Tesla’s autopilot system is super sensitive, saves driver from getting wrecked by truck

For those of you who have any doubt that driverless vehicles will be the most common thing in the near future, you can check out the following video of a Tesla making a great save in the US [Warning: It’s somewhat loud.]

You can see the exact moment the autopilot system kicks in to get the car out of harm’s way (at the 22-second mark).

According to the driver, Joshua Brown, who incidentally was listening to a Malcolm Gladwell audiobook at that time because not having to drive allows one to do other things, the truck came out of nowhere:

I was driving down the interstate and you can see the boom lift truck in question on the left side of the screen on a joining interstate road. Once the roads merged, the truck tried to get to the exit ramp on the right and never saw my Tesla. I actually wasn’t watching that direction and Tessy (the name of my car) was on duty with autopilot engaged. I became aware of the danger when Tessy alerted me with the “immediately take over” warning chime and the car swerving to the right to avoid the side collision.

 

How did “Tessy” do it?

Tesla’s autopilot uses an army of sensors and cameras to determine the distance of the car beside it.

In this case, when the truck cut in suddenly, the autopilot jerked right to maintain the same distance between them.

After swerving out of incoming danger, the autopilot prompted the driver to take control of the steering wheel once again.

The car model in the video is not even the up-and-coming Model 3 that caused all the hoopla a week ago, which will only be available in 2017.

This car in the video is the S Model that came out in 2012.

If you are surprised that an autopilot feature designed pre-2012 has such a quick response time, it is primarily due to the fact that the system is continuously learning.

Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla, had this to say about their cars, specifically their auto pilot features: “The whole Tesla fleet operates as a network. When one car learns something, they all learn it.”

That amount of machine learning is corroborated by the fact that every Tesla car has its wireless connection perpetually switched on. This allows a wide array of data to be collected from their customers’ driving pattern, and essentially, upgrading their cars with every system update.

Despite all evidence to the contrary, Tesla is not omnipotent (yet), as there are still some kinks drivers experience which currently are being worked out>

Things autopilot has troubles with:

1. Navigating over steep hills: Meaning, if the vehicle crests over the top of a hill, the camera seems to have a hard time figuring out if the lines continue straight or go to the right or left.

2. Detecting stationary vehicles: The Tesla sees moving vehicles well, even really slowly moving vehicles. But it has a harder time with stopped ones and this could be due to how the radar works.

For those in Singapore interested in pre-ordering the new Tesla Model 3, you can do so here. The reservation costs US$1,000.

And there are already 325,000 backlog orders.

 

Related articles:

Elon Musk personally announces Tesla’s Model 3 sedan coming to S’pore

 

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- Thet Nyi Nyi