2017.50.3.f3425a1 is out!

[Daniellane]

Perhaps we need to tamp down our expectations which are very high based on the belief that AP2 hardware should be capable of full self driving and software should be as well by now.

I think we need to bare in mind what is actually printed in the owner’s manual. From that perspective, I believe Autopilot performs as expected.

Excerpts from Model S Owner’s Manual:

Restricted Speed

Autosteer is intended for use on freeways and highways where access is limited by entry and exit ramps. When using Autosteer on residential roads, a road without a center divider, or a road where access is not limited, Autosteer limits the driving speed. The maximum driving speed is calculated based on the detected speed limit plus 5 mph (10 km/h). In situations where the speed limit cannot be detected, speed is limited to 45 mph (70 km/h). When Autosteer is engaged in these situations, it reduces your driving speed and your set speed to be within these limits. You can manually accelerate to exceed the limited speed, but when you release the accelerator pedal, Autosteer slows Model S to the limited speed. When you leave the road, or disengage Autosteer by using the steering wheel, you can increase your set speed again, if desired.


Limitations

Autosteer is particularly unlikely to operate as intended in the following situations:

• Autosteer is unable to accurately determine lane markings due to poor visibility (heavy rain, snow, fog, etc.), or an obstructed, covered, or damaged camera or sensor.

• When driving on hills.

• When approaching a toll booth.

• The road has sharp curves or is

excessively rough.

• Bright light (such as direct sunlight) is

interfering with the camera's view.

• The sensors are a ected by other

electrical equipment or devices that generate ultrasonic waves.

Warning: Many unforeseen circumstances can impair the operation of Autosteer. Always keep this in mind and remember that as a result, Autosteer may not steer Model S appropriately. Always drive attentively and be prepared to take immediate action.

 

[bebbiXpress]

Now that u mentioned, I felt the same

Same here I would say. I did check the equalizer settings earlier today because I thought the bass is more dominant than before...

 

[bebbiXpress]

I've tested consistently to 40mph. After that it drops to <10% success rate. 40mph was actually very good on .42 (90%!). Its probably between 50-70% now.

It might even emergency brake on the ones where I abort but I'd rather not be in a position to rely on that. What I hate most is that it will display the car in front, start regen, and then, inexplicably, GUN it towards that stopped car and then, 500 feet away, start slamming the brakes (but not nearly hard enough!). Maybe it increases the brake, maybe not? I don't wait to find out either.

I didn't had such a behaviour you're describing today. I guess it could be, that here in Switzerland I can't think of one traffic light where we have to brake from 55mph or higher down to zero. If there's a light, there's also most definitely a speed reduction down to about 35 or even 30mph a hundred yards before the light. So, the car approach the light at a lesser speed and maybe AP can handle that better.
I drove over 3000 miles in the States last year and saw a lot of humans braking hard to not hit a car because they came in too fast...

 

[chillaban]

I didn't had such a behaviour you're describing today. I guess it could be, that here in Switzerland I can't think of one traffic light where we have to brake from 55mph or higher down to zero. If there's a light, there's also most definitely a speed reduction down to about 35 or even 30mph a hundred yards before the light. So, the car approach the light at a lesser speed and maybe AP can handle that better.
I drove over 3000 miles in the States last year and saw a lot of humans braking hard to not hit a car because they came in too fast...

Unfortunately here in the USA we have roads with speed limits as high as 65mph but still has traffic lights. So, for successful city driving in the USA, the system will have to be able to handle encountering stopped cars from a very high speed.

 

[arcus]

It might even emergency brake on the ones where I abort but I'd rather not be in a position to rely on that. What I hate most is that it will display the car in front, start regen, and then, inexplicably, GUN it towards that stopped car and then, 500 feet away, start slamming the brakes (but not nearly hard enough!). Maybe it increases the brake, maybe not? I don't wait to find out either.

It happens to me almost every time on a 60 mph divided highway. The car definitely "sees" the traffic ahead as supported by the icon on the dash. It will apply the brakes at first, then accelerate like crazy, then slam the brakes but without me having confidence that it will follow through and actually stop.

 

[gademy]

Happy New Year! Just received this update which features ****drum roll please **** auto sensing wipers! I will post pics of update screen a little later.

Edit: should be "2017.50.3 f3425a1"

When will Tesla correct the blindside indications, when they’re inaccurate?

 

[JasJ]

Changing the topic a bit about 2017.50.3 f3425a1, but my car now tracks to the left side of a lane with this update. Not quite in the center anymore. The car actually is more centered in the lane when it loses track of the right lane marker....
more centered (lost right lane marker)
left of center (has both left and right lane markers)

Same behavior on both highways and city streets.

Was on 2017.48 a774ed8 which tracked dead center in the freeway lanes (and so did all the prior versions).

Wondering if I'm alone in this as I kept pulling the car to the center of the lane and auto-pilot would disengage. Didn't make a difference if large vehicles were around me on the left or right, kept tracking to the left of center.

 

[BinaryField]

One more report on autopilot in version .50.3: I'm not experiencing any marked improvement in the auto lane change. The car still dives into the target lane, as if performed aggressively by a frustrated driver. I'm mixed about using it for this reason, since I do not want to spook other drivers.

 

[mongo]

Changing the topic a bit about 2017.50.3 f3425a1, but my car now tracks to the left side of a lane with this update. Not quite in the center anymore. The car actually is more centered in the lane when it loses track of the right lane marker....
View attachment 271210 more centered (lost right lane marker)
View attachment 271211left of center (has both left and right lane markers)

Same behavior on both highways and city streets.

Was on 2017.48 a774ed8 which tracked dead center in the freeway lanes (and so did all the prior versions).

Wondering if I'm alone in this as I kept pulling the car to the center of the lane and auto-pilot would disengage. Didn't make a difference if large vehicles were around me on the left or right, kept tracking to the left of center.

Interesting, thanks for the report.
. I'm guessing it uses a default lane width with only the left lane detected and the image is centered since it has no reference to know where in the lane it is.
Given that the image shows the car is to the left of center, it must be programmed to do that. Perhaps to increase the buffer to the side it cannot see as clearly (where pedestrians, car doors, and other objects can pop out)?
It would be interesting if a RHD car is right of center instead.

 

[Peter Lucas]

My 2016 Model S 90D has always had rain sensing wipers. I leave the switch in the number one position and the wipers run when needed. The functionality may have changed. I haven't checked.

 

[bmah]

My 2016 Model S 90D has always had rain sensing wipers. I leave the switch in the number one position and the wipers run when needed. The functionality may have changed. I haven't checked.

Which version of autopilot hardware does your car have? AP1 cars have always had rain-sensing wipers. What's new is that with the 2017.50.3 software, AP2 cars have this functionality too (modulo "beta" status).

Bruce.

 

[Peter Lucas]

Which version of autopilot hardware does your car have? AP1 cars have always had rain-sensing wipers. What's new is that with the 2017.50.3 software, AP2 cars have this functionality too (modulo "beta" status).

Bruce.

Well that is the answer. Mine is an early 2016 car with AP1 hardware. I didn't see any reference to AP2 cars with the original post.

 

[ErnieG]

Please realize that this is probably industry first, vision based rain-sensing - at least in a production car.

Can't wait to read how it performs!

Awesome times

@FredLambert

Works fine here in Northern California with the recent rains. Interest item while driving 65mph in a light mist on Hwy 101 at night, the water was raising up the windshield and the auto intermittent wipe wasn't needed. When I slowed to exit the water stopped going up the windshield and the auto wipers came on again.

Ernie
MS 90D

 

[oktane]

Here's oktane's unbiased review:

-rain sensing wipers work reasonably well. The #1 setting was not sensitive enough for my taste. #2 worked well with medium and large rain droplets. For fine mist, it did not engage and I had to manually wipe.
-I'd recommend eliminating #1 sensitivity entirely, and relegating sensitivity to the software menus leaving the control stalk for wipe speed instead. Other cars use a "roll dial" for sensitivity and leave the stalk for speed for the auto functionality.

-AP2 is smoother in straight and mild curves with less "ping-pong" or oscillation.
-At high speed on moderate curves, the car will not hug the center but will drift towards the outside of the turn. Mine almost clips the lane which I do not like. The car drives "lazily" around the curves like an inattentive driver might.
-lane change is faster and better in my opinion.
-overall I feel AP2 is more confident, but would prefer staying more centered in the lane during a turn.

-braking performance is still not good. The car starts braking too late and then brakes too hard at the end.
-the car should allow for LESS distance between it and the car in front when coming to a stop, right now it leaves too much gap which is super annoying.
-The car should allow for erosion of the gap as speed decreases rather than maintaining a fixed gap.
-AP2 drives like a new driver that leaves a huge gap rather than an above average driver which will creep forward allowing more stopping distance for the car behind it, which may put you at risk for getting rear ended.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Changing the topic a bit about 2017.50.3 f3425a1, but my car now tracks to the left side of a lane with this update. Not quite in the center anymore. The car actually is more centered in the lane when it loses track of the right lane marker....
View attachment 271210 more centered (lost right lane marker)
View attachment 271211left of center (has both left and right lane markers)

Same behavior on both highways and city streets.

Was on 2017.48 a774ed8 which tracked dead center in the freeway lanes (and so did all the prior versions).

Wondering if I'm alone in this as I kept pulling the car to the center of the lane and auto-pilot would disengage. Didn't make a difference if large vehicles were around me on the left or right, kept tracking to the left of center.

For me that left hugging started already in .40, much discussed on the Autonomous Vehicles sub-forum.

It seems to happen possibly a little less on .50.3 for me...

 

[DragonRider]

How long does it take for the car to leave the "calibration" period? Any advice to stay away from with AP2 ?

 

[BigD0g]

How long does it take for the car to leave the "calibration" period? Any advice to stay away from with AP2 ?

About a 100 miles or so, give or take. Don't trust the car at intersections, otherwise, enjoy the ride!

 

[d21mike]

How long does it take for the car to leave the "calibration" period? Any advice to stay away from with AP2 ?

I believe when you can use auto steer then "calibration" is complete. I was given multiple values raging from 50-150 miles but my car took 28 miles.

 

[milleron]

How long does it take for the car to leave the "calibration" period? Any advice to stay away from with AP2 ?

It can be quite variable. My calibration was done after 30 miles. There were forum posts claiming that it had not finished at 500 miles, but those could have been cases of defective or badly calibrated sensors.

 

[DragonRider]

Thanks! I guess i'll do some donuts in the parking lot.