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In its announcement of BlueCruise, Ford specifically compared its new option with Tesla’s Autopilot and General Motors’ Super Cruise. For all the benefits that driving a car offers, not least of which is the mental escape from the trials of daily life, the prospect of a self-driving vehicle remains tantalizing. And with BlueCruise, a new hands-free driving system from Ford, another automaker has moved one step closer to that final goal of fully autonomous driving. Once you are ready for Super Cruise to steer again, center the vehicle in the lane and wait for the steering wheel to turn green. Super Cruise is designed to work in certain low-speed, congested traffic situations, helping reduce the driver's workload.
GM's Super Cruise vs. Ford's Bluecruise: Compare hands-free driving systems
Originally called Active Drive Assist, Bluecruise (or Activeglide on Lincoln vehicles) didn't launch until the second half of 2021. Cruise, or speed, control dates as far back as the rivalry between America's top two automakers. Yet, the first car to feature a modern version of cruise control was the 1958 Chrysler Imperial that was advertised as "Auto-pilot." That's the same and now controversial name Tesla uses for its semi-autonomous drive system. Onboard both BlueCruise and SuperCruise capable vehicles are cameras capable of tracking the driver’s eyes.
GM's Super Cruise Hands-Free Driving Feature Blew My Mind Over 2,000 Miles - Gear Patrol
GM's Super Cruise Hands-Free Driving Feature Blew My Mind Over 2,000 Miles.
Posted: Tue, 11 Apr 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Best cruise lines for couples: Viking Ocean Cruises
As these systems become available on more new cars, it’s important that consumers understand their limitations. No matter what the automakers might imply in their marketing, none of the systems we tested here are capable of doing the driving for you. We evaluated the systems in terms of how clearly they communicate in real time about when drivers should—and should not—be using the technology. We also looked at how well they "explain" themselves in instances when the system won’t engage or suddenly turns itself off.
Keeping the Driver Engaged
No. 6 Oceania Cruises also got a better score this year, rising two places, as numerous voters mentioned the high quality of the line's onboard cuisine. "In our experience with eight different cruise lines," said one well-traveled voter, "Oceania consistently has the best food." If you're wondering what is the best cruise line for luxury travelers, look no further. Regent Seven Seas Cruises offers an unrivaled experience for the most discerning travelers.
We found BlueCruise enjoyable to use because it provides steering assistance on straight, boring sections of highway, or when you’re stuck in a traffic jam, which can make driving less stressful and more relaxing. The promise of a car driving itself in traffic while the operator tends to other business has never been closer to reality. And while the technology exists, the current infrastructure and legal framework keeps it at bay. To be clear, there is no such thing as a fully self-driving car on sale today. That threshold of being able to enter a destination and go from point A to point B with no interaction between car and passenger has been identified as a Level 5 advanced driving assistance system (ADAS) by the Society for Automotive Engineering.
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When you dine aboard a Regent cruise, you'll experience world-class chefs as well as sommeliers to pair your wine to your meal. Dining options include a variety of restaurants serving French cuisine, Pan-Asian dishes, Italian specialties, steak and more. Regent offers an all-suite fleet so travelers can enjoy spacious and luxurious accommodations. Each suite has a private balcony, a dedicated attendant, an in-suite minibar and a separate sitting area.
Best cruise lines for families: Disney Cruise Line
GM's Hands-Free Super Cruise Expands To 750,000 Miles - Forbes
GM's Hands-Free Super Cruise Expands To 750,000 Miles.
Posted: Wed, 14 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
This relatively new cruise line, backed by Richard Branson's Virgin Group, is reinventing mainstream cruising with a hipper, more inclusive, younger vibe (though not too young; its ships are adults-only). The cruising arm of Ritz-Carlton has been in operation for just a bit over a year, and the jury still is out on where it ranks in the pantheon of luxury cruise brands. The line notably struggled to get off the ground after years of construction delays for its first and only ship. This France-based line is a specialist in expedition cruising, a type of cruising that involves traveling to remote, hard-to-reach places on small, hardy vessels that carry their own landing craft. Like Royal Caribbean and Norwegian, MSC Cruises operates big, resort-like vessels that appeal to a broad audience.
Clear When Safe to Use
If the system detects the driver is not paying attention to the road or is engaged in other tasks, it will prompt the driver to take control of the vehicle. SuperCruise offers features such as adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assistance, and automatic lane changes. It also has a driver attention system that uses a small camera to ensure the driver's focus remains on the road ahead.
GM sued Ford over the BlueCruise name
It operates on pre-mapped, compatible highways, which Ford continuously updates and expands. Our testers evaluated how easy it was for drivers to engage the systems and make adjustments to the settings. They also reviewed the types and amount of information displayed to drivers, and how easy it was to know and understand what the system was doing. But while BlueCruise’s capabilities are impressive and can make driving more relaxing, cars that can truly and safely drive themselves remain a long way off. Bluecruise does not have an auto lane change function yet, but Ford hasn't rolled it out yet. Semantics aside, both Chevy SuperCruise and Ford BlueCruise are similar technologies, tracking the driver and the road simultaneously.
BlueCruise uses cameras and sensors to keep the vehicle centered within its lane, even during curves and highway interchanges. The system’s adaptive cruise control adjusts the vehicle's speed to maintain a safe following distance from the vehicle in front. It can recognize and respond to speed limit signs, adjusting the vehicle's speed accordingly. When a system is controlling a car’s speed and steering, there’s a risk that its driver might feel more free to pick up a cell phone, eat a messy burger, or engage in other reckless, distracting behavior. That’s why we think it’s essential that ADA systems use direct driver monitoring systems (DDMS) to make sure the driver is paying attention to the road.
Active Driving Assistance systems rely on several of a car’s high-tech features working together. In the simplest terms, ADA is the simultaneous use of a car’s adaptive cruise control (ACC) to control speed and lane centering assistance (LCA) to control steering. ACC is an advanced form of cruise control that brakes or accelerates to keep the car a set distance from vehicles traveling ahead of you in your lane. LCA provides steering support to keep the vehicle at or near the center of the lane. Level 2 has been identified as using active lane control and adaptive cruise control at the same time, with the driver maintaining control of these functions even if their hands are off the wheel. The Super Cruise driver assistance technology uses Global Positioning System (GPS) sensing, GPS-enhanced data, a high-precision map and network of cameras to maintain automatic control of vehicle steering on compatible roads.
Dubbed Evrima, the line's only operating ship is a 298-passenger vessel designed to appeal to Ritz-Carlton regulars with an elegant, residential look. A second, bigger ship called Ilma that's already open for bookings debuts later this year. Its growing fleet of small expedition ships will take you everywhere from the Arctic to Papua New Guinea in style. Popular with middle-aged couples, retirees and multigenerational families, the "Love Boat" line's ships aren't as flashy (or big, for the most part) as those of Royal Caribbean and Norwegian, and that's just the way its customers like it.
Its six vessels carry just 148 to 342 passengers — fewer than fit on a single big-ship lifeboat — and are wonderfully intimate. This fast-growing line has dominated the world of river cruising for North Americans for years, and in the last few years, it's become a significant player in upscale ocean cruising as well. Viking's 80 river ships operate on just about every major river in the world, and its 10 ocean ships (up from just one in 2015) can be found in a growing number of destinations, too. Families, in particular, will love this line, due to all the family-friendly activities and venues on its vessels. Royal Caribbean ships sail everywhere in the world, but the line's heaviest presence is in the Caribbean and Europe.
Of all the systems I've tested, including earlier iterations of Tesla's Autopilot, Super Cruise fills dreams of safe, relaxed, open highway cruising. Iterations of Super Cruise with trailering support don't have the automatic lane change function, but do enable Super Cruise to work while towing. The difference in mapped miles is significant as well, since, unlike Tesla, Ford and GM will not let their systems engage unless it's part of the mapped database limited to divided highways such as interstates and state highways. GM claims more than 200,000 miles of mapped highways for hands-free driving in U.S. and Canada, and Ford claims to have 130,000 miles.
Ford has the capability to send over-the-air updates to enhance and expand the BlueCruise capabilities. To learn more about the BlueCruie features, see our article on ten exceptional features of the Ford Blue Bruise.
Among the highlight of its cruises in North America are stops at its new private island in the Bahamas, the Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve. This much-beloved luxury line recently restarted operations under new owners after shutting down for 18 months. For years, it was considered the ultimate luxury cruise operator, and our take after sailing on Crystal Serenity after its relaunch is that the line is even better than before. But it recently announced plans to expand rapidly with four more ships over the next six years. Designed to be a cut above mainstream options such as Carnival while remaining relatively affordable, this Miami-based "premium" line is known for some of the most stylish big ships at sea.
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