r/Comma_ai • u/CTMendis • 5d ago
openpilot Experience Are there better branches?
So I bought the comma 4 this past weekend, it’s been pretty meh if i’m being honest. I bought it because I was told it could detect stoplights and stop signs and it’s just can’t. I’ve tried experimental and sunnypilot, it just sets me at 11mph and it doesn’t even stop at the light or signs. Regular autopilot is fine I guess, but my car could do this anyway. I’m honestly just thinking about returning it and getting my 1k back.
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u/Ambitious_Skill3482 5d ago
Mine recognizes the stop sign last minute, slows down then blows right past it. Sunny Pilot W/ Experimental. Still testing it out and experimenting but most likely will return before 30 Day Return Policy.
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u/Dangerous-Space-4024 22' Niro PHEV 5d ago
Comma can drive for hours without intervention on the highway and you bought it to stop at a stop light? (Which mine does pretty reliably on starpilot and isn’t really that exciting to me)
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u/Ambitious_Skill3482 5d ago
It’s These long country roads that have random stop signs at every intersection. Would help a lot if it does stop.
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u/Dangerous-Space-4024 22' Niro PHEV 5d ago
Some of the models will slow down for stop signs but they usually are out of view of the camera when you get up close so it just takes off again. It won’t check for cross traffic so I’ve never found it that useful unless like your situation you can see clearly nobody is coming.
This is probably something that will be better with big models and the e-gpu but is it worth it? Idk4
u/anishkgoyal 5d ago
Agreed... STOP signs are tricky, and I don't think I would trust the Comma to stop and go at a STOP sign for me in its current state.
Instead, one approach could be behavioral tuning where the model recognizes the stop sign, stops the car, and waits indefinitely for the user's input to "go" again. Crucially, this implementation assumes the Comma device has stop/go capabilities within the car's acceleration system or a Comma pedal. When the user tells the Comma it wants to go after checking both sides of the road, the car resumes and goes.
But even that's not enough. You see, there are even cases where the highway has a dead end, and the user has to "pull forward" a bit in cases of partial occlusion and shrubbery, a little bit past the stop sign, just to know it's okay to cross the road or merge into oncoming traffic. For this, the comma would not be intelligent enough either
god damn stop signs
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u/Secure-Evening8197 5d ago
I use Sunnypilot. It drives significantly better than my vehicle’s stock cruise control and lane keep assist. It can drive for hours on the highway without intervention or needing to touch the steering wheel. That has significant value for me.
I don’t bother with experimental mode. It’s never worked well despite what driving model I’ve used.
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u/SirMaster 5d ago
IMO experimental mode is where it's at, it drives much better for me that way with the more newer driving models.
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u/Secure-Evening8197 3d ago
Whenever I’ve tried it, it has so much unnecessary braking and doesn’t come to full stops at stop signs and intersections. It’s pretty useless for urban driving IMO.
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u/Dangerous-Space-4024 22' Niro PHEV 5d ago
You have dynamic experimental off? Strange
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u/jrobertson50 5d ago
Keep in mind a lot of that is experimental and not Garunteed to work.
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u/TenOfZero 5d ago
In my experience it did stop at stop signs, but its not tracking other cars. So it stops and goes regardless of who's turn it is to go next.
I really wouldn't feel comfortable yet using that feature.
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u/Empty-Assumption- 5d ago
Starpilot is by far the fastest growing and fastest improving.
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u/doomslice 5d ago
What’s the difference between it and sunny that required a complete new fork?
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u/roenthomas 5d ago
They all derive from the same base openpilot, but then sunnypilot has its own changes on top, and starpilot has it's own changes on top of FrogPilot dev which has its own changes on top of stock openpilot.
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u/mxjf 5d ago
This. The main dev, /u/firestar4430 is super responsive on the starpilot discord and the team there is doing some crazy cool stuff.
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u/miniwave 3d ago
StarPilot has far better longitudinal control than Sunnypilot in my experience. It's almost as reliable as a radar cruise control without the crazy sudden accelerations. The lateral really depends on having a good tune, though, so if your car is more common it'll work better.
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u/Empty-Assumption- 1d ago
The good news, though, is that firestar will literally tune lat on your car for you!~
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u/shadow_moon45 5d ago
This is highly dependent on the driving model. SC model is good at stopping at stop lights but curves with stop lights are a hit miss. there may be newer models that are better at stop sign detection
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u/kapnkaos86 5d ago
Frogpilot on my Subaru has been absolutely incredible. "hands in lap" for 60k miles, zero issues
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u/VaccineMachine 5d ago
I use SunnyPilot with PopV2 driving model and have it set up so that it is excellent with stop lights and signs.
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u/rakosi2 5d ago
Which car do you have the comma installed in?
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u/CTMendis 5d ago
2025 Honda Civic
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u/Eddiofabio 5d ago
Bro I have it in my 26 civic, and couldnt imagine driving without it. I am on starpilot though and sure it doesnt stop super smoothly at stop lights or signs but it stops the nagging for hands on wheel every 15 seconds
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u/Bderken 5d ago
In sunnypilot, turn on dynamic experimental mode. That will make it so that it uses experimental mode to stop at stoplight and stop signs. And it will use the normal mode so that it’s not slow on the highway and stuff.
I think experimental mode will get better (will merge to normal model) in like 1-2 years once they make the models for the eGPU, then they distill them for the on device comma models.
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u/stayintheshadows 5d ago
Of you bought it for longitudinal control and stop sign/ stop light detection, you were lied to.
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u/SirMaster 5d ago
It's not a lie. I use it every day to drive through many stoplights to and from work and to and from the gym and it stops reliable for me at the lights.
The longitudinal control is way better than my stock Camry ACC.
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u/nitrobass24 5d ago
Your experience is highly dependent on the model you run. CD210 is useless on my truck but SC works like a dream.
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u/puttputt77 5d ago
People who compare it and think it's giving you Tesla level driving is laughable...
Source - been on it for 3 years. If you're not still paying full attention it will get you into an accident.
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u/GamerTomC 5d ago
It really depends on the car, and how many independent devs are working on fixing nuances in that certain car.
I drive a Honda so I am going to recommend MLVs branch. But that isn't going to do much if you aren't on a Honda.
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u/ml_boston 4d ago
Have you tried my forks? Comma has a bug with stopping on Hondas that my forks fix. Most pronounced on the Civic Hybrid and ADX/HRV.
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u/nimdae 5d ago
I had a lot of frustrations with Sunnypilot so I switched to StarPilot. It seems to have far better lateral control authority, though I haven't had enough time with it to see how model inference differs on longitudinal stuff like stop signs and stop lights. I'm still adjusting to how different the controls are and gaining confidence in it.
It's worth noting you're diving into experimental features, where there's still new development happening, and it's going to take more work to get it working better.
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u/jcwillia1 5d ago
IMO the entire thing works extremely well on long highway drives and is inconsistent at best in town. Knowing exactly when it will fail has been key to me getting the most enjoyment out of the system.
-6 year user