Big news for the Openpilot community: the MADS-prebuilt forks for Tesla and Rivian have been officially merged into the master development branch of Sunnypilot. That means full Manual Assistive Driving Safety (MADS) support is now built directly into the core project—bringing simplified installs, better support, and streamlined updates for Tesla and Rivian owners alike.
What Is MADS?
MADS allows drivers to disengage Openpilot’s longitudinal control (acceleration and braking) while keeping lateral control (steering) active. In practice, this means you manually control throttle and brakes, while the Comma 3X handles steering. It’s a flexible and intuitive setup—especially useful for local roads, heavy traffic, or situations where full automation isn’t ideal.
For platforms like Tesla and Rivian, where traditional cruise control APIs aren’t available to Openpilot, MADS is the key that makes it all work.
What This Merge Brings
- Native MADS Support in Dev Builds
No more separate forks or custom installs. Tesla and Rivian drivers now get MADS support out of the box with the latest Sunnypilot dev build. - Simplified Codebase
With themads-tesla-prebuiltandmads-rivian-prebuiltforks merged into the mainline, developers no longer have to maintain a separate version. This accelerates bug fixes, feature rollouts, and overall platform stability. - A Better Experience for EV Owners
MADS gives drivers more control and flexibility. You’re in charge of acceleration and braking, while Openpilot confidently handles steering. - Future-Proof Integration
This merge ensures Tesla and Rivian MADS support stays current with every new Sunnypilot development.
Why It Matters
This is a massive quality-of-life improvement for Tesla and Rivian users running Openpilot. MADS delivers a hybrid mode that blends human input with advanced steering assistance—without needing full cruise control integration or hardware hacks. It’s smoother, safer, and much easier to use—especially for EV drivers who value control and flexibility.
With Tesla-MADS now part of the Sunnypilot dev branch, it’s never been easier—or more stable—to run Openpilot on your Tesla or Rivian.
Big thanks to the community developers who made this happen. Your work is transforming the open-source ADAS experience.
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