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Old 03-23-2017, 07:12 PM   #1
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F150 Auto backup

Anyone else see the commercial for the new F150 Auto backup feature? Not sure I'd trust it, but couldn't believe such a thing now exist.
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Old 03-23-2017, 07:15 PM   #2
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I wouldn't trust it. If you can't back it up, you shouldn't own it.
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Old 03-23-2017, 09:40 PM   #3
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It's actually useful when backing up my short kayak trailer. ( so short I can't see it in the mirrors , it was built for my civic)

There is a knob on the dash and a sticker that goes on the trailer tongue. You also have to enter several traile let measurements to set up each trailer.

So when you turn the knob it will swing the truck around in order to turn the trailer in the direction you want it to go. Once you let go of the knob the trailer will continue to go in the same direction and the truck will do what it has to do to keep the trailer going straight.

I have not played with it in a tight area were the truck would hit something. It if you grave the steering wheel it will stop and you are in charge of the brakes and gas.
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Old 03-23-2017, 10:33 PM   #4
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I'm with davel.
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Old 03-27-2017, 12:20 PM   #5
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I work for a company that is a big player in the emerging autonomous driving thing. Over the years, I've been amused at things like automatic parallel parking, automatic trailer backing, radar-based cruise control, etc. I don't particularly care about automomous driving, because I enjoy driving myself. But the reality is that this is going to happen. Just like car-guys were wrong about ABS, it's very likely that decades from now, yielding control may result in better performance, reduce fatalities...and allow dad to have fun with the family on the way to Florida.


For now, these stand-alone options seem silly. But for the end game, it's critical, real-world feedback with sensors and controls that will one-day work together for complete hands-off transportation.


Again, I don't really like the idea. But I get it.
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Old 03-27-2017, 12:25 PM   #6
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PS - I wonder how many people using this feature will be so focused on what's happening on the screen, that they don't notice the truck just swung it's own front end hard into a mailbox.

But there is probably a front sensor watching out for that, too. If not, there will be next year!!
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Old 03-27-2017, 12:55 PM   #7
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X2 Brakeman - it's not only coming but is sorta-kinda here.


Living in Huntsville, AL (home to the 2nd largest research park in the USA) has one benefit: you see a lot of interesting tech (owned by folks with more money than they know what to do with )

I have seen a couple of Tesla S's and one X model around town. Seeing these cruise down I565 in autopilot mode is amazing (and a tad unnerving!)

The most Jetson feature I have seen though was a demo at Bridgestreet where the guy's car drove him up to the entrance, he got out and - unbelievable!! - the car went and parked itself! Finished shopping? press a app button on your phone and the darn car comes to wherever you are to pick you up!!

Of course, the sticker price let's you decide if you want a Tesla S or a well appointed Berkshire

Tesla is supposed to be coming out with a new model (still has autopilot, not sure about park seek or autosummon) for around $35K MSRP in 2017.

This tech does indicate that, in a decade or so at most, autonomous autos will most likely be a common occurrence. Shoot, even today Entegra, Newell, and Foretravel have class A units with adaptive cruise control, lane drift correction, and crash avoidance capabilities.
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Old 03-27-2017, 03:00 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by davel1971 View Post
I wouldn't trust it. If you can't back it up, you shouldn't own it.
Once upon a time people said "If you can't shift your own gears, you probably shouldn't drive it" too.

While most of the gee-gaws that car companies are offering now are just gimmicks, every now and then one comes along that is truly useful (Ie. cruise control anyone?)

I'll never look down on them for trying.

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Old 03-27-2017, 04:17 PM   #9
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When I saw the commercial it made it seem that you just hit tht button and let go of the wheel. I looked it up on YouTube to see how it really works. Basically it has a small knob that is used as the steering wheel, but you don't need to counter steer. By no means am I an expert in backing up. I take my camper out about 6x a year. So that's a dozen times having up. I can see it being useful for us novice towers. I wouldn't go out of my way to get one, but if was in the truck I was buying, I'd use it.
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Old 03-30-2017, 07:32 AM   #10
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On the plus side, when things like this become ubiquitous, when the local police need to arrest someone, instead of sending SWAT in the middle of the night, they can just wait until the perp gets in their car, lock the doors on them and drive the car to a secure location.

On the negative side....it means the feds could do it to a private citizen because they don't like what they say or a hacker could do it for ransom.

https://www.wired.com/2015/07/hacker...-jeep-highway/
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Old 04-03-2017, 07:39 PM   #11
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I haven't seen an ad for an auto-backup feature, but my F150 has a knob you can use to steer the trailer when backing up. I find it useless.

It's dependent on the rear camera being able to view a checkerboard patterned sticker placed on the trailer frame. My camera frequently loses sight of it, even when I can still see it in the backup camera and it's not obscured by anything. But, even if it didn't lose it on its own, the front jack post does actually obscure it when the trailer is at an angle, and not even a severe angle.

You enter in certain TV and trailer dimensions so the knob knows how aggressively to turn. Even when it's working, it's too sensitive. I thought perhaps the computer would make the knob less sensitive to over-steer but that doesn't seem to be the case. I have far more control steering from the bottom of the wheel, and I'm not a purist about having direct control.
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Old 04-04-2017, 06:49 AM   #12
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When I first saw the commercial it made it seem like it was Auto, but it's the knob. When I liked up how it worked and noticed you had to use a sticker I did wonder how that would work in the real world. My 9 and 11 year old kids have already decided which private high school they want to go to means that I'll be driving my 2011 Silverado for the next 9 years. Maybe after that I can afford a new truck. By then maybe they will have this feature perfected.
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Old 04-04-2017, 07:00 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cowracer View Post
Once upon a time people said "If you can't shift your own gears, you probably shouldn't drive it" too.

While most of the gee-gaws that car companies are offering now are just gimmicks, every now and then one comes along that is truly useful (Ie. cruise control anyone?)

I'll never look down on them for trying.

Tim
Truth!

Pretty cool concept that I am sure has a few years to go to "perfect" the system. This is right up there with cars that will parallel park themselves, lane monitoring, crash avoidance braking....all "gadgets" to us but will be common place in 20 years...if that long.
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Old 04-04-2017, 07:13 AM   #14
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Some times having more electronics is not always good. They put this stuff on the market and some dude thinks he can just sit back and relax. Thats when things happen. Half the folks now days don't know how to drive and now you going to let them back a trailer with a truck that has the auto back up feature..same guy will be like the person on FL toll road driving his Tesla in auto mode and crashed and he is no longer with us. I'd have to say if you can't back on your own you don't need a trailer. Later RJD
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Old 04-04-2017, 10:42 AM   #15
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I have the backup knob on my truck. I have used it on a few different trailers.

Sometimes it finds the sticker sometimes it does not depending on the lighting. It is nice and the driver is still in full control with brake and gas it just turns the wheel for you and you turn the knob to tell it where you want the trailer to go. Anything you hit is 100% on you as all the beeping sensors etc are turned off with trailers attached though I heard they have blind spot detection enabled in the 2018s. If you rely only on this feature for backing you will get hosed because of detection failures. I can back up fine but this is really helpful when having to parallel park my trailer in storage as it makes going straight easy. With it I can also one shot S curve into my driveway and nail the placement. Manually it takes a few corrections but I still get there.

I also have lane assist which I disable when towing. I don't need the truck adding sway while driving through construction zones.

Dealer said lots of guys come in saying they don't need backup help but then come back in surprised with how well it works. I fell in that group.

I don't let the truck parallel park itself mainly because it requires so much safety space to do so that its hard to find a spot it fits in. Ford disabled the perpendicular (back in) parking on the trucks because with the longer wheel base you could not find many spots to use it on in a single shot I assume. I know it has trouble because I enabled mine.

Electronic aids are good, but I agree that total reliance is not a good thing in a mixed enviornment. I would love to see a world where everything was done for you to prevent accidents but that won't happen anytime soon.
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Old 04-04-2017, 11:43 PM   #16
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Quote:
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... For now, these stand-alone options seem silly. But for the end game, it's critical, real-world feedback with sensors and controls that will one-day work together for complete hands-off transportation.


Again, I don't really like the idea. But I get it.
I think the real value will come from commercial transportation, not passenger vehicles. There will be dramatic accidents that get plastered all over TV but nobody will hear about the hundreds of accidents that don't happen, huge fuel savings and reduced pollution. Unfortunately, that will come at a huge cost to an entire generation of unemployed truck drivers with little in the way of marketable skills in a high-technology economy.
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