OpenPilot on the F-150 (BlueCruise alternative)

[hitchhiker]

I need some clarification. With the f150 I think I understand that the ipma is involved. Is this current system utilizing any of the factory cameras, sensors. Radars? Or us it stand alone with only connections to steering , break and throttle?

It uses a harness that intercepts the IPMA. The comma device uses its own cameras, but will be able to utilize the existing radar. AFAIK, longitudinal control isn't implemented yet, so the radar would not yet be in use.

From my experience with the comma two and my 19 Honda accord it will utilize all factory sensors. The harness plugs into the camera/sensors above the front mirror. It’ll use its built in camera to monitor driver and road to engage or disengage.

In our case it plugs into the IPMA which is below the dash.

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[Ajzride]

AFAIK, longitudinal control isn't implemented yet, so the radar would not yet be in use.

I believe the adaptive cruise control will handle the longitudinal, so open pilot will only be controlling the wheel. Probably means that OpenPilot Navigate will not be available on F150, but the blue cruise equivalent should be spot on.

 

[hitchhiker]

I believe the adaptive cruise control will handle the longitudinal, so open pilot will only be controlling the wheel. Probably means that OpenPilot Navigate will not be available on F150, but the blue cruise equivalent should be spot on.

That is my understanding as well. I’m hoping to help get longitudinal working if it isn’t by the time I get my 3x.

 

[Fourthewin]

I’m so glad you’re doing this OP! The comma 3 unit fascinates me but I haven’t ran code since I was a teenager with Visual Basic.

I would love to participate and collaborate on this project with you though and will be following this project closely!

 

[Spiffy]

So what I'm gathering is adaptive cruse is engaged normally by steering wheel button.
Then how is open pilot engaged? Does it just center on a road or do any turns?

 

[Ajzride]

So what I'm gathering is adaptive cruse is engaged normally by steering wheel button.
Then how is open pilot engaged? Does it just center on a road or do any turns?

On a fully compatible vehicle OpenPilot is capable of hands and feet free navigation on surface streets including stopping and resuming at red lights and making turns. Currently on the F150 and MachE it is more like blue cruise in that it lane centers, but it is not restricted to limited access highways. It is fully expected that in future releases the Ford vehicles will be fully supported and be able to make turns.

 

[labjr1]

For those unfamiliar, OpenPilot is an open-source driver assistance software primarily developed by comma.ai. You can run it on any hardware you'd like, or purchase a device from them. It is designed to provide level 2 driver assistance capability similar to BlueCruise and other hands-free systems.

Recently, support was added for various Ford vehicles, though our F-150s are not yet officially supported. I'm a software engineer with a penchant for early adoption who is greatly disappointed with BlueCruise, so I decided to take the plunge and recently ordered one of their 3x devices.

I was going to wait for my device to come in before starting a thread, but discussion around OpenPilot has started up in a few different threads recently, so I decided to start one now.

Your vehicle of course does not require BlueCruise in order to support OpenPilot. This chart, from the OpenPilot Ford wiki page, should help you determine whether your vehicle can be supported. NOTE: This doesn't necessarily mean your truck will be supported yet, just that support is possible (maybe in the future).

I'll try to keep this OP up to date as I document my own experience with it, as well as important info that others may post in the thread. Let's try to keep this focused on OpenPilot and its support/compatibility with our vehicles. If you'd like to argue its safety vs OEM systems, its unsuitability for mass-market consumption or anything else, please go ahead and start a separate thread for that!

Info:

Our trucks use a CAN-FD platform. This hardware is supported by the latest Comma 3x device, with the Ford Q4 harness. When ordering, search the harness dropdown for Ford and scroll to the bottom, where you will find it listed under development harnesses. If you have a previous version of the Comma device, you will need their "panda" CAN-FD kit to interface with the gen14 F-150.

Links:
OpenPilot Ford Wiki
Mach-e forum OpenPilot thread
comma.ai

Where do you get the Ford Q4 harness? Commaai only shows the Q3 harness when ordering the Comma 3.x

 

[hitchhiker]

Where doyou get the Ford Q4 harness? Commaai only shows the Q3 harness when ordering the Comma 3.x

Type "ford" in the dropdown and scroll to the bottom. The F-150 isn't officially supported yet, so the harness is only listed under development harnesses.

 

[labjr1]

Type "ford" in the dropdown and scroll to the bottom. The F-150 isn't officially supported yet, so the harness is only listed under development harnesses.

Thank you!! I missed that.

 

[labjr1]

Thanks!! Officially ordered. Now the wait begins:

Thank you for your purchase! Hi Louie, we have received your order. COMMA 3Xs ship out in 1-8 weeks. They will be shipping out in the order they are placed (first in, first out). All other orders will be fulfilled on the next business day via UPS Ground or USPS First Class. We will notify you with tracking details when your order is on its way (except SIM card orders).

 

[Spiffy]

Thank you!! I missed that.

What my take is when ordering the developer harness a specific connector is needed. Is that to connect to the ipma in regards to f150?

 

[hitchhiker]

What my take is when ordering the developer harness a specific connector is needed. Is that to connect to the ipma in regards to f150?

That is the developer harness. This is a Ford Q4 specific harness, which is a CAN-FD harness and does have the connectors. It's listed as development because Q4 and some Q3 Fords aren't officially supported yet. They probably could have chosen wording for this category that isn't so similar to the developer harness to avoid confusion.

 

[Spiffy]

And what does thus harness connect to?

 

[Spiffy]

On a fully compatible vehicle OpenPilot is capable of hands and feet free navigation on surface streets including stopping and resuming at red lights and making turns. Currently on the F150 and MachE it is more like blue cruise in that it lane centers, but it is not restricted to limited access highways. It is fully expected that in future releases the Ford vehicles will be fully supported and be able to make turns.

But I'm missing the actual usage. How do we command the open pilot to work?
Is it touch screen on the device or is everything controlled with the factory buttons? I guess I have never seen video of actual use from trip program.

 

[hitchhiker]

And what does thus harness connect to?

It goes inline with the IPMA harness, under the left side of the dash.

But I'm missing the actual usage. How do we command the open pilot to work?
Is it touch screen on the device or is everything controlled with the factory buttons? I guess I have never seen video of actual use from trip program.

In general, the factory cruise control buttons remain functional and control OpenPilot instead. The touch screen is there to set preferences and access the rest of the functionality of the device. There are lots of demo videos on Youtube. I won't link specific videos since you know what you'd like to see specifically.

Nobody here has the hardware yet so we can't speak too specifically to the functionality on our trucks.

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