
Tesla Rolling Out Autopilot Software Updates to 1000 Cars - JumpCrisscross
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-31/tesla-rolling-out-autopilot-software-updates-to-1-000-cars
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marricks
Headline seemed a bit vague to me, so what this update does is make cars
released with gen 2 hardware inline with the autopilot features of gen 1
hardware. So lane assist, crash breaking, etc for cars released late last
year.

Whole point of gen2 hardware is it should allow fully autonomous cars, even in
rain which others likely wont be able to do, once the software is fully
figured out. Next year will be exciting to see how quickly they can push
updates towards that goal, as well as how quickly regulation can catch up.

~~~
Daviey
Essentially.. except possibly the most used feature: autosteer on HW1 works up
to 90MPH on highway (but since the recent update it is now limited on non-
highway to the current speed limit on HW1), but with HW2 and this rollout it
is limited to 35MPH. This is being called "Low Speed Autosteer (Beta)".

[https://www.garyshood.com/tesla-autopilot-
features/](https://www.garyshood.com/tesla-autopilot-features/)

~~~
macawfish
something feels very uncomfortable about an "autosteer beta"

~~~
jafingi
Also "we'll update 1000 cars first, see if it works, and then update the rest
of the fleet"... Uhm yeah.. So 1000 happy Tesla owners are going to beta test
it until the rest gets it. Good luck.

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achamayou
1000 _willing_ owners, one presumes.

~~~
adrianN
Did they also ask all the other people on the road who might be involved in
crashes?

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Daviey
Have you tried the autopilot? If you haven't.. you really need to. It isn't as
scary as you might think. It is essentially cruise control for the steering
wheel. If you move the steering wheel just a few millimetres, it disengages.

The driver still has complete control, authority and responsibility. There is
really no reason to assume there will be more crashes.

~~~
adrianN
I think the problem with these assistance systems currently is that they lull
the driver into a false sense of security and increase reaction times for
situation that can't be handled by the computer. So even if they work as
advertised, I'm not convinced that they are at least as safe as having a human
at wheel constantly. That being said, I'm somewhat wary of running "beta"
software on cars. I'd expect a complicated and costly validation step with
some independent government body before modifications to these systems are
allowed to go live. I don't know whether Tesla does this or not.

~~~
Daviey
Whilst I only have empirical evidence to go on, I will say that when I have
used autopilot.. I've felt like I am paying more attention as I am not
distracted with keeping the car placed central in the lane and following the
slight curves in the road. This means that more attention can be focused on
situational awareness, of what is happening ON the road.

~~~
gambiting
I feel the same about automatic transmissions - not having to worry about
being in correct gear allows me to concentrate 100% on the road - but I'm
usually shouted down by people who think that driving anything but a manual is
not driving. All my cars for the past 7 years were manual, and now that I have
an automatic I would never go back.

~~~
jonathansizz
I'd argue that having to worry about the being in the correct gear actually
necessitates greater awareness of the road conditions and situation. In a
manual transmission vehicle you have to continuously anticipate what's about
to happen (so you can select the correct gear), and so you're forced to pay
attention to what's going on around you.

In general, I hypothesise that the more a system is automated, the less
awareness is demanded of the operator and thus the more likely the operator is
to get into some kind of trouble, whether this stems from development of a
lazy habit, rustiness or just not being able to recover the situation if the
automation abruptly fails. In fact, we've seen several plane crashes
attributed to pilot error related to increasing automation in aircraft.

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JumpCrisscross
Is a Tesla bought today designed to be software upgradeable to full autonomy?

~~~
billhathaway
Yes, Teslas manufactured since mid-October all have the hardware for full
autonomy[0]. It will be interesting to see how long it takes and what
technical and legal hurdles are involved.

[0] [https://www.tesla.com/blog/all-tesla-cars-being-produced-
now...](https://www.tesla.com/blog/all-tesla-cars-being-produced-now-have-
full-self-driving-hardware)

~~~
Animats
Maybe, maybe not. Tesla still doesn't have LIDAR. Their sensor suite is still
much weaker than Google's or Volvo's or Otto's.

~~~
toomuchtodo
Didn't the DARPA grand challenge show self driving was a software problem, not
a hardware problem?

Tesla has a level 4 autonomy demonstration video on their site. Maybe computer
vision is superior to LIDAR; not a lot of human drivers with laser arrays on
them driving around.

~~~
robotresearcher
Here's the winning car from the last GC:

[http://www.tartanracing.org](http://www.tartanracing.org)

Lots of LIDARs, lots of cameras.

~~~
agildehaus
The last Grand Challenge was in 2007. A lot has changed since then. Tesla's
prototypes are doing what that car did, and quite a bit more, without any
LIDAR.

Not to say LIDAR isn't essential. I think LIDAR will get cheap enough that
it'll just be silly not to have it.

~~~
argonaut
Tesla is doing highway driving and some turns without LIDAR. The point of
LIDAR is to help you parse a complicated urban scene (and so far what Tesla
has are _demo videos_ of urban driving). Of course you don't need LIDAR for
the highway.

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dbg31415
I saw someone driving a Model X in Austin this weekend, car still had dealer
tags. He was shooting selfies and clearly documenting himself riding in a car
that drives itself. I'm happy he's happy... but I have to say it was annoying
to drive behind him.

The software clearly didn't follow the flow of traffic; it was rigidly locked
in going the speed limit. That may be OK, but it was a very empty weekend and
everyone was going 10-15 miles over the speed limit. So had quite a chain of
cars backed up behind him and like a half-mile in front of him before the next
car.

It was clear the Tesla software wasn't smart enough to close the gap by
accelerating above the posted limits, or move him over to the right-hand lane
where he wouldn't block traffic -- we all ended up having to pass him on the
right.

I couldn't help but think, "Great... just what we need more of... simulated
old people driving slow in the left-hand lanes and cars that encourage
jackasses on their phones to take pictures instead of paying attention."

But... to be clear, I still want one. =P

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sumedh
> everyone was going 10-15 miles over the speed limit.

Is that acceptable or are you breaking the law?

~~~
dbg31415
Acceptable, as long as safe. Texas allows for judgment calls up to 25 mph over
posted limits.

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NotThe1Pct
BSOD is now literally a scary real possibility

It gives a new meaning to the word "crash"

~~~
xapata
In the same way that some people are irrationally more afraid of flying in a
commercial airline than driving the same route.

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NotThe1Pct
You dont make 'over-the-air' updates on avionics buddy

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xapata
Which is why cockpit controls and flight planning is stuck in the 70s.

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NotThe1Pct
For a good reason - safety

