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JohnMcClane

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I am not aware if I am officially a Beta tester. All I can confirm is that Blue Cruise was available from day one. And yes it is hands free. I can verify it is working on Florida I75, I275, I4 and the Polk Parkway.
Ahh I275 and I4 in Florida.

Someone likened autopilot to a drunk teenager…
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JohnMcClane

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NewtruckinFL

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GolfR

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I mean as someone who doesn't yet have BlueCruise I can't argue with the fact that it might not be good either. Even if it isn't perceptible it is still more advanced under the hood than what you are getting without it. In theory it should be able to ask you to take over earlier than it would with standard lane keeping assist.

I don't doubt that it isn't good either, but that doesn't make the standard assist any better. Again, there is a reason Ford is willing to take on more legal liability with BlueCruise than they would with the standard software.
As someone who does have bluecruise I will confirm the above statement. They are the same. The only difference is that bluecruise doesn’t make you keep your hands on the wheel. They are the exact same system using exactly the same data to actually drive the truck. There IS NO LIDAR DATA. As some one who has worked in the LIDAR field for years, I promise you that they don’t use LIDAR data in any way including any sort of survey mapping. It’s all GPS and the only use for that mapping GPS is to run an algorithm for when the hands free bluecruise allows you to take your hands off the wheel. The extra mapping Ford did is to determine how sharp the curves are in the road so that they could make you put your hands back on the wheel on sharper curves. The systems used to keep you on the road and steer are all visual camera systems. Adaptive cruise uses radar, I believe it to be mm wave.

I will note that there are added data/image quality metrics that the hands free bluecruise uses to judge when to allow hands free. The system will disable hands free when there Is sun glare or significant fog or mist from cars in front but continue to allow the hands on lane centering. It’s classic data quality thresholding. Good conditions allow hands free, degraded conditions allow hands on, bad conditions disable the system all together.
 

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gtotco

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As someone who does have bluecruise I will confirm the above statement. They are the same. The only difference is that bluecruise doesn’t make you keep your hands on the wheel. They are the exact same system using exactly the same data to actually drive the truck. There IS NO LIDAR DATA. As some one who has worked in the LIDAR field for years, I promise you that they don’t use LIDAR data in any way including any sort of survey mapping. It’s all GPS and the only use for that mapping GPS is to run an algorithm for when the hands free bluecruise allows you to take your hands off the wheel. The extra mapping Ford did is to determine how sharp the curves are in the road so that they could make you put your hands back on the wheel on sharper curves. The systems used to keep you on the road and steer are all visual camera systems. Adaptive cruise uses radar, I believe it to be mm wave.

I will note that there are added data/image quality metrics that the hands free bluecruise uses to judge when to allow hands free. The system will disable hands free when there Is sun glare or significant fog or mist from cars in front but continue to allow the hands on lane centering. It’s classic data quality thresholding. Good conditions allow hands free, degraded conditions allow hands on, bad conditions disable the system all together.
Sorry I didn’t mean to claim the vehicle had LIDAR. My understanding from listening to MobilEye and manufacturer interviews (as well as how cruise handles similarly for GM) LIDAR mapping is used for predictive purposes. Basically what you said - it knows when to engage and when to disengage based on data on the road and also how other vehicles have interacted relative to that data.

Either way the ankle weight is not how the system is designed to be used, and people should not be putting this much faith in a standard driver assist package. By the same rational a Honda Civic (or basically any off the shelf base level car) is capable of hands free driving with an ankle weight.

edit: here is a podcast with Toyota talking about Teammate which uses a similar system -http://www.autonocast.com/blog/2021/7/20/230-toyota-on-teammate
 
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Snakebitten

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I thought that I read from one of the Forscan/FDRS gurus that the OTA fix for Build 1 trucks would be to convince the dealerships to use FDRS to force a needed update to the gateway module, and then OTA would start working again.
And of course if you are connected to FDRS, you may as well just update all the modules that are behind on updates anyway.

Would that not bring the Job1 trucks up to date with the Job2 trucks, thus give them Bluecruise and cameras at speed?

Edit: Also believe some types of updates will tie up the machine for several hours, thus not being something dealerships are happy to do.

I bet we are waiting for funding agreements between Ford and dealerships for addressing the Job1 scenario?
 
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RedTXV

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As someone who does have bluecruise I will confirm the above statement. They are the same. The only difference is that bluecruise doesn’t make you keep your hands on the wheel. They are the exact same system using exactly the same data to actually drive the truck. There IS NO LIDAR DATA. As some one who has worked in the LIDAR field for years, I promise you that they don’t use LIDAR data in any way including any sort of survey mapping. It’s all GPS and the only use for that mapping GPS is to run an algorithm for when the hands free bluecruise allows you to take your hands off the wheel. The extra mapping Ford did is to determine how sharp the curves are in the road so that they could make you put your hands back on the wheel on sharper curves. The systems used to keep you on the road and steer are all visual camera systems. Adaptive cruise uses radar, I believe it to be mm wave.

I will note that there are added data/image quality metrics that the hands free bluecruise uses to judge when to allow hands free. The system will disable hands free when there Is sun glare or significant fog or mist from cars in front but continue to allow the hands on lane centering. It’s classic data quality thresholding. Good conditions allow hands free, degraded conditions allow hands on, bad conditions disable the system all together.
I experienced this the other day when driving through a patches of fog.
 

newdeal99

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Watching the road doesn't matter. The lane centering system you are using is designed to assist with steering, while BlueCruise is designed to steer the vehicle. These are two different operations. Defeating the assist is akin to putting a brick on the accelerator and covering the brake with your foot because the cruise control isn't working.

Again, I get it, Ford (and other automakers) have not communicated this well - led by Tesla they have repeatedly insinuated that these are "autonomous" or "semi-autonomous" features while legally recognizing they are driver assist features. There is a reason they take this legal approach - they know the limits of the systems they are deploying. You are putting more trust in your truck than Ford is, which given how badly they have fucked up this rollout should be concerning to you.
While I agree with much of what you said I think that Blue Cruise is mostly a camera system to watch your eyes in place of pressure on the wheel, and a GPS system to make sure you are on divided roads so that you don't swerve in to oncoming traffic by accident. The actual ability to turn the car I don't think is any different between the two. Maybe in the future that will change but given Fords terrible roll out I doubt it
 

gtotco

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While I agree with much of what you said I think that Blue Cruise is mostly a camera system to watch your eyes in place of pressure on the wheel, and a GPS system to make sure you are on divided roads so that you don't swerve in to oncoming traffic by accident. The actual ability to turn the car I don't think is any different between the two. Maybe in the future that will change but given Fords terrible roll out I doubt it
Here is an overview of HD Maps from 2018.They are not just used for ODD recognition. This is what everyone marketing every one of these hands free systems talks about as what enables it, and what BlueCruise relies on, but which AFAIK is not used in standard ADAS since I believe it is sold as a subscription product.

https://blog.mapbox.com/mobileye-roadbook-high-precision-hd-maps-distributed-at-scale-9b4e692d29f

Also here is a discussion on the differences in Toyota TeamMate using the same MobilEye system

http://www.autonocast.com/blog/2021/7/20/230-toyota-on-teammate

Edit: adding to this - from a biased source (mapping company) but
“We call L2+, 'new ADAS or ADAS 2.0'," Danny Kim of industry analysts VSI told HERE360. “This is going to be a really lucrative market, moving toward 2030. Most systems will be L2, some of them will be L2+. We believe that an increased user experience will come from HD maps. If you have to choose between lidar and HD maps, the latter will enable higher-level applications like L2+ and L3, because they provide accurate geometry of the road. They're much better than pure vision systems. The effect on the day-to-day driving performance of lidar wouldn't be noticed in over 100,000 miles. HD maps, on the other hand, would increase the driving performance and experience with every trip."
https://360.here.com/automated-driving-trends-2022

Edit 2: Here is an article detailing Ford’s partnership with MobilEye including some information on HD Mappinghttps://www.forbes.com/sites/samabuelsamid/2020/07/20/ford-goes-mobileye-inside-for-driver-assist-systems/?sh=61d6053b38ee
 
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NY Cowboy

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I just got off the phone with a Ford Customer Service Manager, she told me that BlueCruise would not be available until the second half of the this year, no offer of compensation of any kind, she just kept on saying she understood my frustration.

I am by no means a conspiracy theorist although I am beginning to think that the job 1 build may never get BC, there just aren't that many Job 1 builds out there, first promised by the end of the 3rd quarter, then maybe by Christmas, then January, now second half of 2022.

Ford can just keep ignoring the relatively few of us that this affects. It will also drive the trade value down, if the truck does not have and cannot get BC.
This is simply false and misleading advertising and will be discussing this with my legal dept. to see about compensation, refund from Ford and or penalties from the Justice Dept. for fraud.
 

atc

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I picked up my truck just before Christmas. It’s a late November build Tremor. This is Blue Cruise, correct?
CC001A71-61D1-48B3-8164-EFCA61E51941.jpeg
I picked mine up in late november, I didnt order truck it was on the lot. My blue cruise was activated. I dont get to use it too much as its not active on a lot of our roads in canada but on 400 series hwys it works excellent
 

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This is simply false and misleading advertising and will be discussing this with my legal dept. to see about compensation, refund from Ford and or penalties from the Justice Dept. for fraud.
My BlueCruise works now. I ordered my F150 in April, it finally made it to the dealer and I picked it up on Nov 23. I'm not sure where the disconnect is but it works great.
 

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You’re missing something.
The bluecruise we have now works in a straight line but not what is planned in level 2 form which will fully navigate your vehicle from point to piint . Currently does not do hands-free on local or county roads
 

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Ahh I275 and I4 in Florida.

Someone likened autopilot to a drunk teenager…

I can confirm that the BlueCruise driving experience can sometimes feel like a drunk teenager with a learning permit is in control. From my experience with using this feature, it doesn't inspire confidence either on the "Blue" roads or on non-blue roads (where it still works). The feedback alarm seems to be 15 seconds when not on a blue road, and longer between alerts when on the blue road.

While I understand and appreciate the frustration is largely related to what Ford is saying and not doing, promises made and broken, and wanting to get what you paid for....the system has some issues which could be dangerous if you don't pay attention. One particular example was when the system got confused between the main highway lane and a turn-off lane (not a big interstate turn off) and abruptly tried to make a lane change at highway speed into a lane which was not configured for that maneuver. Scary experience, but because my hands were on the wheel (due to the frequent hands on alerts), I could immediately do a hard correction and not have an accident.

I have only used it as an auto-steering lane centering system and have not tried to see if it can auto-navigate, so cannot confirm where that functionality may or may not be.
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