Tesla has began pushing a brand new software update for Autopilot with recent speed adjustments, stop sign warnings, and more.
There are lots of eyes on Autopilot improvements since Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the automaker will push a “feature complete” version of its full self-driving (at the least to its early access owners) by the top of the yr, which is just just a few weeks away.
Tesla appears to be still quite removed from that, but recent updates are introducing some good improvements.
In a brand new update (2019.40.2) this week, Tesla is pushing several recent Autopilot features and enhancements, including a brand new strategy to adjust speed on Autopilot based on the speed of an adjoining lane.
When your vehicle is moving at a significantly faster speed than vehicles in neighboring lanes, Autopilot now routinely reduces your driving speed. This is useful in heavy traffic situations or when there’s a protracted line of vehicles merging into a unique lane or exiting onto an off-ramp. When your vehicle detects that adjoining lane traffic is significantly slower, the lane is highlighted with arrows and its vehicles are highlighted gray within the driving visualization. This speed adjustment could be temporarily overridden by pressing the accelerator pedal.
The brand new update also includes “Automatic lane change improvements”:
Automatic lane changes have been tuned to make lane changes with more confidence. When the adjoining lane is detected to be open, automatic lane changes will initiate faster and be more assertive.
Finally, Tesla can be introducing “Autosteer stop sign warning”:
Your automobile may warn you in some cases if it detects that you simply are about to run a stop sign, along with stop lights, while Autosteer is in use. This isn’t an alternative to an attentive driver and won’t stop the automobile.
That is an early feature that can result in Tesla’s goal to have Autopilot work for city driving.
Autopilot is currently meant for highway driving, and the brand new Smart Summon handles low-speed driving in parking.
When Musk talks a few “feature complete” version of its full self-driving, he’s talking about closing the gap between the 2 features with city driving capability.
Nonetheless, Tesla plans to still require drivers to maintain their hands on the steering wheel and be able to take control in any respect times.
Musk believes that it’ll take one other yr to take the driving force out of the equation, and even then, it’ll rely upon regulatory approval per market.
This recent 2019.40.2 update is being pushed steadily to Tesla’s fleet and should take days and even weeks to get to all the fleet.
Moreover, different automobile models could get different features.
Electrek’s Take
That is an exciting update that makes lots of sense on paper, but it’ll rely upon how it really works in practice.
Tesla actually had room to enhance on the “assertiveness” of auto lane changes. Improvements on that front can be welcome, but I’d prefer to see the difference.
In case you do get the update, I’d prefer to get some feedback.
As for the adjoining speed adjustment, that’s an ideal idea since human drivers do this. It’s dangerous to pass at full speed in almost stopped traffic.
But I’d prefer to see how it will affect HOV lane driving and things like that.