Tesla’s Push to Build a Self-Driving Car Sparks Dissent Among Its Engineers

Post by vacri » Thu, Aug 24, 2017, 10:29 PM UTC

kbenson wrote: post #116

ghaff wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a well-researched area, in addition to being pretty obvious to everyone. Personally, I stopped using cruise control years ago. If I have to pay attention, I'm better off driving. This isn't just a matter for Tesla. The auto industry is rapidly heading for much better assistive driving systems. There's no way that the people heads-down in their cell phones are going to do this less once they realize they don't…

I recently drove an Accord with lane-following and speed adaptive cruise-control recently. It completely failed (but thankfully by refusing to try) in the one instance that I wanted to use it (stop-and-go traffic), but it was nerve wracking when it was on as it kept losing the lane. People naturally alter the throttle and speed when going around corners and up slight inclines. It feels alien when that doesn't happen.

Post by kuschku » Thu, Aug 24, 2017, 10:30 PM UTC

eclipxe wrote: post #195

kuschku wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It gets worse, if your Tesla is following a car in front of you, and they switch lanes, but you can’t switch lanes because another car is coming from behind in that lane, the Autopilot will switch nonetheless. This almost killed a tester from the German federal motor vehicle approval agency. Their overall report is devastating, and shows the Tesla autopilot is little more than a glorified cruise control, marketed in…

This is not true at all. Tesla's do not use the car in front to switch lanes.

Post by vacri » Thu, Aug 24, 2017, 10:33 PM UTC

toss1 wrote: post #164

flavor8 wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I see 2-3 accidents daily caused by your "alert" drivers rear ending cars. Remind me not to drive in your neighborhood. (This appears to be hyperbole.)

Just take any job that requires a significant highway commute, you'll see more than that. Whenever you get full speed traffic occasionally interrupted by traffic jams (from whatever cause, other accident, tolls, weather, low angle sunlight, construction, etc.), you'll get a higher incidence of rear-enders. Especially when the tail of the slow/stopped traffic is at a point just past a hill or curve. I got rear-ended m…

Post by ghaff » Thu, Aug 24, 2017, 10:36 PM UTC

redler wrote: post #142

frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #27

Since we're finally getting some refutations to Self-Driving Hype, let me drop some quotes here: “I tell adult audiences not to expect it in their lifetimes. And I say the same thing to students” "Merely dealing with lighting conditions, weather conditions, and traffic conditions is immensely complicated. The software requirements are extremely daunting. Nobody even has the ability to verify and validate the software…

The easy part is relatively easy, but it's hard to conceive how the hard part will be solved. Just driving around New York City for a while makes me think that generalized autonomous driving, as a problem, is essentially "solving" strong AI. Consider the case of approaching a complex intersection during rush hour. There's a traffic cop in the intersection waving his hands around. You reach the intersection, the light…

Post by ghaff » Thu, Aug 24, 2017, 10:38 PM UTC

archagon wrote: post #172

redler wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The easy part is relatively easy, but it's hard to conceive how the hard part will be solved. Just driving around New York City for a while makes me think that generalized autonomous driving, as a problem, is essentially "solving" strong AI. Consider the case of approaching a complex intersection during rush hour. There's a traffic cop in the intersection waving his hands around. You reach the intersection, the light…

Even worse: I've been on several mountain roads with stretches of one-way traffic, where either an officer has to signal a switch in lane direction every few minutes (which might not be clear otherwise, especially around a bend), or cars have to occasionally reverse to let opposing traffic through . Don't think I'll ever be letting an AI do that!