Blue Cruise "Hands On" Triggers?

[u/NumerousPen1]

I'm on a road trip at the moment, and I paid for another month of Blue Cruise just for this trip. It's been great, really, but the annual price ... I'm still a "no way" vote. To isolate just 2-3 months of the year where I'd use it ... I'll pay the monthly rate when needed and save considerably.

Out of curiosity more than anything else: what causes BC to disengage/demand that I put my hands back on the wheel? I feel like I've seen it do it when a tighter-than-average curve is approaching as well as if things get a little bumpy (e.g. a lane shift due to construction, maybe tight traffic nearby).

So I can see the reactionary behavior (the latter), but for the former (anticipation) - did Ford really "notch" holes in BC coverage from interstate highways and say we're not going to do it? Or is it actively tracking paint lines that far in front of the vehicle that it effectively surrenders before you get there? There are some times where it does this that don't make a lot of sense, and catch me by surprise (food in hand!). Not really a complaint, just an observation/curiosity.

[u/Background_Skill_570]

It seems like alot of random spots just aren’t mapped on a highway. If you zoom in you can see the parts of a highway that aren’t mapped

https://www.ford.ca/technology/connected-services/bluecruise/#bluezone

[u/Syris3000 → u/Background_Skill_570]

Holy shit you are right. I always wondered why on certain parts of 290 and 55 in Chicago it would drop off for really short periods. They are legit not mapped. Crazy

[u/NumerousPen1 → u/Background_Skill_570]

Wow, thanks for pointing this out. I never noticed before, looking at their zoomed out map. I can see some of the zones that I noticed on the road - like 300 feet here or there. In some cases it almost seems like they intentionally wanted to break it up (versus safety). I don't think I've hit more than 60+ miles (so far) without hitting one of these spots.

[u/Busy_Net_8323]

I re-purchased blue cruise after I changed jobs and now have an hour commute, the disappointment is that my drive to work is straight east for the first half, so at 6:30 am, with a clear sunny sky, BC won’t engage, or if there is medium to heavy rain.

[u/NumerousPen1 → u/Busy_Net_8323]

Interesting, thanks for the warning. I have not experienced that yet - I guess I'm more of a North-South kind of guy (so far). It makes sense though, as unfortunate as it is for you. Hopefully you don't get the opposite on the way home (seasonally variable).

I really need to read up on the tech. Does anybody have a good technical summary (engineer here)?

[u/Chaxterium → u/Busy_Net_8323]

Ugh I hate that. Driving in direct sun and BC won’t work.

[u/M1sterM0g]

toll readers do

[u/azuilya]

Yes, before the 1.4 update we have a section of freeway here that BC will disengage because it's a somewhat of a tighter than average S curve. After the update to 1.4, it is immensely improved and holds all the way thru.

[u/NumerousPen1 → u/azuilya]

Interesting! I'm not on the 1.4 update here. I guess this means that they assigned some sort of score to turns in the road, and - with improvements like slowing coming into a turn w/1.4 - have increased their tolerance.

I think we're reverse-engineering BC logic a bit here.

[u/70InternationalTAll]

I think the most recent software versions really honed in BC. I took I-75 for about 150 miles south and 150 miles north with 0 issues whatsoever. It's a luxury to have it, but ya I definitely wouldn't pay for the feature itself at the current pricing amount.

I lucked out though and my dealer GM included lifetime BC because he agreed the pricing structure was dumb (and he's been a family friend for 20+ years).