Advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), as its name suggests, are technologies intended to help the driver in his or her driving activities. Many new cars today are offered with ADAS, although not all are capable of providing some form of self-driving functionality.
Enter Kommu, a Malaysian company that is looking to revolutionise self-driving in Malaysia with KommuAssist, a plug and play system that it says enables Level 2 semi-autonomous driving functions in your existing car.
These functions include full-range adaptive cruise control (ACC) with low-speed follow, which has no minimal speed threshold and will brake the vehicle to a stop – handy during traffic jams. The amount of time the system can hold the brakes when the vehicle is stopped depends on the model it is fitted to.
For example, it’s up three seconds for Perodua models, after which the driver will need to step on the brake to hold position, then reengage the system once traffic moves. Meanwhile, in Toyota models that already have factory-fitted ACC (with stop and go and an electronic parking brake as standard) can keep still indefinitely even after the lead car moves, so the driver will need to tap the accelerator (with ACC still on) to get the car moving; the addition of KommuAssist negates the need for the driver to do so.
Kommu says the full-range ACC function can also help to brake the car more actively when a frontal object is detected, serving as an enhancement to factory-fitted autonomous emergency braking (AEB) systems.
Keep in mind that not all vehicles fitted with KommuAssist are capable of this, and for those vehicles that aren’t supported to that level, they get a limited form of ACC instead. This “semi ACC” is without the braking function, so it doesn’t add any AEB. Instead, the vehicle will be capable of cruising at a set speed with lead car detection, and will stop accelerating when the lead car is detected in the set distance.
Both forms of ACC that come with KommuAssist are aimed at providing drivers with more convenience on long distance drives, as they reduce the need to constantly work the pedals. Even so, the company insists that drivers must pay full attention to the road ahead even when KommuAssist is active
Besides cruise control functions, KommuAssist also comes with active lane keep control, which keeps the vehicle in lane, as well as driver facial monitoring that is an essential safety feature to alert the driver should he or she not pay attention to the road ahead.
To enable these functions, the KommuAssist hardware list includes KommuVision, which is the “brain” of the system that runs the BukaPilot software built upon an open-source driving agent called OpenPilot. In addition to providing processing power, KommuVision also houses a camera that acts as the system’s “eyes.”
The next bit of kit is KommuPower to supply power to the system and the KommuActuator, the latter being the primary interface with a car’s electric power steering, braking and throttle systems. For cars that support KommuAssist’s full-range ACC, the KommuRelay is used instead of the KommuActuator to interface with the car’s existing ADAS camera.
As mentioned, the system is entirely plug and play with no need to intercept your car’s electrical systems. Kommu also notes that the installed hardware will not replace or restrict the functions of the car’s original safety features, and the system can be removed easily. All hardware will continue to receive software and firmware updates for at least 1 year after the launch of the latest generation.
According to Kommu, vehicles that support KommuAssist’s full-range ACC include the:
- 2020-2022 Perodua Ativa (AV)
- 2022 Perodua Myvi (AV)
- 2019-2020 Toyota Alphard
- 2021-2022 Toyota Camry
- 2020-2022 Toyota Corolla
- 2021-2022 Toyota Prius
- 2019-2021 Lexus ES
- 2020 Lexus NX
- 2020-2021 Lexus UX
- 2020-2021 Lexus RX
Meanwhile, cars that support KommuAssist’s semi ACC are the:
- 2019-2022 Perodua Axia (GXtra, Style, SE and AV)
- 2020-2022 Perodua Bezza (X and AV)
- 2017-2021 Perodua Myvi (G, X, H and AV)
In terms of pricing, KommuAssist retails at RM3,499 for vehicles in the first list and includes the following hardware: KommuVision, KommuPower and KommuRelay. As for vehicles in the second list, it’s RM3,599 for the kit, which includes the same items, but replaces the KommuRelay with the KommuActuator. The company invites interested parties to sign up for test drives, where any additional questions can also be asked.
After all that’s been said, there’s one pressing question that some of you might have: is KommuAssist a system that is compliant with the Road Transport Department (JPJ)?
According to the company, it’s currently working with JPJ to get its system to comply with the Autonomous Vehicle Guideline regulated by the Malaysia Autonomous Vehicle (MyAV) committee established by the ministry of transport (MOT), Malaysia Automotive Robotics and IoT Institute (MARii), JPJ and Futurise.
What about insurance then? Well, Kommu says its on the vehicle owner to check with their insurer about coverage, although it did note in its FAQ that “we have not been told that cars with KommuAssist installed are rejected for coverage.”
So, what are your thoughts on KommuAssist? Would you be willing to install the system in your vehicle to be able to have access to Level 2 semi-autonomous driving features? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Nice, they should offer it to other brand of vehicle as well.
What if people trusted it like those who trusted Tesla Autopilot and got killed? Will Kommuassist insurance be able to cover the lawsuit?
If i have an accident while this semi-autonomous system is engaged, how would that be counted?
Will my insurance still cover the accident?
Am I the wrongful party?
What happens if somebody died in the accident?
Is this modification even allowed by JPJ that has the everything must VTA mantra?
Better not risk it. There’s a LOT of red tape involved before an ADAS system is approved for road use otherwise we would be seeing such 3rd party systems approved in other countries by now.
Would you trust third party device to control your accelerator and brake? Who do you go to if something bad happen?
imagine this can be controlled from whatever server they have
I thought it is comma.ai
Why this company rip other people’s open source tech?
Reliability depends on whether it has approval from Toyota and Daihatsu(also belongs to Toyota group). Parts could’ve been manufactured by Original Equipment (OE) supplier which uses an approved design from OE manufacturer (OEM). For ACC, it’s a matter of adding Radar/LIDAR module and or cameras on the windscreen. All models with AEB already have this cameras and modules and it’s a matter of just using a variant of software for ACC which can be variant coded. If there is Lane Keeping Assist (LKA) then a different steering module needs to be used as well. Therefore, if the parts have OEM approval, it should be safe to retrofit. OEMs sometimes remove this ACC & LKA feature as they think Malaysians don’t need this function as it will add to the selling price. So the decision is finally yours (and your insurers if you get into an accident and can’t claim later). Autonomous driving even at Level 2 is still a grey area for legislation in Malaysia.
im wondering how the system works when most of signs on the road are blur or non existance. Plz paultan, highlight the issue on the bad maintenance of the road marks like the lines and arrows.. almost invisible on many roads in Selangor area. It is really dangerous without the proper and visible line marks on the lane.tq
Itu semua salah Selangor PH Gomen. Kasi tendang mrk keluar, baru ada progress
Exiting tech but not clear who will be the victim, just in case who will responsible for anyone death (driver or 3rd party) – cause by system malfunction. a tragedy Wait for Wee Kar Seong reply?? hahaha
If this system is not approved, you got your reply from him.
Glad that they mentioned OpenPilot. By the way Gerard, OpenPilot has a website: https://comma.ai/
I drove from JB to Penang (PLUS), more than 80% of my driving time was hands and foot -free.
Why would someone owning a car factory fitted with level 2 or semi level 2 autonomous driving be paying for this? It voids warranty and adds next to no value from the factory fitted system. Better they do it for cars like proton saga, P2 axis, older generations of the myvi, axis, aruz etc.
Factory ones are usually less robust because they might get sued if anything happens. This third-party one on the other hand the responsibility is on the user who decided to install this accessory. Also the software is based on openpilot which is widely used by millions of ppl all over the world and hence have more data to train their AI.
Komunis device neh
Good, ah beng company invented a plug and play that world class company tesla, merc, bMW, Audi cant and put it to use straight away. We will see a lot of lost soul in their flying myvi flying to sky country aka heaven later on, but hopefully they dint bring innocent ppl along.
I bet most if not all people comment here are no experience with level 2 autonomous. It is not automated driving and it need human being to monitor and always hands on steering. If the system sense no human being movement on steering it will alarm and if still no response from driver the system will have hard brake or slowly brake till completely standstill. This is to avoid driver fall sleep or any unwanted incident happen to driver during cruising.
Those who said it will cause more accidents then don’t install and don’t drive the cars with ACC if no confident. Remember this is not automated driving like Tesla and it need human monitor the system. No one is asking you to free your hand while driving and it need your attention to brake manually if necessary.
The company is advertising it as a hands-free driving system. In almost all of their promos and videos they are not using their hands on the wheel.
D car in this video is vry selfish… only used d middle lane, didnt bother to use d left lane
Actually I am interested to fit the fully range of ACC to my owned car X70. If the system able to fit on with is much appreciated. Thank you
I am 1 of the few original OpenPilot (not BukaPilot) users/owners in Malaysia. BukaPilot just copy OpenPilot at cheaper price. Good that kommu.ai acknowledge comma.ai as in the open source spirit. Come on kommu.ai, if you managed to add support for X90, I will buy 1.