have Elon Musk who is a college dropout literally changing the way humanity goes about living.

Using an ankle weight is an experiment. I'm sure Ford will counter it with an OTA, and another workaround will be invented. That's how the state of thinking moves forward - with a zig and a zag. If everyone kept their hands firmly planted on the wheel (which is incredibly 100% dumb design decision by Ford BTW as it completely negates the advantage of lane centering), we won't have any innovation.

I’m all for experiments and doing these things safely. As for the forum when people develop a work around for e.g auto start/stop that is great. There is a lot of good info on the forum. But the issue here is the sensitivity parameters that are embedded in the software that are set to intervene sooner rather than later to coax you to put your hands back on the wheel. There are unintended consequences if you try to trick the system by applying a weight. In this case the car came “close” to the concrete barrier at 78 MPH. The engineers that tune the parameters already know this, they test the crap out of the algorithm. They set the parameters to reduce the reaction time for the driver to respond in an emergency.

 

[HCFX]

Wild. I don't think I could trust this. I've briefly tried out all of my copilot stuff that came standard on my 502a and wasn't at all impressed. Evidently I do a much better job of driving my truck than it does. All it takes is one glitch and it could go haywire real quick. At least if I f%*k up I have only myself to blame...

Ford would save a lot of chips by offering copilot delete packages for those that don't want it. I love my Lariat creature comforts like heated steering wheel and cooled seats but have absolutely zero use for driver assistance.

 

[RT21KRH]

Again, if the mainstream "get a job at Ford Research" was the only way to innovate, we won't have Elon Musk who is a college dropout literally changing the way humanity goes about living.

Using an ankle weight is an experiment. I'm sure Ford will counter it with an OTA, and another workaround will be invented. That's how the state of thinking moves forward - with a zig and a zag. If everyone kept their hands firmly planted on the wheel (which is incredibly 100% dumb design decision by Ford BTW as it completely negates the advantage of lane centering), we won't have any innovation.

BTW posting on You Tube is mainstream working at Ford Research or JPL, Apple, Google etc isn’t. There are a lot of very smart people at Ford Research (and Tesla) developing these vehicles and control systems. I’m very happy the USA can compete with Japan and Germany.

 

[mwf5888]

I had Adaptive Cruise on my 2018 and I have the 360 Prep Pkg and Intelligent Cruise on my 2021. I have enjoyed both. I drove 1180 miles to South Florida last weekend and will be returning this weekend. My Lane Centering and Intelligent Cruise has worked great.

That being said, I don't take my hands of the wheel. I don't mind the assist but will override in a number of situations. I have been beside semi trucks and they are veering into my lane and I move to the left to avoid them. This system can't do that nor would I trust it to do that.

I also watch all entry ramps and move over when there are vehicles entering the highway. I also move over when I see that semi trucks are approaching slower moving vehicles and will need to move over to pass and I move over to allow them to pass.

I used my Lane Centering / Intelligent Cruise all the way to Florida and will do so all the way back.

 

[ricardos]

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[xtraman122]

I had Adaptive Cruise on my 2018 and I have the 360 Prep Pkg and Intelligent Cruise on my 2021. I have enjoyed both. I drove 1180 miles to South Florida last weekend and will be returning this weekend. My Lane Centering and Intelligent Cruise has worked great.

That being said, I don't take my hands of the wheel. I don't mind the assist but will override in a number of situations. I have been beside semi trucks and they are veering into my lane and I move to the left to avoid them. This system can't do that nor would I trust it to do that.

I also watch all entry ramps and move over when there are vehicles entering the highway. I also move over when I see that semi trucks are approaching slower moving vehicles and will need to move over to pass and I move over to allow them to pass.

I used my Lane Centering / Intelligent Cruise all the way to Florida and will do so all the way back.

I do most of the same stuff - I always get ready to take over whenever I go past on/off ramps and am definitely a little nervous passing big trucks (Or any other cars for that matter). I just like not having to constantly "tug" at the wheel to keep the system happy, I just put my hands right there touching the wheel but not necessarily pulling on it whenever I might need to take over.

Again, I can't stress it enough, NOBODY should be using a workaround like this to start watching their favorite porn, texting their mistress, or driving even slightly drunk: It's NOT a self-driving car.

 

[Jhalkias]

I do most of the same stuff - I always get ready to take over whenever I go past on/off ramps and am definitely a little nervous passing big trucks (Or any other cars for that matter). I just like not having to constantly "tug" at the wheel to keep the system happy, I just put my hands right there touching the wheel but not necessarily pulling on it whenever I might need to take over.

Again, I can't stress it enough, NOBODY should be using a workaround like this to start watching their favorite porn, texting their mistress, or driving even slightly drunk: It's NOT a self-driving car.

THIS.
Tesla Stans have been doing this for a long time and even getting in the back seat. CoPilot 360 is NOT a self driving system. It is lane centering and adaptive cruise control. When lines get confusing my Mach E stops the lane centering. Blue Cruise will be different, and until then, I keep my hands on the wheel and am prepared to take over. This kind of stuff is dangerous, and you aren't just risking you, but other drivers on the road.

 

[xtraman122]

THIS.
Tesla Stans have been doing this for a long time and even getting in the back seat. CoPilot 360 is NOT a self driving system. It is lane centering and adaptive cruise control. When lines get confusing my Mach E stops the lane centering. Blue Cruise will be different, and until then, I keep my hands on the wheel and am prepared to take over. This kind of stuff is dangerous, and you aren't just risking you, but other drivers on the road.

Yep, I couldn’t believe it when I saw on the news a few weeks ago that some idiot got pulled for being asleep behind the wheel in his Model 3. The scariest part is that this was apparently his THIRD time caught doing the same thing. How he was still licensed after his second offense is just unbelievable.

 

[Itsjustmd]

I determined a while ago that if I put the strap of my ball cap around the wheel that I can use the ball cap as a little holder for my hand and the weight of my hand will allow the cruise to continue to work without turning off. I guess this is a better solution though because if I try to turn really hard to the left sometimes the hat gets tangled on the turn signal lever. The same trick did not work reliably in my previous vehicle which was a Genesis G70 but on the highway the G70 even without holding the wheel would go a very very long time without dinging at me (I think the added speed of highway driving was perhaps giving the system enough feedback to not ding...the same is not true with the Ford system though).

Ayy, you have good taste. My other vehicle is a Genesis G70. I don't have to use anything on that one because it seems to be able to better tell that my hands are actually on the wheel. The F150 isn't sensitive enough. I'd keep my hands on the wheel no matter what, but I don't want to have to exaggerate my hands being on the wheel just for it to keep working.

 

[gtotco]

The main thing is Blue Cruise will only even be available to be activated on roads that have been mapped/approved by Ford, coverage will be limited to major highways for a while. Even GM's Super Cruise, which has a pretty good head start on Ford is fairly limited on its coverage. This is is just using the lane centering feature of the Co-Pilot Assist stuff, and will work anywhere it can see the lines. It works great on well marked lanes, but we have a lot of poorly marked lanes, TONS of crack filler everywhere, and construction here in New England that just throws the cameras for a loop all the time. Only really works safely on highways around here, but where it can be activated it works great. I can get on the highway and not need to touch the gas, brakes, or steering wheel for 10 miles at a time in some places.

The disclaimer does of course need to be added that this is NOT a reason to start texting, watching Netflix, or taking a nap while driving. The system on a regular Co-Pilot Assist equipped truck is by no means capable of "thinking on its feet" well enough to have a completely inattentive driver. You absolutely need to have your hands available to take over at any time (And the truck will make you if it loses sight lines of the lanes) and need to be paying attention to what's going on around you.

This is the most important observation on this thread. I had drinks with an AV engineer last week and we had this discussion. HD maps being used by GM and Ford are what enable BlueCruise and SuperCruise. These contain much more information about the road ahead that are what the vehicle is using to drive. This is used in conjunction with other vehicle sensors (cameras radar GPS) to have a much more detailed (and also to a degree predictive approach) for driving on mapped roads. Imagine it as driving with GPS and knowing that a turn on the highway in 3.5 miles is at 22.4 degree angle on an 11 percent downhill grade, so you can think ahead on how to approach. Add to that that this data is constantly being updated by other users of the system and it can now warn the vehicle one lane will be closed. It also I believe uses a higher accuracy GPS for determining which lane you are currently in. This is all over my head but this was my general understanding from a recent conversation with an expert engineer (who I should note works for an AV company on robotaxi research so while he has a good understanding of the consumer space does not directly work on it).

AFAIK Tesla works on a bit different approach. While they use some mapping information primarily for navigation (and I believe more heavily use it in FSD) they primarily work like the non Blue Cruise CoPilot 360. These systems ARE NOT meant to be driven hands free. They do not know about upcoming road changes, are completely reliant on cameras and radar (or in the case of newer Tesla’s just cameras, we will see how that goes), and work in ways that are fundamentally different from BlueCruise/SuperCruise (based on mapping) and should not be treated the same. People in vehicles doing dumb shit like this (including Ford and Tesla) are putting their lives and the lives of others at risk. Systems like the current copilot 360 assist, Tesla Autopilot, and plenty of other ADAS systems on the market are fundamentally INFERIOR to BlueCruise and SuperCruise based on the information used. These are relatively dumb systems and while they can work for long periods of time it is isnt how they are designed or intended and should not be used this way.

FWIW Tesla is trying to create a general AI approach that is supposed to based on vision the way humans drive (at least that is my understanding and why they are eliminating sensors) but based on discussions with people in the industry this is at least 5-10 years off and likely just never makes sense because the data used by true AV systems is just so much more redundant (cameras, radar, mapping, LIDAR). The AV engineer I spoke with said he would trust BlueCruise and SuperCruise because they are designed to work in an intended way with specific data in a specific environment and he generally trusted the engineering was well designed to those parameters. Conversely he said he would not use Tesla systems hands free because it just isn’t how they are designed or how they work. FSD is designed in theory to work that way but again this is years out IF it is even possible.

To put together a quick lazy analogy, think about building a table. In the current system you have the tools (saw, planer, glue, screws etc) but are missing a measuring tape. You can build a table and it might work well enough but you also might have some different length legs and the top boards might not be all the same. With BlueCruise you are adding a highly advanced measuring tape as well as some detailed plans that will help make a great looking table using a lot more information.

So for everyone out there PLEASE do not try this. There is a reason people hate Tesla drivers and it’s because a lot of them are unsafe idiots. We don’t need the same reputation.

On a side note I heard through the grapevine BlueCruise is getting installed on general Ford engineer vehicles this week as they are heading into the final phase of beta testing for general engineers at Ford who don’t work on ADAS. Sounds like things are moving quickly so hopefully we won’t need this workaround soon, especially because we will have one of the best systems on the market!

 

[mwf5888]

This is the most important observation on this thread. I had drinks with an AV engineer last week and we had this discussion. HD maps being used by GM and Ford are what enable BlueCruise and SuperCruise. These contain much more information about the road ahead that are what the vehicle is using to drive. This is used in conjunction with other vehicle sensors (cameras radar GPS) to have a much more detailed (and also to a degree predictive approach) for driving on mapped roads. Imagine it as driving with GPS and knowing that a turn on the highway in 3.5...

Having driven from Indiana to Florida and back the past week I would agree with you. I used my Intelligent Cruise (IC) as much as possible to evaluate it over the Adaptive Cruise on my 2018. Here are my observations.

I drove I69 / I65 / I24 / I75 / FL Turnpike / I95

Pros:

• It worked exceptionally well on all the highways while out in the country, going through the cities, and in the mountains.
• It adjusted speed according to all signage (I had +3 set).
• I am able to speed up to pass a car and just let off the gas and IC re-engages automatically.
• Continued to work well in 30+mph crosswinds most of last day of driving back home.
• Braking is not as dramatic as the Adaptive Cruise, approximately 40% less.
• Accelerating to a new speed limit is gradual and doesn't shift into such a low gear and "floor it".
• Just before the construction zone it would decelerate to the construction zone speed. Somehow it knows even before a sign showed the speed limit.

Cons:

• Braking for speed limit changes could be programmed to occur even less dramatic, maybe even not braking but coasting to the limit.
• Braking for construction could catch the vehicle behind not paying attention. IC did brake for all 60mph and 55mph construction zones. When doing this from 70mph was to dramatic. Again, coast to the new speed.
• Exit lanes and changing number of lanes will cause IC to cancel until you are past because the lines disappear.

Takeaways:

• I cancelled the IC right before construction zones so it wouldn't deaccelerate.
• I maintained my grip on the steering wheel at all times because if it cancelled I could drive.
• It does basically drive in the lane for you, however, when semi-trucks or stupid drivers veer into your lane it won't move over?
• It definitely helps with driver fatigue after a 12 hour day traveling 600+ miles.
• The 'annoying reminder' really isn't that often if you have your hands on the wheel.

Most interesting, using Adaptive Cruise with my 2018 5.0 I would get a lower mpg than not. Using IC in my 2021 3.5L PowerBoost I consistently obtained 24+mpg. Going through the mountains in KY and TN I maintained 22.3 - 23mpg.

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