This piece from The Verge yesterday says MBZ is launching their third generation lane keeping system this summer in the 2018 S Class. The author went for a drive and claims it works as well as Autopilot, at least on his limited test drive. However MBZ is still making the claim that the car wobbles a bit in the lane on purpose as a safety feature to remind you that you're driving, not the car.
Mercedes will give Tesla's Autopilot its first real competition this year
"A simpler version of Drive Pilot is available today in the 2017 Mercedes E-Class... the new Drive Pilot can take charge of 80 percent of driving tasks, while the more primitive E-Class version can only handle a paltry 20 percent of the job.
It’s activated by pressing a button on the steering wheel and the car will maintain speed and keep within its lane. Though the driver doesn’t need to keep a hand on the wheel, it will request a driver response every 10 seconds or so, depending on current road conditions. A pair of capacitive-touch buttons on the steering wheel can be used to acknowledge the request, which starts with a visual notification and escalates to an insistent bonging if ignored.
Keep ignoring the warnings — or in the event of a medical emergency — and the car will initiate a controlled-but-determined “emergency stop” in the middle of the roadway, activating the hazard lights to warn other motorists that there’s a problem. Tesla’s system acts similarly, though the Mercedes goes a step further and contacts the Mercedes SOS service where a live agent is connected to provide assistance and contact emergency personnel, if needed...The system adapts to how much steering force is used, which allows the driver to decide exactly how much input to give. Use a light touch and the steering assist does most of the work. Apply a firmer hand and the system seamlessly gives up control. With Tesla’s Autopilot, applying steering force results in a slightly alarming jerk of the wheel when the system disengages. Mercedes engineers told me they wanted anyone to be able to take control of the car without any difficulty, noting more than once that the driver was always in charge, no matter how much work the car was doing on their behalf.
“We put a lot of energy into making this human-machine interaction as complementary as possible,” said Tobias Mueller, a communications executive with Mercedes-Benz. “It’s not the machine versus you, but it’s you together.”
The system is also intentionally less precise than it’s capable of. With Drive Pilot in control through some sweeping turns, I noticed the car drift slightly within the lane. It wasn’t heading over the line, but it wasn’t fixed exactly in the center like one might expect a computer to do. Mercedes programmed this drift deliberately, encouraging the car to move a little bit within the lane both to improve ride comfort depending on road camber and other factors. It’s also to remind the driver that Drive Pilot is only an assist system, not fully autonomous.
“It’s actually so you don’t feel too safe,” Mueller told me. “That sounds stupid, but it’s to make you stay engaged and aware of what’s going on around you. It’s letting you know that the car is assisting you, but it’s not doing the entire job for you"
Mercedes will give Tesla's Autopilot its first real competition this year
"A simpler version of Drive Pilot is available today in the 2017 Mercedes E-Class... the new Drive Pilot can take charge of 80 percent of driving tasks, while the more primitive E-Class version can only handle a paltry 20 percent of the job.
It’s activated by pressing a button on the steering wheel and the car will maintain speed and keep within its lane. Though the driver doesn’t need to keep a hand on the wheel, it will request a driver response every 10 seconds or so, depending on current road conditions. A pair of capacitive-touch buttons on the steering wheel can be used to acknowledge the request, which starts with a visual notification and escalates to an insistent bonging if ignored.
Keep ignoring the warnings — or in the event of a medical emergency — and the car will initiate a controlled-but-determined “emergency stop” in the middle of the roadway, activating the hazard lights to warn other motorists that there’s a problem. Tesla’s system acts similarly, though the Mercedes goes a step further and contacts the Mercedes SOS service where a live agent is connected to provide assistance and contact emergency personnel, if needed...The system adapts to how much steering force is used, which allows the driver to decide exactly how much input to give. Use a light touch and the steering assist does most of the work. Apply a firmer hand and the system seamlessly gives up control. With Tesla’s Autopilot, applying steering force results in a slightly alarming jerk of the wheel when the system disengages. Mercedes engineers told me they wanted anyone to be able to take control of the car without any difficulty, noting more than once that the driver was always in charge, no matter how much work the car was doing on their behalf.
“We put a lot of energy into making this human-machine interaction as complementary as possible,” said Tobias Mueller, a communications executive with Mercedes-Benz. “It’s not the machine versus you, but it’s you together.”
The system is also intentionally less precise than it’s capable of. With Drive Pilot in control through some sweeping turns, I noticed the car drift slightly within the lane. It wasn’t heading over the line, but it wasn’t fixed exactly in the center like one might expect a computer to do. Mercedes programmed this drift deliberately, encouraging the car to move a little bit within the lane both to improve ride comfort depending on road camber and other factors. It’s also to remind the driver that Drive Pilot is only an assist system, not fully autonomous.
“It’s actually so you don’t feel too safe,” Mueller told me. “That sounds stupid, but it’s to make you stay engaged and aware of what’s going on around you. It’s letting you know that the car is assisting you, but it’s not doing the entire job for you"
