May 12, 2026
Driving Smart: Your Guide to the evSense System and Co-Pilot
The Strutt ev¹ is built around intelligent technology designed to make your everyday drive smoother, safer, and more intuitive. At the heart of this experience is the evSense System, our onboard perception and navigation-assistance system. The evSense System supports obstacle detection, Co-Pilot, Co-Pilot+, Waypoints, Pathfinder, and future smart features delivered through updates.
These tools are powerful, but they work best when you understand their boundaries. This guide walks you through what the evSense System does well, its current limits, and how to drive confidently with that knowledge.
You’re Always in Control
WARNING: The evSense System is not an autonomous driving system. The evSense System is subject to physical and environmental sensor limitations and does not replace the driver. As the driver, you must remain fully attentive to your surroundings and be ready to take control of the vehicle immediately, using the joystick or other manual controls whenever necessary.
To keep your drive as safe as possible, think of the evSense System as a helpful assistant that supports your journey, not one that takes over it. The evSense System is not an autonomous driving system as sensors have natural physical and environmental limits, hence they can't see the world quite as well as you can. Stay alert and be ready to take over the controls using the joystick at any time. You are always in control.
Understanding the evSense System
The evSense System is the ev¹'s perception system. It continuously reads the environment around your vehicle using a combination of sensors, and powers the full suite of smart features, including Co-Pilot, Co-Pilot+, Waypoints, and Pathfinder. Think of it as the brain behind your ev¹'s intelligence.
Before engaging in any of these features, here's what every driver should know.
What evSense May Not Detect
There are situations where evSense sensing performance may be limited.
- Detection Limitations: Certain objects may not be detected regardless of direction. This includes very low objects (such as vacuuming robots or shallow steps) and fixed obstacles below 4 inches (such as curbs or speed bumps), which the system may treat as crossable and not trigger automatic braking. When in close proximity, high objects above the sensor level may also go undetected. Exercise your own judgment and switch to manual mode when necessary.
- Navigating outdoor environments: The system does not recognize traffic lights or grass surfaces.
- Tall Grass and Overhanging Plants: Dense or tall grass and overhanging plants may be read by evSense as obstacles, causing the vehicle to stop even when the path is clear. If this happens, switch to Manual Mode to continue moving through the area.
- Challenging Surfaces and Uneven Terrain: Detection performance may decrease or become unstable around transparent or highly reflective surfaces such as glass doors, mirrors, polished metal, black marble, and water-filled ditches. Objects with special optical characteristics, such as light-absorbing materials and reflective surfaces, as well as depressions (less than 40 inches in length and less than 20 inches in width) or with irregular edges, such as potholes and step edges, may also lead to missed detections or possible contact.
- Fast or Sudden Movements: Vehicles approaching quickly or a person stepping into your path suddenly (e.g. in a crowded place) may not be detected in time.
- Cliff/Drop-off detection: The ev¹ may occasionally trigger false alerts near slopes, steps down, or curb drops, causing unexpected stops. At the same time, some drops or uneven surfaces may also go undetected. Drops behind the vehicle cannot be detected. If your ev¹ behaves unexpectedly near these areas, this is likely the cause. Drive with extra care and never rely solely on evSense to keep you safe.
Sensor Maintenance
The LiDAR, ToF, and camera lenses can collect dirt over time. If you notice any unusual errors, clean them with only pure water wipes. Do not use alcohol or alcohol-based solutions, and avoid any abrasive materials or wiping tools.
Introducing the evSense System modes
Co-Pilot and Co-Pilot+
The evSense System powers two driver-assistance modes that you can switch between depending on the situation. Both modes are assistive and not fully autonomous; you remain in control and must stay attentive at all times.
Co-Pilot helps detect obstacles in your path and can bring the ev¹ to a stop within the system’s detection limits.
Co-Pilot+ goes further by helping steer around obstacles along your intended direction of travel. For example, in a narrow corridor, pushing forward on the joystick will allow the ev¹ to navigate along the available path rather than stopping at every obstruction. However, at decision points such as T-junctions, you will need to provide a clear directional nudge left or right. Without your inputs, the ev¹ may choose either path on its own, which could be unexpected.
Here are the key behaviors to be aware of across both modes:
- Wait for the evSense System to initialize before engaging either mode: After switching the ev¹ on, Co-Pilot and Co-Pilot+ will not be available until the evSense System is fully ready.
- Phantom obstacles can occur: Occasionally, either mode may detect an obstacle that isn't there, causing an unexpected stop or an unusual path. This is a known behavior. If it happens, press M to switch to manual mode, navigate away from the area, and re-engage Co-Pilot or Co-Pilot+ when you are ready to continue.
- Always provide directional input: Co-Pilot+ follows your intended direction. It avoids obstacles along the way, but it does not decide where you are going.
Waypoints & Pathfinder
Waypoints and Pathfinder are the evSense-powered navigation-assistance features that allow your ev¹ to travel to set destinations. While using these features, remain attentive and ready to take control whenever these features are engaged.
- Waypoints mode requires relocalization to work: If your ev¹ is moved before the evSense System has fully initialized in a previously mapped area, you will need to relocalize before Waypoints mode functions again. Relocalization means driving around briefly in the previously mapped area. After covering a short distance, the ev¹ will be able to successfully reorient itself within the map. A faster relocalization method is also being developed to automatically relocalize after the evSense System boots up, as long as the vehicle has not been moved since it was last powered off.
- Waypoints arrival isn't always identical: The position and orientation of your ev¹ at the end of a Waypoints route may vary slightly each time. This is normal, and we are continuously optimizing arrival accuracy and consistency.
- Maps can degrade over time and space: Featureless environments, such as long, uniform corridors, may cause the ev¹ to lose its position. Maps can also become unstable over time due to environmental changes or many moving obstacles. If this happens, remove the map and recreate it. Your Waypoints will be recovered automatically as long as they have not been deleted. We are actively working on a better mapping system, and map degradation will become much less prominent in future updates.
- Narrow environments may require buffer adjustment: By default, the evSense System is configured to balance safety and passability, but it cannot eliminate all risk of contact with nearby objects. In very narrow indoor spaces, Waypoints or Pathfinder may carry a higher risk of contact with surrounding objects. If you frequently use these features in tight spaces, we recommend increasing the vehicle buffer settings in the evSense System to help reduce this risk.
- Outdoor use requires extra care: Open or repetitive outdoor environments may cause the ev¹ to lose its sense of direction. At this stage, we recommend using autonomous features primarily in structured indoor spaces. Future updates will further improve outdoor navigation performance.
The Golden Rule
The evSense System and its features, including Co-Pilot, Co-Pilot+, Waypoints, and Pathfinder, are powerful assistive tools, not fully autonomous systems. Always remain attentive when they are engaged. You are in control at all times, and your awareness is the most important safety layer of all.
