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DDPro inconsistent. Dangerous?

sb7121

sb7121

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Gravity Touring
First family weekend road trip in my new Gravity Touring from Lexington MA to Philadelphia and back. DDpro 'Driver Assist' performed very well even in rainy weather and in the dark on NJ Turnpike, autonomously changing lanes safely in moderate traffic, thought I had a winner. However, it was very inconsistent on our way back, almost hit the divider while on the two-lane Merritt Parkway in CT, self-corrected by moving to the passing lane abruptly narrowly missing a vehicle coming from behind. Encountered further issues on I-90 and I-95 in MA where the vehicle would stay in the lane but drift from side to side. Tried both 'conservative' and 'assertive' modes, none fixed the drifting issue. Is this a West Coast vehicle? :)
 
My experience has been extremely solid but do I trust it? No. Just like I don't trust it in any other branded vehicle I've owned that's had some form of autonomous driving. They're call assistant systems for a reason and need to be monitored at all times for the reasons you outline above. To be completely honest, I'm actually surprised at how well it manages itself in LA traffic.

It could be the system wigging out or could be an issue with the sections of road you were on. If you've got the date\time etc. to provide to Lucid you should send a summary of what happened to [email protected].
 
sb7121 said:
First family weekend road trip in my new Gravity Touring from Lexington MA to Philadelphia and back. DDpro 'Driver Assist' performed very well even in rainy weather and in the dark on NJ Turnpike, autonomously changing lanes safely in moderate traffic, thought I had a winner. However, it was very inconsistent on our way back, almost hit the divider while on the two-lane Merritt Parkway in CT, self-corrected by moving to the passing lane abruptly narrowly missing a vehicle coming from behind. Encountered further issues on I-90 and I-95 in MA where the vehicle would stay in the lane but drift from side to side. Tried both 'conservative' and 'assertive' modes, none fixed the drifting issue. Is this a West Coast vehicle? :)
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It worked pretty well for me on the Merritt. But I have other issues. It doesn't recognize Stop signs; the car doesn't even slow down. It's cut off on me twice at splits in highways, once with the car veering across two lanes.
 
FlatbushBoy said:
It worked pretty well for me on the Merritt. But I have other issues. It doesn't recognize Stop signs; the car doesn't even slow down. It's cut off on me twice at splits in highways, once with the car veering across two lanes.
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It is correct that it doesn’t recognize stop signs. I’ve never been on a highway with a stop sign?
 
I don't think DDPro even uses traffic sign recognition at this stage. At least from my experience, it relies on speed limits embedded in the maps and completely ignores temporary highway signs. My old BMW did the exact opposite and constantly glitched, since speed limits often had sub-signs like 'towing only' or '3-axle only,' which it completely ignored.

Personally, I’m satisfied with DDPro as an L2 assistant, considering it's essentially the first public release. It rarely acts up, though it still happens. One of the most recurring issues is the frequent 'Slow-down-on-curve' trigger on a completely straight highway. This happens almost every 5 miles on the 680, which is extremely annoying, but otherwise, I'm quite happy with it. IMHO, you shouldn't trust it any more than any other L2 assistant - meaning, don't trust it at all :)
 
socktucker said:
So you’ve never been to Idaho 🤣
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Once. Had a pie at flying pie, since they have a massive 475lb ball of tinfoil. When I visited she was but a lean 455lb. One day Flora will beat the world record (which is like 1600lbs or something).

Here, have a photo, and a blast from the past of my former startup’s mascot :)

IMG_5486.webp
 
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sb7121 said:
First family weekend road trip in my new Gravity Touring from Lexington MA to Philadelphia and back. DDpro 'Driver Assist' performed very well even in rainy weather and in the dark on NJ Turnpike, autonomously changing lanes safely in moderate traffic, thought I had a winner. However, it was very inconsistent on our way back, almost hit the divider while on the two-lane Merritt Parkway in CT, self-corrected by moving to the passing lane abruptly narrowly missing a vehicle coming from behind. Encountered further issues on I-90 and I-95 in MA where the vehicle would stay in the lane but drift from side to side. Tried both 'conservative' and 'assertive' modes, none fixed the drifting issue. Is this a West Coast vehicle? :)
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Just drive the car, never trust these autonomous systems in any car. We are a decade away from them being safe enough in a commuter car.
 
I recently had an issue where I was in the middle lane of three on an interstate, hands free. There was a 100 ft or so of fresh tar without lines. When the car got to that blank section, it veered violently towards the right lane, and I had to wrestle it back into my lane. Really shook me up, as I was in fairly heavy traffic.
 
KenD said:
I recently had an issue where I was in the middle lane of three on an interstate, hands free. There was a 100 ft or so of fresh tar without lines. When the car got to that blank section, it veered violently towards the right lane, and I had to wrestle it back into my lane. Really shook me up, as I was in fairly heavy traffic.
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This sound dangerous. Did DDPro not drop out of hands-free mode and tell you to take over? At the same time, how can we expect DDPro to be able to stay in lane when there are no lane markings?

In this case, if I could see lane markings being gone, I would have put my hands on the wheel, at a minimum, anticipating that DDPro wouldn’t be able to handle this situation.

DDPro can be used safely when used within its limits. Those limits are very difficult to describe in a manual, but you can gain confidence in the system through experience. Pay attention to the conditions under which DDPro has worked well. Assume DDPro will fail for any new situation that you have not personally experienced DDPro handling before.

Always remember that DDPro is driver assist. Learn the limits of that assistance.
 
kandid said:
I don't think DDPro even uses traffic sign recognition at this stage. At least from my experience, it relies on speed limits embedded in the maps and completely ignores temporary highway signs. My old BMW did the exact opposite and constantly glitched, since speed limits often had sub-signs like 'towing only' or '3-axle only,' which it completely ignored.

Personally, I’m satisfied with DDPro as an L2 assistant, considering it's essentially the first public release. It rarely acts up, though it still happens. One of the most recurring issues is the frequent 'Slow-down-on-curve' trigger on a completely straight highway. This happens almost every 5 miles on the 680, which is extremely annoying, but otherwise, I'm quite happy with it. IMHO, you shouldn't trust it any more than any other L2 assistant - meaning, don't trust it at all :)
Click to expand...
It doesn’t care about speed limits in maps, it reads the signs. Oh and in Illinois it can read state highway numbers as speed limits. Some weirdness in the sign configuration matching with 70&75 both.
It also retains the last limit sign it recognizes so I don’t trust what navigation says because it only displays what it reads.
 
HC_79 said:
My experience has been extremely solid but do I trust it? No. Just like I don't trust it in any other branded vehicle I've owned that's had some form of autonomous driving. They're call assistant systems for a reason and need to be monitored at all times for the reasons you outline above. To be completely honest, I'm actually surprised at how well it manages itself in LA traffic.

It could be the system wigging out or could be an issue with the sections of road you were on. If you've got the date\time etc. to provide to Lucid you should send a summary of what happened to [email protected].
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If something weird occurs hit the flashers once so there’s a log entry. Makes it easier to find the information at that point in time
 
Aka-none said:
[…] Oh and in Illinois it can read state highway numbers as speed limits. Some weirdness in the sign configuration matching with 70&75 both.
It also retains the last limit sign it recognizes so I don’t trust what navigation says because it only displays what it reads.
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Do you have a Gravity? I’d be curious if the recently released 3.6.3 does better.

As far as retaining the last speed limit sign it recognizes, we humans occasionally miss seeing speed limit change signs, as well - at least, I have. We must still apply common sense and adjust speed if we suspect we missed a sign.

I’m still torn between following the flow of traffic or following the speed limit sign (especially in construction zones) and becoming a road boulder. I regularly drive a section of highway where the speed limit drops from 65 mph to 55 mph for no reason, which everyone ignores (but DDPro correctly picks up). If I’m alone, I’ll follow the sign. If there are enough drivers, I’ll follow the flow of traffic and increase the DDPro speed setting back to 65.

I make the same adjustment if most people are going slower than what the Gravity registers as the speed limit, unless I personally have seen a speed limit sign, assuming a sign was missed. I base these decisions on my chances of getting a speeding ticket 🤣.
 
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Saksak said:
This sound dangerous. Did DDPro not drop out of hands-free mode and tell you to take over? At the same time, how can we expect DDPro to be able to stay in lane when there are no lane markings?

In this case, if I could see lane markings being gone, I would have put my hands on the wheel, at a minimum, anticipating that DDPro wouldn’t be able to handle this situation.

DDPro can be used safely when used within its limits. Those limits are very difficult to describe in a manual, but you can gain confidence in the system through experience. Pay attention to the conditions under which DDPro has worked well. Assume DDPro will fail for any new situation that you have not personally experienced DDPro handling before.

Always remember that DDPro is driver assist. Learn the limits of that assistance.
Click to expand...
I was watching, and put my left hand lightly on the wheel when I hit the blank section. But I was still taken by surprise by how forcefully the car turned the wheel to the right. It took me a moment to correct it with enough strength. Was expecting to help guide, not turn back vigorously. Car got most of the way into the right lane before I got it back.
 
KenD said:
I was watching, and put my left hand lightly on the wheel when I hit the blank section. But I was still taken by surprise by how forcefully the car turned the wheel to the right. It took me a moment to correct it with enough strength. Was expecting to help guide, not turn back vigorously. Car got most of the way into the right lane before I got it back.
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This is good information that we should all watch out for. Usually, for the Gravity, DDPro steering force feedback is strong when it’s sure about the lane and becomes softer the less sure it is. An area where I’m still cautious are entry/exit lanes, tar lines in the highway that could be mistaken for lane lines, and lanes splitting/merging. Basically, anything that is not a clear single lane.

Throw in road hazards that we still have to watch out for and manually avoid. Pieces of retreads are particularly nasty. I ran over one once - never again. It’s like running over a bed of nails.
 
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KenD said:
I was watching, and put my left hand lightly on the wheel when I hit the blank section. But I was still taken by surprise by how forcefully the car turned the wheel to the right. It took me a moment to correct it with enough strength. Was expecting to help guide, not turn back vigorously. Car got most of the way into the right lane before I got it back.
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I have found it wants to be in the right lane when things get confusing - merge lanes without markings, passing lanes starting or ending on two lane roads with periodic two lane passing zones. It seems it seeks out a right lane marker in order to not be too far to the left.

I'm good with that behavior ☺️
 
Aka-none said:
If something weird occurs hit the flashers once so there’s a log entry. Makes it easier to find the information at that point in time
Click to expand...
Never heard of the flashers creating a log entry. Does that happen with Gravity?
 
FlatbushBoy said:
It worked pretty well for me on the Merritt. But I have other issues. It doesn't recognize Stop signs; the car doesn't even slow down. It's cut off on me twice at splits in highways, once with the car veering across two lanes.
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There is no DDPro functionality for signs of any kind. Did it allow you to go Hands Free in town?

I have also seen it get confused in spots where highways split - particularly in new construction or in construction roads.
 
DennisIS said:
There is no DDPro functionality for signs of any kind. Did it allow you to go Hands Free in town?

I have also seen it get confused in spots where highways split - particularly in new construction or in construction roads.
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I like to call this “Tesla Transition Syndrome”, which is when a former Tesla owner switches to Lucid (or some other brand) and automatically assumes that their new car will work just like their former Tesla. I tend to see this more from former Tesla owners than any other brand. There are numerous highway prioritized, hands free ADAS systems out there - Blue Cruise, Super Cruise, BMW Highway Assist that are all “Highway Only”. I believe the BMW system is only one with traffic light/stop sign recognition. All these different ADAS systems have different capabilities and it important for the new owner to verify how your new car works before blindly driving off with an assumption of how things will work. This goes for all of the safety systems such as cross traffic warnings, lane departure, backup auto brake, etc. Even if your new car has these systems, they may also need to be turned on in settings. As one of the moderators on this forum loves to say “Read the Manual.”
 
I came from a 2016 Lexus ES300h. The only thing that I didn't like about it was having to continually do micro steering adjustments on long drives highway drives. I had rented later model Lexus ES that had the lane centering and liked it a lot. So when I was choosing my CPO 2023 Lucid AT in April I paid extra for the DD Pro.

Last week I did my first 1,000 mile round trip from San Diego to Show Low AZ. The handsfree was mostly reliable but I found that I had to be ready to take control when we came to an exit, as it would start to follow the line off the freeway. Also, the constant keep your eyes on the road nag when I am looking at my rearview mirrors and nav display is very annoying. And the it often, for no apparent reason, gives me the flashing red Take Control Now warning. I find that I prefer the Drive Assist mode for lane centering.
 
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