Pilot Assist Improvement?
 

Hi All,

On my regular route home, there is a moderately sharpe bend on the A516/A38 junction, Previously the car would go around the corner at the set speed and only slow if a vehicle was travelling in front, however tonight with no traffic about the car braked significantly into the corner without intervention - is this new? or should it always have done this (it had a software update yesterday)? Anyone else experienced this? I thought Pilot assist only varied speed for vehicles not road conditions and bends.

It couldn't do it before now but I read somewhere that it was going to be introduced (basically PA gets additional info from the satnav describing the layout of the road). Other manufacturers are starting to offer this capability.

I was under the impression it would only be on new models (XC40?) as it requires highly detailed mapping but perhaps it can be enabled retrospectively via a s/w update, on some SPA cars at least.

It'll be interesting to see if it continues to do it or if it was just a fluke.

The mapping icons have changed too along with the Pilot assist graphics - I thought they were just cosmetic changes but perhaps they are new features!

See link below for details of May 2018 software update and changes to Pilot assist, doesn't mention anything about using map data though
https://support.volvocars.com/ph/Pag...a801515970036d

Lane assistance, (Lane Keeping Aid, LKA), updating and change to how the system works to sense if the driver has his/her hands on the steering wheel and is actively steering or not, which is a condition for the function. This can be noticed by a slight change when a warning for this appears in the driver's display, the warning sometimes occurs faster than previously and sometimes slower, with the aim of adapting better to different situations.

I don’t like the sound of this - suggests more steering input required to keep the system working. Any thoughts those who’ve had it updated? Do you have to have software updates at service??

I read this as being that if you are giving steering input that you know better than the system, like in contraflows etc. And if it assumes you know best by sensing you are in control it may ‘fight’ you less?

I know that all the Tesla’s out there have been collecting road and user input data for a few years now, not sure if Volvo have this but maybe more info has been shared.

Having been in the first Tesla to take a bend near us with no signage to warn us the car handed back control with alarms as we expected and were fully prepared for, this i’m told sets/lowers the speed for that bend for the rest of their users.

If you have cruise on, the car will brake in bends depending on steering angle.

Unless of course they have changed the road furniture and the car now picks up this and slows as it can now see it? Or perhaps the trees being in leaf affects it?

In a similar vein mine brakes (and always has done) when coming back from lane 3 to lane 2 when it sees the big truck in lane 1 which my angle suggests I am heading for....

How does the car handle that silly new roundabout on the otherwise excellent grade separated bit of the A516 (the one built by the house builder)? When it opened it made all sorts of news as cars were just launching over the top of it.....

You make a good point about the road markings there were signs up earlier in the week saying the slip was going to be closed so perhaps the markings are better? I'll pay more attention tomorrow!

However, I have had 2 other experiences on the way home that makes me think there has been a change to the operation, firstly it definitely now breaks in bends as I noticed on the A6 today and secondly it can handle the yellow cross hatchings that cover the A6 on the exit from Duffield opposite the fire station - previously It would aways give back control in this section, now it does it fine.

I haven't let the car try the roundabout at Mickleover on Pilot assist, I have seen far to many vehicles in the middle, down the ditch and if you have noticed the barriers are all bashed and most of the signs have disappeared due to collision damage. I remember the first weekend it was finished, by the saturday evening they had 3 cars awaiting recovery on the roundabout, 2 in a ditch and tyre marks all over the middle. All the new signs had been taken out! There was no speed or road markings up to tell folk there is a roundabout that you can take at 30 MPH tops on a 70 mph stretch - total Lunacy!

It is one of the UKs official worst accident hot spots - 10 crashes in 48 hours - https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/new...-in-uk-1541388