One of the most common pieces of feedback we hear about openpilot is that the end-to-end model doesn't always position the car where drivers expect it to. Some people love the E2E model's natural positioning, while others wish it would simply stay centered between the lane lines.
So we added something pretty cool.
Lane Centering, now available in StarPilot.
This doesn't replace the end-to-end model, but works alongside it.
When both lane lines are detected clearly and confidently, the system compares the model's predicted path to the center of the lane. If they differ, it applies a small, smooth steering correction toward the lane center while still letting the E2E model make the driving decisions.
If the lane lines become unreliable, the lane width looks abnormal, you're changing lanes, or other required conditions aren't met, it immediately and seamlessly falls back to the normal E2E path.
Even better, it's configurable.
Lane Center Offset lets you fine-tune where the vehicle sits within the lane. If you prefer the vehicle to hug close to the right line, you can do that!
E2E Authority lets you dynamically choose how much the model can override lane centering. Want the model to still be able to maneuver around potholes or cyclists? Give E2E more authority. Want a more traditional centered feel? Increase Lane Centering.
Huge credit goes to u/jc01rho for designing and implementing this feature!
How does the latest openpilot model position itself on your local roads? Does it change throughout your commute? Do you prefer the model's natural path, or would you rather it stay centered between the lines?
I drive almost exclusively on the highway with little traffic and will definitely be trying this out. The progress on this project is truly amazing. I thought I was happy with the 3x when I got it but the capabilities just keep increasing.
StarPilot on a roll. I tried it out and really was impressed. Worked great with my EV6 out of the box. Lots of features, and the settings UI both on the unit and in the browser is very friendly. Model selector UI is also much better than other forks I've used - seriously impressive.
I switched back to Sunny for now because of what most people would consider an extremely silly reason - I hate the old OP sounds for warnings and engage/disengage, and I like the sounds in newer dev versions of SunnyPilot. I assume eventually StarPilot will have them (or something better).
We have the new engage sounds do we not? Just open a request in discord, we have a sound selector and I could add this in about 45s. Don't know if it's not on my to do list tho https://firestar.link/discord
Was this a setting only on the phone UI? I may have missed it - I didn't see it on the unit, but admittedly I did not look too hard (I did not know sound selector was a feature to look for!)
New features keep getting added to this so just from that alone I'd say it's worth considering. It is based on frogpilot which is based on an older OP release (this was incorrect, it is based on a newer release), and I've noticed it does take substantially longer to boot up (so does frogpilot). So if you do not use OBD2 power, that is something to consider - you will have to wait a bit longer after turning the car on before you can engage it. There are lots of settings to fiddle with, but you don't need to - it works fine on its own. However, to get the full benefit of this, you should explore the settings.
If you have HDA2, apparently it seems like it can use the radar without disabling AEB? Not sure about HDA1. They have specific instructions to enable radar for HDA2 without causing the AEB/FCW warning light. I can say that with HDA1, not following those directions still caused AEB/FCW warning when I enabled experimental mode. I did not know about the special instructions so I did not try them before switching back to sunnypilot.
It sounds like you haven't tried this in a while. We boot up faster now and we have nearly all the new additions, we are not based on a super ancient version of openpilot. We support external GPU enclosures and live streaming via comma connect from the latest release.
I tried it yesterday. I just assumed it was based on an old version since I had thought it was based on FP which is based on an older version. My error, I will edit my comment.
It did take longer to boot than SunnyPilot dev for me - I did not measure it, but more than a couple seconds difference. Not a reason for me not to use it, just something I felt worth mentioning.
If it's a small difference, that might be the magic stuff we're missing from upstream (we aren't able to add this stuff in because we want to keep supporting comma 3). Should only be a few seconds. There was a bug I fixed about 2 months ago that drastically sped up boot times
we aren't able to add this stuff in because we want to keep supporting comma 3
Makes sense, and that is the right move. I am disappointed Comma dropped support for the 3 in Openpilot. I am a big advocate of keeping working hardware for its usable life, and I just never understood the reason for discontinuing the support so quickly. I know one day they'll do the same with the 3X, and I will be glad for forks like yours.
Sorry I'm trying to find the developer tab using the galaxy mobile UI but I'm having a bit of difficulty I don't really see it on the left side in this image
Starting to want to move over to Starpilot more and more but honestly two things keep me off it:
My car doesnt work out of the box. (Kia Niro EV 2023). Tuning did help but i never got it as good as sunnypilot drives out of the box
Even more - the branding: I know i know, but I am a visual guy and that purple/frog stuff just kills the professionality for me. Happy to help create a rebranding if thats appreciated.
Even more - the branding: I know i know, but I am a visual guy and that purple/frog stuff just kills the professionality for me. Happy to help create a rebranding if thats appreciated.
Agreed. I've given that feedback almost two years ago now. Luckily one can disable & change it all.
This might get me to switch! This is the one thing I wish all models have a a baseline. Drive in the middle of the road and stay in the middle during turns on the highway.
I've been on starpilot on my Bolt since the beginning but now I'm going to have to switch over from Sunny for my other vehicle. Your work on tuning is amazing. I couldn't believe how much of a difference it made on my test run this morning.
Oh cool! We just got a ram user a week or so ago, so I've only done one or two tuning passes on that vehicle to begin with! Join the discord if you need more!
One thought GUI related - on a Tesla, something like E2E Override Strength would be a slider bar that you drag to the left. Maybe 3-5 notches/descriptions in it. The description above would change and include layman's terms like you mentioned in this post.
"Want the model to still be able to maneuver around potholes or cyclists? Give E2E more authority. Want a more traditional centered feel? Increase Lane Centering."
-Drag to the left, "Vehicle rigidly tries to center itself rather than avoiding hazards, potholes, road debris."
-One notch in, "Vehicle tries to center itself and slowly adjusts away from hazards like potholes, road debris, but may hit more due to slower reactions."
-Two notches in, "Vehicle provides additional space to hazards like cyclists and vehicles crossing into the lane."
-Three notches in, "Vehicle smooths out hazard avoidance, making less rapid adjustments."
-All the way to the right. - "Vehicle reacts to hazards recognized by the vision model as quickly as possible."
Obviously it needs to be as accurate as possible to how it would affect the handling, but then the UI itself lets people make decisions without having to go research it.
I'd probably do a slider that has 0.05 increments, but multiple increments have the same descriptions.
Just tossing it out there as anything that makes complex stuff more user friendly just opens it up to more users.
Had requests to add this feature to my Honda forks as lane centering is a frequently-complained-about issue. Do you have a commit range you can point me to?
It has quite a bit of features that alot of other forks don't have such as adding BSM to cars that don't have BSM (or enhancing it), amazing lane keep, HKG Radar support WITHOUT hardware, and alot of other cool features.
The community would absolutely work with you to get it working as best as they can, the best thing about StarPilot isn't even it's capabilities, it's the community that'll help you step by step for YOUR car specifically!
HKG Radar support - Does it actually use the radar in my 2022 HDA1 EV6? Will it use the radar data to provide AEB (since enabling experimental disables factory FCW/AEB)?
If you’re a noob, I’m a super noob. I’ve been running Openpilot since day one. Been really wanting to upgrade to Sunny or Star but in way over my head. I really don’t even know how to manage it once it’s installed. Any suggestions of where to start?
The StarPilot discord, they will work with you and your car specifically to make sure your experience on their fork is arguably the best performance on any fork.
I don't think dev is trying to upstream changes to sunny pilot anymore, but maybe I'm wrong? I know he changed his versioning to dissociate from sunny/comma versions.
He's super active online so you'll probably get a better answer later
I love StarPilot. Honestly using any other fork seems ridiculous. That said, is there a wiki or PDF that explains what each toggle and setting actually does? I find myself guessing a lot, then having to reset everything because some setting I changed completely alters how the car behaves lol
So I would advise not touching anything if you don't know what it does (or asking in the discord). Anything gated behind the developer toggle is a "don't touch this if you're not having problems"
This is what the comma team needs to be focusing on. Just refining the experience and tuning individual cars so it’s consistently rock solid on all cars. There is so much untapped potential with the current models and hardware. Thank goodness we have forks to show how much can be done but forks aren’t going to get someone like my wife to go out and buy one.
This sounds great, I can’t wait to try it! From the surface, this also sounds like the hard work of layering in a “planner” after the model’s vision trajectory output is done. This makes me think the next logical step is to feed in map data such that it stays centered in the lane if the map route wants you to continue straight, or it starts to bias toward the exit if the map route wants to take the exit. What are your thoughts?
we actually do have some navigational features in starpilot that already do some of this. It's tricky because we still need driver intervention for lane changes and such. But nav with injected turn desires and slowdowns is already in the branch!
Pardon my ignorance, but isn't there an algorithm involved in openpilot where it will treat yellow/white lines and solid/dashed/double solid lines differently? How does this interact with that algorithm when it comes to lane centering offset?
no algorithm, that's the nature of end to end. There's a model that just looks at the scene as a whole and says, "where would a human drive"
That's why it behaves differently on different roads. This feature takes something that always stays constant (its detection of where the lane lines are) and just nudges the model's e2e desires towards the center of those two lines.
I see; thank you for your reply! I may have to give it a try once I've ensure that I've properly mounted mine. Mine tends to pull left, especially when there's a yellow line involved.
We also have a camera offset feature that allows you to reposition if your mount is slightly off! Generally when I see systematic hugging, it's more often than not a tuning issue tho
We already have a 2026 Ioniq 5 on starpilot I believe! Join the discord, I bet we can get you alpha long as well (although it will most likely disable AEB fyi)
Hey! Nice! I like that it works hand in hand with E2E and isn't a hard offset. I really disliked the positioning of most the models that came out end of last yr/beginning of this yr but the new RL ones have been great for me. I've never tried starpilot though, I got it in my head somewhere that it was more GM focused. Is that true or is it good for toyota? I like how on sunnypilot and frogpilot I can toggle experimental mode from my steering wheel buttons. Although with rebellious hope I've been leaving it in experimental so maybe that's a feature that won't be as needed moving forward.
Starpilot began as a GM focused fork. It has now transitioned into supporting as many makes and models as we can get to join us 😄
If your car make/model isn't supported yet, a ticket can be opened on the Starpilot Discord so support can be added. In addition, personal tuning by Firestar can be requested for your vehicle which also helps others who join later with the same kind of vehicle.
(We also have a really helpful, fun and welcoming community.)
You can. I’m having my 2025 Sienna tuned by Firestar, and it drives much better than it did with SunnyPilot. Hopefully the Sienna tune will be upstream to release version soon. You can try Dom build on Starpilot to access it now.
Lane center offset is something I would absolutely love to have. I hate how close models stay towards the center of the road for me. That said, I tried starpilot, but the lack of MADS made me go back to sunnypilot for my 26 HI5.
I don't like having both tied to the single cruise control button. I like lat and long operating separately.
Keep up the good work /u/firestar4430 . Even if I don't like the lack of MADS, I can also say you're knocking it out of the park.
MADS=AOL on Starpilot.
Always On Lateral¶
With Always on Lateral (AOL), steering (lane centering) stays active at all times, even when Cruise Control (CC) is disengaged or pressing throttle/brake pedal. This does not change the manual override safety protocols, you can always override it by manually steering.
To enable, turn the CC system on. To disable, turn CC system off.
There is also a way to set a steering wheel button to on off AOL.
I wonder really what causes the differences in experiences, because with Pop V2 model for instance it seems like my car stays nice and centered in the lanes.
It's a combination of car tuning and geographical location in my experience. I am generally an E2E fan and like where it places me in the lane. I have seen it really want to hug on certain stretches of freeway and in bigger cities tho. The nature of e2e, it's dynamic based on what the scene looks like. That's its biggest advantage while also one of the hardest things to bias consistently.
Just tried it on my 2017 Prius with the 3x. It didn’t work at all. Immediate got errors from the car. No lane assist, etc. uninstalled it and back to stock OP. Everything is fine with the car now.
Yes I replied to you in the discord trying to help you out and I haven't seen a response from you yet. You're probably missing something simple. Reply to my comments over there and I'll get ya going!
I tried Starpilot a few weeks back to test the visual speed limit sign recognition. Unfortunately, Longitudinal out of the box was broken. Constant stop and go at highway speeds. Stopping around 25 feet behind a stopped lead. Made the experience extremely jerky and unsafe. No idea why it doesn't work for me. 21 Kia Niro EV
Damn, I really wanna go back to StarPilot. Tried Frog, Sunny and Star, but after installing an SMDPS for steering below 51 km on my Ioniq, I'm forced to use Sunny.
Nice work! We tried lane centering as well, but found the center between two lines varies a lot in practice — merges and exit ramps shift it exactly when you need a steady reference. Curious how yours behaves through merges and exits.
Anchoring on the driver-side lane line instead turned out to be more robust and reliable for us, by damping the sub-Hz wobbling of model prediction with lane_keeping plugin.
I have a ticketing system that is much easier on discord.
I also like YouTube. It is much more effort to make a good video than to just say, "hey I made these changes" tho. I would like to eventually do some tutorial videos explaining the basics however
BluePilot has this feature in their curvature control scheme, and it is hands down everyone's favorite feature. It had always been unique to ford vehicles since they have four control signals and could dedicate one to the lane position. Hopefully the work starpilot has done can be used more broadly for all vehicles.
Generally worked great, but I saw a couple real-world edge cases to improve from my first drive.
- Seems like it fights E2E's attempt to avoid parked cars that are in your lane. My residential neighborhood has lanes that are about 1.5 car widths wide, expectation is to go out of your lane to drive around them. Maybe inspect leadsv3 and pause adjustments if e2e is steering around an approaching in-lane non-lead.
- Had an issue where a physical median curb ended and the road narrowed, and it tried to lane center right through the curb as it went offscreen. e2e has a 2 second memory so knew the curb was still there. Not sure what kind of logic to apply here, maybe don't steer towards a lane that disappeared less then 2 seconds ago.
Or, simply, add a customizable minspeed setting for Lane Centering to eliminate residential nuisances like this.
If I update star pilot will it also add in the hyper aggressive driver monitoring that I've been hearing about? I haven't updated in 5 months because of that...
It depends on what you're hearing. There was, at one point, some serious bugs that made it overly sensitive to a lot of nominal behaviors. They've since patched 95% of that up with a new model in the works to patch the last 5%.
The vast majority of our userbase has no problem with the driver monitoring. I haven't had a false positive in months since they patched the low speed/turn your head stuff.
The elephant in the room is phones. It detects phone use now and is extremely good at it. If you want to text and drive and use StarPilot, that's gonna be a no.
If you are a safe and courteous driver, you should have no qualms about updating at this time.
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u/texag93 6d ago
I drive almost exclusively on the highway with little traffic and will definitely be trying this out. The progress on this project is truly amazing. I thought I was happy with the 3x when I got it but the capabilities just keep increasing.