I'm very interested to hear the experiences of people who are using this. I'm pretty sure my car would support this, but don't want to ruin my car, or of course, die.
It removes almost all driving fatigue for me (RAV4) and I do not intend to purchase a car unless it is supported by comma. I needed a new car and specifically bought this RAV4 because of comma compatibility.
Driving is essentially 3 inputs (gas, brake, steer). I use the comma for steering to keep the car centered in the lane, which is does extremely well. My car has built-in radar cruise control which keeps the speed (gas) and distance from the car ahead (brake), so highway/city driving even in traffic is a breeze.
I have not tried the experimental mode that supposedly has some level of end-to-end capability where the comma controls the gas and brake, and have found the current balance absolutely perfect for my needs.
Something that worries me a little is how comma would handle anomalies. Telsa has such scale that they're likely to encounter more anomalies and their software will learn from them. I'm particularly concerned about the sudden kind of anomalies (e.g. animal jumping in front of vehicle, or a getaway car coming from an illegal ergo uncommon direction); one that comma may be unable to handle, but a human would have very little time to take over from.
Their compatibility page calls out which car models will lose their built-in advanced safety features (such as automatic emergency braking) when using comma, and whether comma replaces the built-in adaptive cruise control. Their FAQ includes:
> Do I retain my car factory safety features with openpilot installed?
>When openpilot is enabled in settings, Lane Keep Assist (LKAS), and Automated Lane Centering (ALC) are replaced by openpilot lateral control and only function when openpilot is engaged. Lane Departure Warning (LDW) works whether engaged or disengaged.
> On certain cars, Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) is replaced by openpilot longitudinal control.
> openpilot preserves any other vehicle safety features, including, but are not limited to: AEB, auto high-beam, blind spot warning, and side collision warning.
The FAQs about comma's automated lane centering and adaptive cruise control also say:
> openpilot is designed to be limited in the amount of steering torque it can produce.
So comma isn't even trying to be the subsystem responsible for handling sudden surprises. It's only trying to upgrade a suitably-equipped car from SAE Level 0 or Level 1 up to Level 2.
Most integrations I've seen are plug and go. Unplug and it's like stock. It influences CANBUS messaging while integrated. Twists the wheel, pushes brakes or gas for you.
You nudge the steering wheel for torquey curves, and takeover to take exits, or to correct incorrect assumptions.
Despite all the FUD in the comments, the Comma is the single best thing I've ever added to any car, ever. From now on, I'll only ever buy a car that's compatible. It makes me feel safer by a huge margin (I might or might not have fallen asleep one night on a long road trip and awoken to my car driving along happily, and there may or may not have been numerous times when my car stopped me in time). Driving fatigue is nearly eliminated, and comfort for passengers is higher.
It's far better at driving than either FSD or Autopilot, though it doesn't navigate or change lanes without input, but for long road trips those things don't matter to me at all.
I bought a car in 2023. It's my first ever. I was 55 years old.
I am a lifelong cyclist and motorcyclist. I love bikes. But in 2023 I had a debilitating accident with life-changing injuries, and I had to stop riding upright bikes.
I now drive several times a week. I still don't like it. But I do understand the pressures and risks facing car drivers much better. Oh, and this car is an automatic, so I understand those more too; I had never driven an automatic before, because I'm not American. I learned to drive in 1986 or so, and got my license about 20 years later. 100% manual gearboxes all the way.
Making cars safer for the occupants and easier to drive is THE WORST THING TO DO. There are decades of research in risk compensation demonstrating why.
This company's own webpage is awful. It merely says:
«
The comma 3X is custom hardware designed to live in your car, and purpose built to run openpilot.
»
It does not explain what "openpilot" is or does, and does not even bother to link to it.
> I might or might not have fallen asleep one night on a long road trip and awoken to my car driving along happily
My nightmare is getting smashed to pieces by people like you and your insurance refusing to pay because you found it funny to fiddle with your car. You being bankrupt will not help me.
If OP had not been using a Comma, they still might have fallen asleep at the wheel that night. With the Comma, a crisis was averted. Without the Comma, they would almost certainly have wrecked.
If you fall asleep at night, your car shouldn't just happily drive around with some alpha software and hope for the best. Instead, the car should WAKE YOU THE FUCK UP when it detects you're becoming fatigued/drowsy and tell you to get some sleep. Driver fatigue/drowsiness detection is nothing new and implemented in lots and lots of cars. Get one of those instead of resorting to some dubious software which is most probably illegal to use in most countries.
I run a C3X in my 22 prius, running SunnyPilot, a fork of openpilot, so my comma has many features not in the stock software, like stopping at red lights.
Arming cruise control will lightly take over your wheel, letting it lane keep and steer the car at light turns. You can take control back at any point by using the wheel yourself, and at steeper turns like taking a left at an intersection, it asks you to take over the steering until the turn is completed.
Setting the speed is basically autopilot. I could probably drive from los angeles to vegas without touching the wheel or pedals, as long as you get on the highway first.
Its really bad at stopping at stop signs, it slows down to 10mph and continues. Red light detection needs to be better, but it will stop a little ahead of the line at a stop light 90% of the time.
Lane changes are a breeze, just not completely autonomous. Flick the stalk whichever direction and it changes lanes 2 seconds after. It'll even use the blind spot cameras and abort a lane change if need be. Blind spot cameras on the prius dont detect if theres a car just ahead of you that you could turn into, so its not Commas fault, but Teslas Enhanced Autopilot is better at that.
I, love, my Comma. It's turned my mildly safety-featured car into a relaxing future-proof personnel carrier. Keep your eyes on the road or It'll yell at you. It's not level 5 by a long shot, but because it's open source, it just keeps getting better and better over time. The minute AGI comes out, my car is Level 5 ready.
I hesitate to install a community fork of an open-source browser. I am constantly amazed at how casually trusting people are of software.
> Red light detection needs to be better
I’m sure it’s fine.
Yes, one has to pay attention and it’s still you in control. The problem is that it very much invites you not to, so there’s a jarring disconnect.
And like your experience it can be brilliant for 10,000 miles, but if it bugs out on the 10,001’st in a way you didn’t expect (worse, since you now have 10,000 miles of experience and might think you “know” it now) are you still alert enough to handle it? Otherwise it doesn’t matter how good the experience is on the first 10,000 miles if causes an accident on the 10,001’st.
