Auto-Pilot - I give up, it's downright lethal

[hgmichna]

In my case, I’ve never seen the magic “P” appear to begin parking except twice in 3 years. Both of those times I was stopped in traffic awaiting a traffic light change, not trying to park. I’ve not once seen the “P” attempting to actually park. And yes, I’ve read and complied with the manual‘s instructions and guidance from many forum members who have successfully used it. I’ve also had another owner for whom AutoPark at least occasionally works drive my car and try to AutoPark in places where her vehicle has no issue. No joy.

That indicates a visit to the nearest Tesla Service Centre.

The most common mistake is not to drive far enough past the parking spot. Perhaps the Autopilot needs to see the rear end of the car next to you in its rear-viewing camera, but that's just a guess.

 

[Peter 224]

I would disagree with you about the autopilot - driving in the real world is probably significantly harder than rocket science: rocket science deals with orbital physics which, though extraordinarily complex can be calculated to any number of significant digits.
I suspect that Tesla is only now beginning to realise just how difficult it is to cope with the dozens of often human-caused incidents that we humans deal with but hardly notice every day.

I'm talking about basic cruise control, which Tesla chooses to call autopilot. The Merc cruise control and speed limiter worked well in 20 and 30 limit areas, which is where most speed cameras are. The Tesla one doesn't work properly as it gets confused by worrying about parked cars, vehicles crossing the white line and pedestrians/cyclists, occasionally slowing and slamming on the brakes.
Yes, Tesla autopilot works well on main roads and motorways, but that is only half the job. I want both!

 

[Wol747]

>>The most common mistake is not to drive far enough past the parking spot. Perhaps the Autopilot needs to see the rear end of the car next to you in its rear-viewing camera, but that's just a guess.<<

Good luck with that procedure in most city environs!
Trolling along at 15Kph waiting for the car to recognise a parking spot and going even five feet past one will mean there's a car right behind you wondering what the hell you're up to - remember, you haven't put the indicator on because until you get the
"P" you only know there's a 50/50 chance of it anyway.

 

[Jonnymack74]

I've had it happen to me with no one around me on the M6. The road was going downhill on a sunny day and as I approached a bridge it braked hard due to the shadow of the bridge.
On A roads the same can happen with large dips and hilly sections. It also doesn't like roads were people are parked on the kerb, even if the lane has plenty of space.
When it does work, it feels like the future, and I'm jealous of some of the YT videos coming out of the states, they are definitely ahead of everyone else. I do feel it will be some time before it is right for the UK

 

[phil4]

I used to have TACC on my previous VW Golf. It'd work on any road pretty much flawlessly. The Tesla TACC is a lot worse in comparison.

Autopilot on the Tesla, is much better than the Golf's TACC, as it'll steer nicely. It still has faults, but it's better than the Golf.

However I do completely ignore Musk/Tesla when they talk about full self drive coming soon. Yeah, not a chance. In the year of Updates I've had, there's been no "sudden" improvement that makes it markedly better, just small tweaks some that make it better, some worse.

 

[Wol747]

>>I've had it happen to me with no one around me on the M6. The road was going downhill on a sunny day and as I approached a bridge it braked hard due to the shadow of the bridge.<<

The general feeling is that it's the radar that causes most of the PB events by the conflict radar/cameras, which is why most of the time the PB is fleeting and almost immediately releases the brakes as the visual side overrides the radar. How true this is I don't know. We'll see when the radar is dispensed with - but I suspect we might have issues then with lack of genuine collision awareness.

 

[Hurricane]

I used to have TACC on my previous VW Golf. It'd work on any road pretty much flawlessly. The Tesla TACC is a lot worse in comparison.

Autopilot on the Tesla, is much better than the Golf's TACC, as it'll steer nicely. It still has faults, but it's better than the Golf.

However I do completely ignore Musk/Tesla when they talk about full self drive coming soon. Yeah, not a chance. In the year of Updates I've had, there's been no "sudden" improvement that makes it markedly better, just small tweaks some that make it better, some worse.

Dynamic cruise control on my A6 works so much better than TACC on my M3P, and in 30k miles I’ve never once had an instance of phantom braking in the Audi.

I’ve had my M3 for two years now and there has been no appreciable development in FSD. When I bought the car the website promised “auto steer on city streets coming soon”, though I think the wording was a bit different. Two years on the promise is still there with no expectation of ir coming anytime soon.

Tesla are characterised by empty promises and missed deadlines.

 

[hgmichna]

Good luck with that procedure in most city environs!
Trolling along at 15Kph waiting for the car to recognise a parking spot and going even five feet past one will mean there's a car right behind you wondering what the hell you're up to - remember, you haven't put the indicator on because until you get the
"P" you only know there's a 50/50 chance of it anyway.

When I intend to park and see a possible gap, I always put the indicator on. I (or the car) can still change my mind.
And remember, you can open your window and signal to the car behind with both hands while the car parks.

 

[Adopado]

The general feeling is that it's the radar that causes most of the PB events by the conflict radar/cameras, which is why most of the time the PB is fleeting and almost immediately releases the brakes as the visual side overrides the radar. How true this is I don't know. We'll see when the radar is dispensed with - but I suspect we might have issues then with lack of genuine collision awareness.

It would be understandable to see that the braking events when passing HGVs could be related to radar/vision conflicts but I'm struggling to see how a bridge shadow would do it.

 

[Neilman]

It would be understandable to see that the braking events when passing HGVs could be related to radar/vision conflicts but I'm struggling to see how a bridge shadow would do it.

Shirley the radar is picking up echoes from the bridge that is causing the shadows - the visual shadow might reinforce the notion that there is a potential blocker there until visually proven otherwise.
Either way, that sudden braking does not make for a smooth ride in my automated jalopy

 

[Dilly]

Shirley the radar is picking up echoes from the bridge that is causing the shadows - the visual shadow might reinforce the notion that there is a potential blocker there until visually proven otherwise.
Either way, that sudden braking does not make for a smooth ride in my automated jalopy

It’s the radar‘s way of saying don’t call me Shirley

 

[cwerdna]

However I do completely ignore Musk/Tesla when they talk about full self drive coming soon. Yeah, not a chance. In the year of Updates I've had, there's been no "sudden" improvement that makes it markedly better, just small tweaks some that make it better, some worse.

Yep. Anyone who isn't a Tesla fanboy and has been looking at what folks like Waymo, Cruise Automation and Mobileye (to name a few) have been doing will realize how far away Tesla is.

There are numerous pages tracking all of Elon's missed dates regarding autonomy but I recently found out about this one. Take a look.

Elon Musk Today

elonmusk.today

Elon Musk Today

elonmusk.today

Elon Musk Today

elonmusk.today

 

[Wol747]

There's an article in the New Scientist 31st July about autonomous cars and the over-expectation of the developers. I agree with every point it makes, and for the same reasons.