Testing Autopilot

bwilson4web

bwilson4web

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This video shows one reproducible problem:


When the road splits into a "Y", the car can get confused ... not always but often enough to stay alert. Not shown, if the extreme "Y" of one lane becoming two, the car gets confused. I think it needs inertial sensors to 'follow the road' and let the driver change lanes as needed.

Bob Wilson
 
This is a nice summary but does not include enough of the "Y" cases of one lane becoming two.


Bob Wilson
 
A little 'chatty', this gives an idea of what one thinks when using even basic AutoPilot:


Bob Wilson
 
bwilson4web said:
When the road splits into a "Y", the car can get confused ... not always but often enough to stay alert.
Click to expand...

That's been a problem with Autopilot + AutoSteer from the first. Early reports were that sometimes when driving on a freeway, the car would take the exit lane / off ramp instead of staying on the main road.

AutoSteer has gotten better, from reports. But for all I know, this still happens occasionally.

I would hope that "Navigate on Autopilot" would eliminate the problem. If the car is following a pre-set course, using stored navigation data, then it shouldn't get confused about which fork in a "Y" to take.
​
 
Somewhere there is an angle that causes a "Y" problem:
  • 0 degrees without a leading vehicle - a problem
  • ?? degrees without a leading vehicle - a problem
  • 90 degrees - no problem
I can identify one intersection that has a reproducible problem, lat 34.711648 lon -86.573805:
  • Driving North on Whitesburg in right lane, no problem.
  • Driving South on Whitesburg/California in either lane, big problem. The car steering oscillates until you take over.
Bob Wilson
 
bwilson4web said:
Driving South on Whitesburg/California in either lane, big problem. The car steering oscillates until you take over.
Click to expand...

Hey, you've got about 3 pounds of very sophisticated wetware in your head. The poor Model 3 computer's core has only a couple of microprocessor chips, weighing perhaps an ounce or so.

Take pity on the poor computer! After all, it's only a very fast idiot.
​
 
It turns out that having problems with passing below an underpass is a common problem with "Magic-Eye", the system in our BMW i3-REx. Tesla had the good sense to 'fire them' and go in-house.

Bob Wilson
 
I got to Nashville driving AutoPilot and it was a joy. I had enough time to read the owners manual and investigate the display:
  • No web browser app - confirmed at Tesla Store in Brentwood TN
  • Battery only shows miles not kWh - staff showed me how to scroll 'Display' set arguments
On AutoPilot I had one faint paint and an unexplained hitch. Both car and 3D party dash cams captured the event at exit 37, Columbia Lewisburg, headed North.

I was following a semi trailer truck who changed to left lane to let traffic from the interchange have a free, right hand lane. I followed using AutoPilot auto steer making the change to the left lane. My car was ~1 ft over the dashed lines when it quickly swerved back into the original lane and THEN completed the lane change. There was a vehicle on the interchange merge, an outside lane at the time and all lanes were full size.

I could not see any defects in the lane markers. I have the videos saved and may make a YouTube video.

Bob Wilson
 
bwilson4web said:
Tesla had the good sense to 'fire them' and go in-house.
Click to expand...

Tesla definitely did not "fire" Mobileye. It was most definitely, and rather publicly, a case of Mobileye terminating its contract with Tesla rather abruptly, much to Tesla's dismay. It took years for Tesla to re-create the functionality of Mobileye tech using in-house tech.

There doesn't seem to be much doubt over the reason why Mobileye terminated the contract. The dispute was rather public. A Mobileye press release stated:

In communications dating back to May 2015 between Mobileye Chairman and Tesla's CEO, Mobileye expressed safety concerns regarding the use of Autopilot hands-free. After a subsequent face to face meeting, Tesla's CEO confirmed that activation of Autopilot would be "hands on." Despite this confirmation, Autopilot was rolled out in late 2015 with a hands-free activation mode. Mobileye has made substantial efforts since then to take more control on how this project can be steered to a proper functional safety system.
​
Full Ars Technica article: "Tesla disputes Mobileye’s accusations, Mobileye shoots back"
​
 
I have two cars, one with 2014 version of Mobileye in a BMW i3-REx and the other Tesla AutoPilot. I find AutoPilot provides more driver relief than the BMW i3-REx. I'm also seeing AutoPilot improves over time in the Tesla.

Bob Wilson
 
Here is the YouTube showing the anomaly(*):


Bob Wilson

* - translated into SHORT, "horrible death defying barely survivable Tesla out of control threatening everyone's life and limb"
 
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BTW, a frame-by-frame analysis at seconds 51 shows the guard rail shows up the same time as the lane change "pause." I suspect the car detected the guard rail but needed to confirm it was not a vehicle entering the lane at the same time from the other side.

Use <SPACE> to stop/start the video; "." advances frame-by-frame, and; "," goes backward frame-by-frame.

Bob Wilson
 
Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/teslas-outlandish-claims-threaten-future-215908198.html

[FORD rjw] Chief Technology Officer Ken Washington, for example, recently offered a scathing rebuke of Tesla's approach to the technology:

". . . Let me just really emphasize that. They're consumer vehicles with really good driver-assist technology."​

Actually the best driver-assist technology and one that I have in my hands. I use it daily. 'A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet.'

Bob Wilson
 
[FORD rjw] Chief Technology Officer Ken Washington, for example, recently offered a scathing rebuke of Tesla's approach to the technology:

". . . Let me just really emphasize that. They're consumer vehicles with really good driver-assist technology."​
Click to expand...

I guess you have to wear Tesla Basher Reality Distortion Goggles, and have the gain turned up pretty far, to see that comment as either a "rebuke" or as "scathing". Looks to me like a pretty accurate description of Tesla's Level 2+ autonomous driving tech. Yeah, it's a long way from fully functional Level 4 autonomy, but Tesla's driver assist features are light-years more capable than anything seen in any other production car!

I mean, there's really no comparison with any other production car. You have to look at Waymo's prototype vehicles to see something more advanced toward Level 4 autonomy.
​
 
bwilson4web said:
I have two cars, one with 2014 version of Mobileye in a BMW i3-REx and the other Tesla AutoPilot. I find AutoPilot provides more driver relief than the BMW i3-REx. I'm also seeing AutoPilot improves over time in the Tesla.

Bob Wilson
Click to expand...
I commuted from Oakland to San Francisco across the Bay Bridge for over a year in my i3 and the auto-cruise control was just barely useable in the stop-and-go conditions. After only a few day doing the same commute in the Model 3 the experience is substantially improved. On the bridge, which is five lanes in one direction, the lane-keeping and stop-and-go response makes the drive much less stressful.

I’m really looking forward to Tesla’s April 22nd demonstration.
 
Pushmi-Pullyu said:
You have to look at Waymo's prototype vehicles to see something more advanced toward Level 4 autonomy.
Click to expand...
In a restricted, geographical area that I neither live in, near, or limit my driving. <grins>

Then there is the problem of 'retail sales' of a Waymo, self-driving car.

Bob Wilson
 
bwilson4web said:
Then there is the problem of 'retail sales' of a Waymo, self-driving car.
Click to expand...

I've been assuming that Waymo's business plan is to develop an autonomous driving system to sell to existing auto makers. Frankly I think that's a much better plan than every auto maker trying to develop one on its own. I think that's a waste of resources and money, and competing systems are unlikely to work well together. One thing that self-driving cars need to do is to share data in order to facilitate smooth traffic flow and to agree on priority for entering an intersection. If different self-driving cars use different protocols, there will almost certainly be compatibility problems.
​
 
Hi,

I've documented three similar videos, cases where the car has a problem doing an angled left turn into a three-way intersection. The steering begins to slightly oscillate, ~1 Hz as if the car is trying to decide which lane to take. It is easy to manually take control and steer to the correct lane which also takes it out of AutoPilot. But it can be a surprise:


Bob Wilson
 
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