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Study: Tesla Autopilot misleading, overestimated more than similar technology

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Re: Study: Tesla Autopilot misleading, overestimated more than similar technology

#31

Post by zaroth »

mdorazio wrote: post #24
URSpider94 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don’t know, you’ll learn pretty quickly when you buy one. If you don’t keep your hands on the wheel, it will flash at you, then beep at you, then stop the car. In reality, once you are used to it, it’s actually quite easy to keep a hand on the wheel while using Autopilot.

> In reality, once you are used to it, it’s actually quite easy to keep a hand on the wheel while using Autopilot. ...while you do something other than pay attention. Like take a nap or watch a movie (just search YouTube for Tesla nap).

I drive on AutoPilot every day. The shit I see other drivers doing on the highway blows my mind.

Yesterday a guy was trimming his toes. Bare foot up on the dash and just going at it. Can’t. Unsee.

Approximately half of drivers are holding a cellphone on their ear, or yawning with a look of utter exhaustion on their face, occasionally rocking out to some great tunes, which is fun when they catch you watching.

None of it is OK, but it is very clearly a universal issue much bigger than AutoPilot.

Re: Study: Tesla Autopilot misleading, overestimated more than similar technology

#32

Post by seanmcdirmid »

jrochkind1 wrote: post #13

So I take it it's NOT okay to take your hands off the wheel with Tesla Autopilot? I am not familiar with the technology. The Tesla page on it ( https://www.tesla.com/autopilot ) takes a while to get to describing what it does , but then says, among other things: > Autopilot enables your car to steer, accelerate and brake automatically within its lane. And: > With the new Tesla Vision cameras, sensors and computing po…

> So it's steering... but you're supposed to leave your hands on the wheel anyway? But not actually steering, just resting there just in case? I'm not sure how realistic this is in terms of human behavior.

I have an Acura, so no autopilot, but it allows my car to steer, accelerate, and brake automatically within its lane. Also, if I don't apply control to the steering wheel (let alone have my hands off of it) for more than N seconds, it will warn me that it will disengage. The value is then more safety (the car keeps the lane by itself if you don't bother steering for some reason), which does reduce some fatigue, I guess.

Re: Study: Tesla Autopilot misleading, overestimated more than similar technology

#33

Post by matz1 »

gavia1 wrote: post #8
uncoder0 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think pilots sleep while the passenger jet you're riding in is on 'autopilot'?

I don't think the General Public understand what autopilot is and what it does. The perceived definition is far from the real definition.

It's called marketing, a good one.

Re: Study: Tesla Autopilot misleading, overestimated more than similar technology

#34

Post by jarfil »

ydj wrote: post #5
mushufasa wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

well, they did name it 'autopilot'

I see the use of “autopilot” name bring brought up a lot. Thinking about what an autopilot in an airplane does, labeling Tesla’s system autopilot is actually pretty apt. It’s unfortunate that there’s a disconnect between what autopilot means colloquially vs what it actually does on a plane.

You can safely take a nap while flying a plane on autopilot, the device is more than capable of navigating a course with no human supervision for extended periods of time... which is not possible with the same technology on the ground, with all the trees and stray children running around.

So while the technology may be the same, calling it "autopilot" is not; in the one case it can run on auto, in the other it can not.

Re: Study: Tesla Autopilot misleading, overestimated more than similar technology

#35

Post by zaroth »

jlogsdon wrote: post #11
DeonPenny wrote: post #10

The fact that Tesla says not to take your hands off the wheel, built security for this, and have made it clear it's not at that level while people still do so is not their fault.

There are plenty of video interviews where Musk himself shows using auto pilot with his hands off the wheel.

Every single automaker demos their lane-keeping technology with hands off the wheel.

Re: Study: Tesla Autopilot misleading, overestimated more than similar technology

#36

Post by double0jimb0 »

tjoff wrote: post #30
jrochkind1 wrote: post #13

So I take it it's NOT okay to take your hands off the wheel with Tesla Autopilot? I am not familiar with the technology. The Tesla page on it ( https://www.tesla.com/autopilot ) takes a while to get to describing what it does , but then says, among other things: > Autopilot enables your car to steer, accelerate and brake automatically within its lane. And: > With the new Tesla Vision cameras, sensors and computing po…

Correct. And yes, it is really dangerous and has led to countless unnecessary crashes and several deaths. Humans are not capable of suddenly be required to take control of a vehicle with a split second notice. Hopefully the laws mature enough to prevent these for being road legal.

If tesla’s autopilot were available to all vehicles for use only on highways (which is where most Tesla owners only use autopilot), the number of highway deaths due to inattentive drivers causing rear-ending accidents would drop to near zero overnight. It is so vastly superior to distracted humans on a highway, it is a “seatbelt” type revolution in terms of human safety.

But Tesla doesn’t seem to push this specific use-case resticted angle of it, Musk is focus on full self driving.

Re: Study: Tesla Autopilot misleading, overestimated more than similar technology

#37

Post by Theodores »

I know that the name is a good one, but 'Autopilot' is a troublesome name.

I think a better way forward would be to do something fun with the 'Autopilot' name, e.g.:

"Zanzibar (formerly known as Autopilot)"

Nobody need know what "Zanzibar" actually is other than some place a long way from California. You could easily talk about your Tesla to a non-owner saying 'yeah, it's got Zanzibar...' or to a fellow owner 'did you spec the Zanzibar level 5 option?'

I picked the name 'Zanzibar' randomly here, it could be any place rather than any thing. If Autopilot was rebranded as 'celery' then someone would expect that in the glovebox. A brand name that means nothing and can be nebulous would be best.

Re: Study: Tesla Autopilot misleading, overestimated more than similar technology

#38

Post by tjoff »

double0jimb0 wrote: post #36
tjoff wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Correct. And yes, it is really dangerous and has led to countless unnecessary crashes and several deaths. Humans are not capable of suddenly be required to take control of a vehicle with a split second notice. Hopefully the laws mature enough to prevent these for being road legal.

If tesla’s autopilot were available to all vehicles for use only on highways (which is where most Tesla owners only use autopilot), the number of highway deaths due to inattentive drivers causing rear-ending accidents would drop to near zero overnight. It is so vastly superior to distracted humans on a highway, it is a “seatbelt” type revolution in terms of human safety. But Tesla doesn’t seem to push this specific u…

That is nothing unique to Tesla.

If they were serious about full self driving there wouldn't be any reason to bother with autopilot.

Re: Study: Tesla Autopilot misleading, overestimated more than similar technology

#39

Post by valine »

jlogsdon wrote: post #14
jlogsdon wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of video interviews where Musk himself shows using auto pilot with his hands off the wheel.

It's even on their official sites demo video! As shared in another comment https://www.tesla.com/autopilot

It clearly states that the functionality in the video is coming in a future update. Its a video showing what the model 3 hardware is capable of once the software and regulation catches up.

Re: Study: Tesla Autopilot misleading, overestimated more than similar technology

#40

Post by jarfil »

frenchyatwork wrote: post #12
uncoder0 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think pilots sleep while the passenger jet you're riding in is on 'autopilot'?

My impression is that most non-pilots think that autopilot is a lot more sophisticated than it really is. People hear things like "planes can basically land themselves" which is sort-of-true, and they think the planes can actually land themselves when the reality is that the pilots need to set up ILS properly, make sure the engine thrust is at a reasonable level, do the proper communication with Air Traffic Control,…

Flying a plane in a straight line is much simpler than driving on a road. There is a reason why most aircraft accidents happen during landing or takeoff, once at cruise altitude there is very little that could suddenly go wrong.

That's why a relatively simple mechanism can autopilot a plane, but the same mechanism will crash a car in an instant.

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