lane centering and lane drift

[SWFLGuy]

Go to features, drivers assistance, lane keeping system and alert intensity

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[powerboatr]

thank you i had no idea
now i have to go look
it will lessen driver fatigue??

 

[powerboatr]

found the screen , mine was set at NORMAL and changed it to low
but does mean the sensitivity to stay in a lane is low, or its the driver input resistance is low?
pretty vague screen
and yes my trip mpg is horrible

 

[Snakebitten]

found the screen , mine was set at NORMAL and changed it to low
but does mean the sensitivity to stay in a lane is low, or its the driver input resistance is low?
pretty vague screen
and yes my trip mpg is horrible

Looking forward to YOUR feedback on how the settings change actually affected lane keeping experience.

 

[SWFLGuy]

From what I thought today it seems to keep the lane just the same but the struggle against the wheel is lighter.
I only drove about 40 miles for work but it’s the same roads every day and it kept the same lines as always.
Interested to hear what you think.

 

[Snakebitten]

Exactly.
I don't think it influences the calibration in any way. But it does adjust how much force the student-driver/AI-driver/auto-pilot has on the steering wheel as you wrestle authority away.

 

[Orlando150]

Lane Keeping is not Lane Centering or BlueCruise

They are different systems with different purposes. Adjusting Lane Keeping settings do not change how BlueCruise behaves.

Lane Keeping is only active when you are driving yourself with BC/ACC off. It's purpose is to nudge you back away from the lane line if you start to go over it. Or shake your steering wheel if you go over the line. It does nothing if you are in the center of the lane.

Lane Centering is what keeps active steering at all times to keep you in the lane. It is only active when ACC or BlueCruise are on.

Exactly.
I don't think it influences the calibration in any way. But it does adjust how much force the student-driver/AI-driver/auto-pilot has on the steering wheel as you wrestle authority away.

Lane Keeping Intestity is a setting to adjust how much your wheel vibrates in Alert mode if you drive over the line (three pulses). It does not adjust steering torque.

https://www.fordservicecontent.com/...&userMarket=USA&div=f&vFilteringEnabled=False

 

[Snakebitten]

True!

But lane keeping is in affect during lane centering.

 

[Orlando150]

True!

But lane keeping is in affect during lane centering.

It's a bit of semantics because both systems use the same camera to detect lane lines and provide steering input. Blame confusing Ford branding.

In theory Lane Centering would never get into a situation where it's crossing the lane lanes and needs to vibrate your wheel. Although if it does happen likely the car had already told you to take back control because Lane Centering gave up.

However Lane Keeping won't work below 40 MPH per the manual. Lane Centering doesn't have a speed limitation listed in the manual. In practice it's worked for me all the way to zero when I've had BC on in stop and go traffic.

Related to the topic, this is in the manual too:

https://www.fordservicecontent.com/...&userMarket=USA&div=f&vFilteringEnabled=False

But I don't know if adjusting the position was something BlueCruise kept or not?

 

[05RubiconLJ]

Before BC, it went arrow straight down the lane. No wandering, at all. Now that BC has been activated, it wanders so badly that my wife has asked me not to use it; so she, or my carsick prone son, won't puke. It really is awful and will not be reupping for it after the free period ends, unless they fix it.

 

[powerboatr]

i just drove 19 miles at 65 to 70 on 2 lane well marked road with setting on LOW . it wandered all over the lane and kept me close to the left side

on return trip , same road same speeds i selected HIGH and it put me in the MIDDLE and tended to be more on right than the left as before and it wandered a whole lot less..
drag or driver input pressure IMO was same on both settings
i did snap ap pic (driver distracted) to show the rear view on HIGH its centered more than it was on low or normal, still to the left but not nearly as much, it was more comfortable to me as trucks passed me in the other lane

 

[Snakebitten]

Thanks for clarifying @Orlando150

I was at the office when you posted and I realized that I am probably guilty of misusing the correct terminology that Ford labels their various features. So I opened my digital copy of the owners manual to educate myself.

Once I had digested the Adaptive Cruise VS Bluecruise VS Lane Keeping VS Lane Centering, I was armed to test a few things on my way home. (A 23 mile commute)

My biggest error, and I apologize to anyone that I misled with previous posts, was that I believed that changes I had made in the past to Lane Keeping intensity was responsible for the different level of torque required by me, the driver, to overcome Alexa's grip on the wheel. (Sorry, but I call the AI-driver Alexa. For obvious reasons. One invisible occupant in the truck is all I can come to terms with)

But now, after exploring everything I read in the manual, I now know that the two different levels of assisted steering force I experience is actually the difference between Lane Keeping and Lane Centering.

Lane Keeping is the ONLY notification I get on the cluster when I push the appropriate button on the steering wheel. That's a little misleading on Ford's part because if I have adaptive cruise enabled it could be Lane Centering that I just enabled with the button and NOT Lane Keeping.

In Ford's defense, they would point out that the Lane Keeping icon changes to Lane Centering icon if I have Adaptive Cruise control enabled. And they would be right. Pretty subtle though, until I read and then paid close attention.

Lane Keeping is noticeably less "intense" regarding weighting the steering wheel. It still requires effort to override, but significantly less effort than lane centering.

I purposely changed the Lane Keeping intensity (Sync4 screen) from high/normal/low while I was driving in Lane Keeping only. (Adaptive Cruise disabled). Sure enough it was only the actual alert vibration that raised in intensity, and not the steering resistance. THAT was where I went wrong previously. I had assumed the additional resistance in Lane Centering was from me changing the Lane Keeping intensity setting.

Again, I regret misleading anyone. I'm an old man and I fiddle with all the buttons in this truck, because it's fascinating, and I jumped to an uneducated conclusion.

 

[Orlando150]

i just drove 19 miles at 65 to 70 on 2 lane well marked road with setting on LOW . it wandered all over the lane and kept me close to the left side

on return trip , same road same speeds i selected HIGH and it put me in the MIDDLE and tended to be more on right than the left as before and it wandered a whole lot less..
drag or driver input pressure IMO was same on both settings
i did snap ap pic (driver distracted) to show the rear view on HIGH its centered more than it was on low or normal, still to the left but not nearly as much, it was more comfortable to me as trucks passed me in the other lane

Lane Keeping Intestity is the intensity of the steering wheel vibration alert when you drive too far over the line.

Any change you see to lane centering or "drag" is a coincidence.

 

[powerboatr]

Lane Keeping Intestity is the intensity of the steering wheel vibration alert when you drive too far over the line.

Any change you see to lane centering or "drag" is a coincidence.

i get that

but how do we get it to stay more centered vice the tendency to hug left line closer, even though its probably not that close in real world terms.

and then why on same road on low it wandered, but on high it tended to not wander as much?

my only explanation for science is the SUN.
it was 1:15 pm going north , with sun and clouds to my south west, return trip was 1:37pm heading south and some clouds to the south west of me
wind was light and most likely less than 2 mph as lake was smooth as glass
i did have considerably different vehicles in front of me both ways. on way up was a sedan and return was no one for about 10 miles then it was an older jeep, and a deputy in front of him

imo drag from driver on wheel was same as i felt it and described

 

[BLoflin]

Now that we have (again ), at least for this post, clarified Keeping vs Centering....those wishing for a "trim" knob to set the Center position may be missing what was posted above from Owner's Manual:

"If you drive off-center within the lane, the
system sets and maintains that preferred
lane position. The system provides
continuous assistance steering torque
input toward the preferred position."

"Note: If the system cancels, the preferred
position erases. On the next activation, the
system provides continuous assistance
steering torque input toward the lane center"

Of course not exactly a trim knob, especially since it is only good for 1 use (i.e. it resets after each restarting of an ACC or BC session). But you should be able to "force and hold" the position you want in the lane "center" for a little bit and then it will use that.

I have no experience with that function yet, as most of my highway driving (where it is easier for me to "experiment" vs city traffic) is towing and I don't use Lane Centering while towing.

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