Live data from Hacker News

Elon Musk: Tesla cars will have “autopilot mode” by summer

nytimes.com

21–30 of 254 posts

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla cars will have “autopilot mode” by summer

#22
post #17

"self-driving car" and "car capable driving itself on highway under optimal conditions" are 2 totally different things. The real excitement comes when I can tell my car to go pick up the kids from school or drop me off at the airport and then drive itself back home. Anyways this is a great step in the right direction but its not the game changing tech we're all waiting for.

The real excitement is when I can put those requests in to a network of public infrastructure and have them executed at roughly the same cost as driving for myself.

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla cars will have “autopilot mode” by summer

#23
post #17

"self-driving car" and "car capable driving itself on highway under optimal conditions" are 2 totally different things. The real excitement comes when I can tell my car to go pick up the kids from school or drop me off at the airport and then drive itself back home. Anyways this is a great step in the right direction but its not the game changing tech we're all waiting for.

"Mr. Musk said in a conference call that the self-driving technology was “technically capable of going from parking lot to parking lot,” meaning through cities as well. But, he said, Tesla will disable the autopilot when cars are not on highways or major roads, citing safety concerns." I think the implication here is that the cars are capable of this but they are taking the smaller step out of legal and liability con…

So what if they're capable? The tech is not available, end of story.

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla cars will have “autopilot mode” by summer

#24
post #17

"self-driving car" and "car capable driving itself on highway under optimal conditions" are 2 totally different things. The real excitement comes when I can tell my car to go pick up the kids from school or drop me off at the airport and then drive itself back home. Anyways this is a great step in the right direction but its not the game changing tech we're all waiting for.

Judging by the article, "under optimal conditions" is an exaggeration. There was no citation of problems during traffic conditions.

My father sits through 2-4 hours of Los Angeles rush hour each day, and this is absolutely a game changer for someone like him. This is stellar.

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla cars will have “autopilot mode” by summer

#25
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why, yes, this blog posting from October 10, 2014, said that: http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/dual-motor-model-s-and-autop...

> Every single Model S now rolling out of the factory includes a forward radar, 12 long range ultrasonic sensors positioned to sense 16 feet around the car in every direction at all speeds, a forward looking camera, and a high precision, digitally controlled electric assist braking system. Does anyone know how their system might compare to the spinning Lidar thingamajigs Google uses on their cars?

Here is an article comparing sensor types: http://www.templetons.com/brad/robocars/cameras-lasers.html

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla cars will have “autopilot mode” by summer

#26
post #2

Did they already resolve the legal issues on a state by state basis?

Nope, these Teslas will only self-drive on private property. Or if you fall asleep at the wheel. Source: listened to the call this morning.

According to the article, it will self-drive on "highways and major roads," and the "summon my car" is only for private property.

Maybe it's just adaptive cruise-control combined with lane keeping, and you'll still need to make turns.

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla cars will have “autopilot mode” by summer

#27
post #15

I love Tesla, but Musk's starting to smell a little like Peter Molyneux -- promising the world and delivering little. Get the Model X out (2 years late and counting...)

If you get past the tremendously misleading headline, you'd see that his statement isn't so crazy. All this article is about is Musk saying that Tesla Model S firmware version 7, out within a few months, will include full "autopilot" functionality, which means traffic-aware cruise control and automatic lane keeping. The former is already enabled (I just used it half an hour ago) and the latter has been demoed extensi…

I don't think that's what the article says. I mean, maybe that's what it actually means, but what it says is the cars will "navigate" themselves. It uses the term a bunch of times. Nowhere does it hint that "navigation" is limited to "not rear-ending the car in front of you and staying in the lane," and I don't think that's the plain reading of "company drivers letting the car navigate the West Coast largely unassisted."

It's certainly not the plain reading of "the self-driving technology was 'technically capable of going from parking lot to parking lot,' meaning through cities as well."

If what all that actually means is "adaptive cruise control + lane keeping," then either the GP poster is right that Musk is overpromising and underdelivering, or the journalist completely misconstrued Musk.

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla cars will have “autopilot mode” by summer

#28
To Musk, highway speeds are not the challenge; the complexity of the landscape is. “Highway cruise is easy, low speed is easy, it’s medium that's hard. Being able to recognize what you’re seeing and make the right decision in that suburban environment in that 10 mph to 50 mph zone is the challenging portion.”

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2898118/elon-musk-teslas-coul...

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla cars will have “autopilot mode” by summer

#29
post #17

"self-driving car" and "car capable driving itself on highway under optimal conditions" are 2 totally different things. The real excitement comes when I can tell my car to go pick up the kids from school or drop me off at the airport and then drive itself back home. Anyways this is a great step in the right direction but its not the game changing tech we're all waiting for.

I bought a new car in Sept 2014. It uses radar to do adaptive cruise control all the way down to stop and go. It also uses camera's to sense the lanes and steer to keep lane. Also handles emergency braking and people cutting me off.

So basically, I choose the on-ramp and off-ramp and the car does the rest on the highway. I feel like it's the midpoint between a manual car and an autonomous car.

After a few months of using this every day, driving in a normal car feels different than it used to. It's like driving a manual instead of an automatic.

The car is a fully loaded 2015 Chrysler 200C.

Re: Elon Musk: Tesla cars will have “autopilot mode” by summer

#30
post #24
post #17

"self-driving car" and "car capable driving itself on highway under optimal conditions" are 2 totally different things. The real excitement comes when I can tell my car to go pick up the kids from school or drop me off at the airport and then drive itself back home. Anyways this is a great step in the right direction but its not the game changing tech we're all waiting for.

Judging by the article, "under optimal conditions" is an exaggeration. There was no citation of problems during traffic conditions. My father sits through 2-4 hours of Los Angeles rush hour each day, and this is absolutely a game changer for someone like him. This is stellar.

This is solving the wrong problem. Car self-driving through 2-4 rush hours does not solve the problem. Not having 2-4 rush hours would.
Post reply on HN