Sign recognition

[Graham0013]

Hi I have recently bought a nearly new Fiesta Vignale (2020 model), and it has speed sign recognition via a camera. Mine is working only intermittently, goes for 10mins or so then it seems to stick for half hour or more then sometimes suddenly comes back to life. Think I may have to book the car into garage under warranty.  Anyone else had problems with it? Ford seem to think it should be reliable and the SYNC 3 maps on the Vignale do not show the speed limit and there is no user way of turning them on – so if the sign recognition does not work its easy to be unsure of the speed limit one is in. Any ideas? Could it be the camera at fault? Have made sure windscreen is clean. Is it possible to increase the sensitivity of the camera? This is not a user function but maybe one Ford can do. Anyone know about this?

Really appreciate any help or ideas.

[Aldridge Andy]

My 2018 Mk8 Titanium never failed to have speed signs displayed on the information display. I’m pretty sure it took the information from the Sat Nav maps and then whenever the camera encountered a speed sign then that was displayed. I took for granted it’s functionality.

My current week old TitaniumX only displays speed signs as it encounters them, then over time they turn monochrome, and then time out. On short journeys where it may never encounter a speed sign then the area on the information display remains empty.

[Graham0013]

Looks like yours works okay - which confirms my view tht there is some kind of fault with mine. I am due to download an update to the map, but I gather it needs about 2 hr journey to do this. Hope to do that soon and will see if it makes any difference as i understand the map and sign recognition should work in harmony. Bit of a long shot but it might improve things.

[Tiexen]

10 hours ago, Graham0013 said:

Looks like yours works okay - which confirms my view tht there is some kind of fault with mine. I am due to download an update to the map, but I gather it needs about 2 hr journey to do this. Hope to do that soon and will see if it makes any difference as i understand the map and sign recognition should work in harmony. Bit of a long shot but it might improve things.

You don't have to make a 2 hour journey, you can just leave the usb stick in and it will continue when you restart the car.

[unofix]

As @Tiexen says it will install automatically in bits. When the install is interrupted it will begin again from the last full file. So with one of the larger files you might be unlucky that it was 90% installed when you switch off and therefore it will have to reinstall that file again but no harm will be done. The system will just continue the install process until each file has been completed.

[BigLen]

 

 

[Graham0013]

Hi - thanks for the tips on loading the new map - I will indeed just put the USB in and use the car.

[Graham0013]

Still have intermittent working of sign recognition. Have it booked into Ford garage for end of October. Let’s see if they can identify the problem.

[Mavroz]

Is it speed signs you have an issue with? We seem to get all the speed signs but not many others on both of our cars if that is any help.

[Hearsepilot]

1 hour ago, Graham0013 said:

Still have intermittent working of sign recognition. Have it booked into Ford garage for end of October. Let’s see if they can identify the problem.

 

Did you happen to notice if the sign was clean and readable yourself?

[anon]

At least if Ford think it should be reliable, they accept that a problem exists. Expect them to fix this. They will in all probability change the camera because these are systems being trialled for autonomous vehicles and manufacturers are still learning how to perfect them so faults  like this are of interest to them.

[Graham0013]

Hi - Here is the update on the sign recognition issue. It took Ford from August 2021 to July 2022 to resolve the issue. Had to do a great deal of chasing Ford to get any action. They acknowledged the fault and that it was covered by warranty, but had to refer it to "Ford Technical" to resolve it. After almost 12 months Ford Technical finally came up with a software fix and applied it to the car. The speed sign recognition now works!!!

[deandeandean]

In twelve months of ownership I have found the camera recognition to work but only on one occasion has the secondary symbol appeared, activated by a no overtaking sign.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

3 hours ago, deandeandean said:

In twelve months of ownership I have found the camera recognition to work but only on one occasion has the secondary symbol appeared, activated by a no overtaking sign.

They used to seem quite common, but I've only encountered two "no overtaking" signs in the four + years I've had this car and the symbol came up both times. 

Presumably reliance is being placed on double white lines which proliferate on most of the roads I have to drive on nowadays.

 

 

[alexp999]

20 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

They used to seem quite common, but I've only encountered two "no overtaking" signs in the four + years I've had this car and the symbol came up both times. 

Presumably reliance is being placed on double white lines which proliferate on most of the roads I have to drive on nowadays.

 

 

I've seen it work in Europe where there are two speed signs, depending on weather or vehicle size.

It will show the higher speed and then the secondary speed with a white box to indicate there was an accompanying description for that speed.

[deandeandean]

"No Overtaking" usually appears in roadworks.

[BlueMike2021]

My 2018's speed sign recognition is excellent, and like others I have only seen the 'no overtaking' sign pop up once or twice ever.

[unofix]

In the UK there is a problem with using the 'No Overtaking' sign. When the current system of road signs was introduced they never made a 'End of No Overtaking' sign.

The lack of a sign to say when 'No Overtaking'  has ended means that if you have a car that displays that sign it will remain on the instrument cluster long after the restriction has ended. Seems a pointless and quite useless thing to display.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

17 hours ago, unofix said:

The lack of a sign to say when 'No Overtaking'  has ended means that if you have a car that displays that sign it will remain on the instrument cluster long after the restriction has ended.

I get the same thing with speed limits. The car will pick up, say, a 40 but miss the NSL sign at the end of the limit  if it is missing/dirty/obscured by vegetation and carry on flashing until the GPS eventually finds the correct limit. 

I read this article recently about the next wave of EU safety stuff, (General Safety Regulations 2 including Intelligent Speed Assist). In it, Ford's head of homologation raises doubts about it's effectiveness for exactly those reasons.

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/technology/gsr2-new-rules-making-cars-safer-more-expensive

Gotta say, my bus pass is looking an increasingly attractive option compared to paying through the nose for a car with all this cr*p (sorry, vital safety equipment)!

 

[unofix]

Here are a couple of pointless signs that can never be seen by the driver of the vehicle they are intended for !

[unofix]

Now I know many of you will think I have made this next sign up, but I promise you it is a real sign and can be found in the Highway code. Many think it means "No Ecoboom Engines"

[Hearsepilot]

On 8/18/2022 at 3:47 PM, unofix said:

Here are a couple of pointless signs that can never be seen by the driver of the vehicle they are intended for !

 

Whats your logic in that statement? It makes no sense and is false.

[Hearsepilot]

On 8/18/2022 at 3:49 PM, unofix said:

Now I know many of you will think I have made this next sign up, but I promise you it is a real sign and can be found in the Highway code. Many think it means "No Ecoboom Engines"

It means "No Explosives" Usually seen applying to Tunnels or Underpasses 

[alexp999]

15 minutes ago, Hearsepilot said:

Whats your logic in that statement? It makes no sense and is false.

I think they must mean drivers of vehicles over 7.5t frequently ignore them.

I do frequently see big vehicles on roads with these signs.

[TomsFocus]

When a restricted 7.5t zone ends there should be no 7.5t vehicles on that stretch of road to see the 'end' sign.