Autonomous driving systems

[R P]

I thought this was a very informative article about the challenges and where we are at with this technology. It discusses in-depth the different approaches by Tesla, Waymo and GM's Cruise. Seems like Tesla is way behind the others and the Robotaxi event left a lot of questions answered.Tesla is still at level 2, same as most other car driver assist systems. Waymo and Cruise are at level 3, but there is still a big leap to level 5 which is needed to go outside of controlled areas without a driver.
https://insideevs.com/news/736709/tesla-robotaxi-waymo-cruise/
Sounds to me like this technology is still a long ways off with mass implementation. If there is a leader, I would pick Waymo.

 

[insightman]

I thought this was a very informative article about the challenges and where we are at with this technology. It discusses in-depth the different approaches by Tesla, Waymo and GM's Cruise. Seems like Tesla is way behind the others and the Robotaxi event left a lot of questions answered.Tesla is still at level 2, same as most other car driver assist systems. Waymo and Cruise are at level 3, but there is still a big leap to level 5 which is needed to go outside of controlled areas without a driver.
https://insideevs.com/news/736709/tesla-robotaxi-waymo-cruise/
Sounds to me like this technology is still a long ways off with mass implementation. If there is a leader, I would pick Waymo.

Here in Ann Arbor, we have our own autonomous driving company, May Mobility. I see their cars driving around town daily, but I never read anything about how they rank against Tesla, Waymo, or Cruise. It makes me wonder how many US autonomous driving companies are out there that I've never heard about. The University of Michigan has built its own little town, M City, just for testing autonomous vehicles and the head of that venture is calling for standardized driving tests for autonomous vehicles (which isn't surprising, since that's his job).

 

[bwilson4web]

I have ~140,000 miles on AutoPilot, Full Self Driving (Beta), and Full Self Driving Supervised. This includes several, cross country trips with segments over 1,200 miles in one day. I have no envy of the other systems as mine work anywhere I want to drive.

My previous experience, Toyota Safety Sense P (TSS-P), I used on a 1,200 mile trip. That and other experiences led to trading in the 2017 Prius Prime for my 2019 Tesla Model 3 and paying $1,200 for AutoPilot (it was not free but is now.)

One caution, there are some latent defects in the current version, v12.5.4.1, that should be mentored for at least an hour by an experienced Tesla passenger. There is a 'learning curve' and having a mentor can speed up getting over the "newness."

Bob Wilson

 

[R P]

One caution, there are some latent defects in the current version, v12.5.4.1, that should be mentored for at least an hour by an experienced Tesla passenger. There is a 'learning curve' and having a mentor can speed up getting over the "newness."
Bob Wilson

What are the latent defects that you know of?

 

[bwilson4web]

What are the latent defects that you know of?

1. Phantom braking - it is softer now which gives time to touch the accelerator. My diagnosis is a latent flaw in the Google Map speed database. Furthermore, there may still be latent GPS flaws that puts the car on a parallel 'rural road' instead of the Interstate. The worst part is this can ignore the posted speed limit signs.
2. Bad lane markings - some worn or poorly painted lane lines and burnout tracks can cause the car to steer poorly. Easy enough to catch but better if the mentor guides the new driver to an example.
3. Navigating the long way - more common in urban areas, sometimes the navigation system decides to take a tour around several blocks. Easy enough to override by and alert driver which a mentor might demonstrate.
4. Imprecise cruise control speed - within the first 10-20 minutes, setting the cruise control speed can wander down. Easy enough to touch the accelerator and after a while, drive beyond this phantom speed zone. Sad to say, there is no indication of which "control law" is setting the speed.

There may be others but I prefer to cite ones that I experience. We chat about them in the Tesla forums.

Bob Wilson