Control · Control & Planning
0.11.1·
openpilot is an open-source advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) developed by comma.ai. It upgrades factory driver-assistance systems, providing adaptive cruise control (ACC) and automated lane centering (ALC) across 300+ supported car models.
The system corresponds to SAE Level 2 autonomy (partial automation) — it requires continuous driver supervision and monitors driver attention via a camera. It runs on dedicated comma devices (including the comma 3X and comma 4) connected to the car's CAN bus through a dedicated harness.
openpilot uses an end-to-end architecture based on a neural network trained on real-world driving data, predicting the vehicle trajectory directly from camera images. The code enforcing the safety model runs on the panda module (written in C) and observes ISO 26262 guidelines. The software is released under the MIT license.
General-purpose or robotics-specialized operating system — Ubuntu, Ubuntu Core, ROS-aware distributions. Provides the platform for middleware, runtime, and robotic applications.
A Control Stack is the set of software components responsible for control logic, motion planning, command execution, and coordination of a robot's actuators. It receives high-level goals or waypoints (from planning or AI layers) and translates them into low-level actuator commands, closed-loop feedback control, and safety checks. Common implementations include MoveIt (arm manipulation), Nav2 (mobile navigation), and custom whole-body control stacks for humanoids.
Robot Control denotes the role of software responsible for motion control, command execution, coordination of actuating elements and the direct operational logic of the robot.
The functional safety role describes software responsible for ensuring that a robot operating alongside humans does not cause harm even in the event of hardware failure, software error or unforeseen environmental event. The safety component implements: deterministic execution of critical tasks (hard timing determinism), fault containment, continuous system integrity monitoring, transitions to safe failure states, and compliance with functional safety standards — IEC 61508 (SIL), ISO 13849 (Performance Level), ISO/IEC TR 5469 (AI in safety systems). It typically runs on an isolated hardware subsystem (e.g. an FSI island) independent of the main compute stack.
300+ car models across many brands (including Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru, Volkswagen).
63,000+ GitHub stars; 300+ supported car models.
A family of open-source operating systems based on the Linux kernel, common on servers, in the cloud and in robotics.
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 'Noble Numbat' — supported until April 2029. The host for ROS 2 Jazzy.
To drive, a comma device, a supported car (300+ models) and a dedicated car harness are required. Development environment: Ubuntu 24.04 (primary target), macOS or Windows via WSL2.
License family: Permissive
