“We do rely on similar map data,” he said. GM relied on lidar-scanned high-definition maps for Super Cruise, but Ditman said it wasn’t practical to map all 2 million miles of road for Ultra Cruise. A voice assistant will also inform the driver when they need to take the wheel. A light bar in the steering wheel will communicate to the driver when they need to control, sending signals through escalating lights and haptic feedback. Ditman gave the example of a roundabout as a type of complex road condition that the ADAS will not be able to navigate. Ultra Cruise won’t be able to handle every driving scenario. “There are additional cameras and radars, and we are adding lidar to the vehicle.” “The sensing architecture is all new,” Ditman said. Ultra Cruise-enabled vehicles will come equipped with lidar, which historically is rare for production vehicles thanks to the high costs associated with the laser sensor. GM’s Super Cruise was first rolled out in 2017. Ultra Cruise will also support automatic and on-demand lane changes, left and right hand turns, avoid close objects, and enable parking in residential driveways. “Drivers will be able to travel hands-free across nearly every paved road, including city streets, subdivision streets, and rural paved roads,” Ditman said.ĭitman described Ultra Cruise as a “route following feature” that maintains headways and follows the speed limit. Jason Ditman, chief engineer at GM, elaborated on Ultra Cruise’s capabilities. Once the vehicle knows where it is and that it’s safe to activate, Super Cruise will take over both steering and acceleration.ĭespite its enhanced capabilities, GM says it still considers Ultra Cruise a Level 2 system It compares the vehicle’s position, taken from both GPS and onboard cameras, to its location in a lidar map collected by GM.

Super Cruise, which debuted in 2017 in the Cadillac CT6 sedan, is capable of completely hands-free driving across more than 200,000 miles of divided highway across North America. GM wouldn’t comment on the price customers will be expected to pay to add Ultra Cruise as an option on their vehicles. GM says Super Cruise will “co-exist” with Ultra Cruise, with the former available in more “mainstream” vehicles, while the latter is reserved for GM’s luxury models. GM’s first-generation advanced driver-assist system (ADAS), Super Cruise, has been praised as a safer, more capable version of Tesla’s Autopilot, thanks to its camera-based driver monitoring system that ensures drivers keep their eyes on the road. Ultra Cruise will be available in a handful of premium model vehicles in 2023

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