A new patent filing suggests Tesla plans to offer an automated turn signaling feature.
The patent filing describes a system that leverages the car’s cameras, radar, and ultrasonic sensors to activate turn signals without human input.
The filing description says:
This disclosure discloses various vehicle technologies for automatically activating a turn signal when a vehicle is turning or changing lanes based on analysis of data, which can include data from an image capture device, radar, a steering angle sensor, and an ultrasonic sensor. This disclosure also contemplates that a decision to automatically activate a turn signal in a vehicle that is turning or changing lanes may take into account whether other vehicles or pedestrians are in vicinity thereof and whether those other vehicles or pedestrians would benefit from the turn signal being activated.
Automated Turn Signaling would be just one more step further toward fully removing human intervention from the driving experience. It makes sense that we would eventually see it offered as part of Autopilot and Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite.