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

nytimes.com

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

#131

Post by vvanders »

Hytosys wrote: post #24
acadien wrote: 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.

Tesla already does this to some extent. TACC will go down to a full stop in traffic today, you just don't get the steering part(which isn't hard in stop & go).

It's incredible how less mentally wore down I feel after a long commute when using TACC. Still paying attention but at lot less effort required.

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

#133

Post by tlrobinson »

stevecalifornia wrote: post #50
ohsnap wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious, do you still keep your eyes on the road with adaptive cruise control? Or do you tend to do other things?

Mentally it's less stressful to get behind another car and just let the computer control the speed and distance the whole way. You stop caring if they are going 55 or 77. I just sit there and listen to podcasts. I stay alert though, and I've avoided the urge to read or something.

I'm interested in the edge cases when the driver stops giving any input to the car (e.x. they fall asleep).

Does it follow the car in front through lane changes? Exits? Sharp turns? What if your car can't safely change lanes to follow?

Does the car attempt to alert the driver, or does it just slow down?

How far ahead does the radar look? What happens if you drive ~65mph straight at a brick wall?

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

#134

Post by vvanders »

Shivetya wrote: post #63

I am not sure I agree on the two hundred mile threshold, maybe for the family commuter car. however no electric of that range will ever replace the car for trips to grandmas. let alone the price differential between an equivalent gas powered car is going to have to be a lot closer to justify the limitations of an electric.

Supercharging makes road-trips much more reasonable. 20-30 minute break every ~150 miles.

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

#135

Post by bryanlarsen »

csours wrote: post #129
cbd1984 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How reliable are Teslas compared to Mercedes S class? Not that being more reliable than a luxury automobile is a huge achievement: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2015/01/makes-expensive-car...

Huge number of features = more to go wrong. Cutting edge tech = higher risk. (can be mitigated with engineering discipline) Small production runs = less time to debug production process, which is a 2 edged sword: higher production costs and more built-in defects.

"Huge number of features = more to go wrong"

You do realize that this is a good argument for the Tesla, right? An electric drivetrain is much simpler than a gasoline one, and in a crazy features battle, the S Class trounces a Tesla.

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

#136

Post by [deleted] »

pbreit wrote: post #109
AceJohnny2 wrote: post #21

Every time Elon Musk makes this kind of announcement, his engineering departments groan. As I understand, they have folks actively managing Musk trying to prevent him from promising the moon :)

I hate this sentiment. Yes, Elon makes huge promises. And you know what? He frequently gets there. Everyone quoted in the article says "No". Elon says "Why not?" And you're worried about the engineers.

[deleted]

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

#137

Post by brc »

RowanH wrote: post #108
stevecalifornia wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mentally it's less stressful to get behind another car and just let the computer control the speed and distance the whole way. You stop caring if they are going 55 or 77. I just sit there and listen to podcasts. I stay alert though, and I've avoided the urge to read or something.

It would be an interesting experiment to measure actual alertness and ability to react.... I would hazard that while you think you might be alert you're probably less so as because you're not actively driving your brain is not ready to react in the same way as if it's constantly processing while driving. Case in point - I've got two cars, our boring diesel daily driver and 380hp:600kg track day weapon which you reall…

I read something a while back where a rental company trialled renting cars with the emergency stop option - to stop, as you say 'people going to sleep and plowing into the back of cars'.

The results were surprising even to them I think - the crash rate went way, way down. Seems that a ton of accidents are of the 'I wasn't paying attention in traffic' type.

As the driver of a sports car and a luxo barge, I totally agree with you about the different levels of alertness required. It's not until you get out of a sports car do you realise how much you were concentrating. I think it's mainly the bumpier ride and the twitchy steering that forces focus. You're essentially never, ever driving with two fingers on the wheel.

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

#138

Post by mhomde »

derefr wrote: post #111
pbreit wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate this sentiment. Yes, Elon makes huge promises. And you know what? He frequently gets there. Everyone quoted in the article says "No". Elon says "Why not?" And you're worried about the engineers.

"He" doesn't frequently get there. The engineers get there. Or they don't. If they don't, whose fault do you imagine it is?

You can't reach goals you never set. That's how we went to the moon.

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

#139

Post by brc »

dakrisht wrote: post #79
nateguchi wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's quite a few manufacturers that have this technology other than Mercedes

Not all of it, some of it - yes. In particular, the Blind Spot assist systems are prevalent in a few different manufacturers. The more advanced "self-driving" systems are all Mercedes-Benz technology that is part of their high-end vehicles (and not a standard option). Remember, Mercedes-Benz holds over 80,000 patents on this stuff and more coming all the time. There's no doubt they are pioneers in vehicle safety syst…

MB have been working on this stuff for decades.

Often they develop these things in conjunction with a supplier like Bosch. They then get a period of exclusivity and then Bosch/whoever are free to sell the systems to other companies.

That's why you can look at an S-Class and figure out what's going to be in an ordinary car in 10 years time. ABS, Airbags, pre-tensioners, stability control, adaptive cruise-control - not all were MB inventions or even debuted on an S-Class, but all have been features of an S-Class long before everything else.

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

#140

Post by metric10 »

cookingrobot wrote: post #94
metric10 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It could also just pull over on to the shoulder and activate the hazard lights. It'll probably also sound an alarm in the cabin.

Stopped on a shoulder is quite dangerous. Just staying driving seems better.

With an unconscious and unresponsive driver? Are you nuts?

EDIT: I have seen cars stopped on shoulders all the time. It may be dangerous compared to a parking lot, but this is an emergency situation. The driver is incapacitated and may need medical attention. I'll add that it should do more then run the hazard lights, it should dial 911. To keep driving means the car will run unattended for 200+ miles until the battery runs out.

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