Driver+ much better in the new software update

[Phrogz]

Interesting perspective. Maybe that’s it, but my impression was that Driver+ doesn’t “aim far enough ahead”.

Weird thing is that I've had my R1T for 2 months now and I've *never* had ping-ponging. It's always been nicely stable and centered in the lane. This is true whether I'm below the speed limit or going the limit of Driver+ speed. Makes me think that either something in the hardware per-vehicle differs between my truck and others--alignment, tires, camera calibration?--or there's something different about the roads we're driving (lane width)?

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[clockwork crane]

Every software team has their own criteria. I can say that on the 2022.35 cycle I didn't get mine for over a week after it started rolling out. On this one I got it today (day 2). So, it may be random selection of the fleet. They may also have a specific number of R1T and R1S they push to in each wave. This is pretty common practice in SW. Even companies like Google, Facebook, etc won't push out a new feature to all users at once.

As a Google engineer I can confirm this (though I don't work on car software). Staged rollout is a best practice in the industry. In the worst case, if an update accidentally bricks the vehicle, Rivian would rather find that out with 100 bricked vehicles than with 10,000 of them.

Random selection is best so that you don't create a bias against detection of certain conditions. For example, region is strongly correlated with temperature.

 

[pc500]

What criteria is used for the block release? SN? Region? Money randomness? Other (please specify)?

Mostly randomness that I don't know.

I would argue they should allow an individual to self-select by manually going to the update page and only enforce their gradual release policies on automatic updates. Adverse selection shouldn't really be that much of an issue but it's just not been a priority for them I'm sure.

 

[rockdogz]

I just updated to the new software and am looking forward to testing this out.

Meantime, do any of you notice that their vehicle shifts suddenly within the lane when in Driver+ and when you go under an overpass? The shadows or whatever seem to mess with centering. Hopefully this can be fixed over time.

I'm also hoping that something can be done about Driver+ being disabled because of sun glare on a camera. I couldn't even use regular old ACC this morning when heading east at around 8:30 a.m. because of the sun glare issue. My $30k 2017 CRV never had that issue with its ACC.

I have exactly the same complaint. I too hope this will be fixed and is not a hardware byproduct.

 

[Ronimal]

I have the new update and put on 150 miles of highway driving yesterday. I agree with the others that are saying driver+ is much improved on lane centering and cornering. Feels much more confident.

One thing I noticed with ACC after the update that I don’t think has been mentioned yet. When I approached a semi-sharp curve with acc enabled (not driver+), the truck automatically decreased speed a couple miles per hour to make the curve more comfortable. It showed a little squiggly line icon when doing this.

 

[John Foreman]

I was in St Louis when i did the update and was able to use the updated Driver+ for the 460 mile drive home.

Summary - it is much improved.

driving conditions were daytime sun, daytime rain, night and night with mist and rain. Used lane assist in all these conditions.

What got better:

• in general, the ping pong is nearly gone.
• it doesn't struggle on road section that have black tar repair lines and other construction marks. I have 4k plus miles most have been highway miles using the lane assist. I've developed a good sense on when the assist struggles based on road conditions. Although i can tell it's working harder to calculate the lane center, it's doing a great job. It performs equally well on different surface types and colors. Before, i could tell that lighter colored surfaces made it struggle.
• It performs better when one of the lane markers are not visible. At one point on the drive (night time), the road surface was wet and the center lane markers were nearly invisible to the eye. The cameras seemed to see the lane center well enough that assist wasn't showing any signs of struggling to calculate the lane.
• Curves are more like arcs and not line segments.

I took delivery mid september and this is the second update. I was really disappointed in the lane assist. These updates have made it a very nice option. Driver+ made the 460 mile drive nearly stress free considering the weather conditions and traffic. Although, for those that haven't already figured it out, i do not use Driver+ in construction zones. I turn it off even if the road is not under construction but is line with construction barrels. One quick right turn at 75mph spooked me. I may try it again in the future but for now, i'll hand drive it through those section.

What i would request in the next update (along with keeping the current development on lane accuracy):

• Lane change with turn signal.
• Turn off annoying 'chime on' and 'chime off'. Although, if we could change lanes with the signal, this would be less of an issue.
• (edited to add) Since we have a camera watching the driver, I would like 'Hands Free' when engaged. Now i know i only have around 15 seconds to grab and open my snack.

I'm excited to see how it will improve over the years but for now, i would be happy with these little changes now that it can do the basic lane centering very well

 

[endress14]

agreed it is better, but for me it still struggled a bit on some tighter curves and I had to take over to avoid a car in the next lane twice. I continue to use it as much as possible to provide as much data to Rivian as I can, even though reactivating after each lane change is annoying.

 

[Phrogz]

One thing I noticed with ACC after the update that I don’t think has been mentioned yet. When I approached a semi-sharp curve with acc enabled (not driver+), the truck automatically decreased speed a couple miles per hour to make the curve more comfortable. It showed a little squiggly line icon when doing this.

FWIW it's done this--slowing down and showing squiggly icon--for all of the two months I've owned the truck. The improvement you describe (which I've not noticed, but not NOT-noticed) would be to slow down BEFORE the curve instead of only once it's underway. I commute along a winding mountain road and as of last month was so annoyed with how frequently it would go full speed into a turn and then slow down only once the steering was applied, that I stopped using ACC during that part of the commute. I'll have to try it again.

 

[momo3605]

What i would request in the next update (along with keeping the current development on lane accuracy):

• Lane change with turn signal.
• Turn off annoying 'chime on' and 'chime off'. Although, if we could change lanes with the signal, this would be less of an issue.
• (edited to add) Since we have a camera watching the driver, I would like 'Hands Free' when engaged. Now i know i only have around 15 seconds to grab and open my snack.

The Lane change and hands-free operation have been advertised for years on Rivian's website. I doubt it'll be in the next update, but these are features we SHOULD be getting at some point. Hope it's soon though

 

[jebinc]

The Lane change and hands-free operation have been advertised for years on Rivian's website. I doubt it'll be in the next update, but these are features we SHOULD be getting at some point. Hope it's soon though

“Hope springs eternal”

 

[tripb3]

I wish I saw what the rest of you are reporting. I feel like I have far more ping ponging with this release than the previous versions. Hope the next one is better.

 

[momo3605]

So while I do agree with most that Driver+ is SIGNIFICANTLY improved in 2022.39, I’ve been randomly getting a red wheel of death message and beeping followed by Driver+ deactivating for many miles after. Has anyone else noticed anything like that?

 

[Marchin_MTB]

So while I do agree with most that Driver+ is SIGNIFICANTLY improved in 2022.39, I’ve been randomly getting a red wheel of death message and beeping followed by Driver+ deactivating for many miles after. Has anyone else noticed anything like that?

Is it the red steering wheel with an exclamation mark? I and at least one other forum member get this intermittently. It’s apparently a power steering assist fault alert. Except nothing is wrong with the power steering. I have a ticket in for it.

 

[Marchin_MTB]

I wish there was a map of where Driver+ is available.

I haven’t seen it pop up as available much in the Denver-Boulder area. At least not 36 nor I-70. Can anyone else confirm?

 

[elektrode]

So while I do agree with most that Driver+ is SIGNIFICANTLY improved in 2022.39, I’ve been randomly getting a red wheel of death message and beeping followed by Driver+ deactivating for many miles after. Has anyone else noticed anything like that?

I don’t think I’ve got that particular message before, but I have had Driver+ freak out and tell me to take over, followed by griping at me that I should slow down before trying to put the truck into reverse (uh, how else can you turn it off?!).

I’ve had this happen at least 3 times now and have never had it happen before. Same roads. Sun is lower in the sky these days, but I haven’t seen that message prior to this software load.

I have generally taken its advice and have gone to ACC after that, so I don’t know if Driver+ is prevented from being re-entered. The message is definitely red and rectangular and it blasts an alarm tone. It gets your attention.

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