Current Tesla autopilot is sometimes blind to stopped cars • Hacker News Board

Re: Current Tesla autopilot is sometimes blind to stopped cars

#51

Post by xkcd-sucks » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 6:55 PM UTC

jameskilton wrote: post #6

This has been true for a long time. Radar can't differentiate between a wall, a stopped car, or a dead skunk. Heck, it can get confused with a bridge's shadow on a bright day. Thus autopilot has to be configured to deal with these situations: stop or run into them. The vast majority of the situation you don't want the car to stop, as that will lead to a more dangerous situation and increase the chance of a collision.…

If there was a drug which reliably blocked memory consolidation, like a more polite and controlled benzo blackout, maybe humans could act as their own self driving cars

Re: Current Tesla autopilot is sometimes blind to stopped cars

#52

Post by diggernet » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 10:00 PM UTC

nradov wrote: post #39

stevoo wrote: post #7

This not news. This has existed from the first iteration of Tesla Autopilots. That is why there where crashes with stationery vehicles for Tesla. This is shortcoming for using only cameras or any vehicle that has adaptive cruise control. The problem is that the front camera cannot distinguish from the road and a stationery vehicle. For that, they are the same and they ignore stationary obstacles. If they where taken…

The Subaru EyeSight system uses cameras. It appears to do pretty well for adaptive cruise control and front crash prevention. https://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/53/3/2

Not sure why you are downvoted. My Subaru does a pretty good job of detecting both moving and stationary objects, using only stereo cameras. It does have its limitations, and I wouldn't trust it to be a level 4 or 5 auto-auto without additional sensors. But it sure blows away Tesla when it comes to little things like detecting parked fire engines and highway barriers.

Re: Current Tesla autopilot is sometimes blind to stopped cars

#53

Post by Tomminn » Fri, Mar 29, 2019, 12:53 AM UTC

Is this just because it's hard to distinguish using visual data when it's a 2-D image on the road (from the sun, intentional paint, a spill etc) and when its a 3-D object sitting upright on the road?

Re: Current Tesla autopilot is sometimes blind to stopped cars

#54

Post by sliken » Fri, Mar 29, 2019, 12:49 PM UTC

diggernet wrote: post #52

nradov wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Subaru EyeSight system uses cameras. It appears to do pretty well for adaptive cruise control and front crash prevention. https://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/53/3/2

Not sure why you are downvoted. My Subaru does a pretty good job of detecting both moving and stationary objects, using only stereo cameras. It does have its limitations, and I wouldn't trust it to be a level 4 or 5 auto-auto without additional sensors. But it sure blows away Tesla when it comes to little things like detecting parked fire engines and highway barriers.

Seems like eyesight does a pretty good job at 35 mph, not so much at highway speeds.

Have you had any experience with eyesight helping at highway speeds?

Re: Current Tesla autopilot is sometimes blind to stopped cars

#55

Post by diggernet » Sat, Mar 30, 2019, 12:22 AM UTC

sliken wrote: post #54

diggernet wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure why you are downvoted. My Subaru does a pretty good job of detecting both moving and stationary objects, using only stereo cameras. It does have its limitations, and I wouldn't trust it to be a level 4 or 5 auto-auto without additional sensors. But it sure blows away Tesla when it comes to little things like detecting parked fire engines and highway barriers.

Seems like eyesight does a pretty good job at 35 mph, not so much at highway speeds. Have you had any experience with eyesight helping at highway speeds?

Guess that depends on what you mean by "helping".

What you describe is specifically related to emergency braking. None of these systems claim to prevent collisions at high speeds through emergency braking. But they will significantly reduce the impact. No, I haven't tested that personally, and I don't plan to, so no actual "experience" there.

However, there are other aspects of EyeSight I do have experience with at highway speeds.

- Collision alert. It's an extra set of eyes to keep an eye out for trouble. When I'm checking over my shoulder before a lane change, I can take a little more time and look more carefully, knowing that it is watching the road ahead. It has alerted me for things like a car slowing suddenly or squeezing in front of me.

- Adaptive cruise. This helps by reducing load on me while driving and maintaining a safe following distance. So I can focus less on the car ahead and pay more attention all around.

Tip for users of EyeSight and other systems: Always remember that like every other system out there it's not perfect and has limitations. Don't get complacent. After 5+ years of driving with it, I'll still keep my foot ready to brake, even in situations I'm confident it can handle. Occasionally I'll give in to the urge to brake only to find that it has started braking by the time my foot hits the pedal. But I'd rather react too soon than wait too long.