Autopilot goof. Good thing I was paying attention :)

[bcsteeve]

Just decided to hit the "save" button on my dash cam to show this. Not a big deal, and nothing dramatic, but this is just a bit of evidence that Autopilot in its current state isn't ready for the streets of my town, at least. The dream of "full self driving" seems painfully far away when a simple rounding of a corner results in driving on the wrong side of the road.

I was paying attention and my hands were on the wheel. I saw that there were no cars coming so when it started to "glitch", I allowed it to carry on with its maneuver to see if it could figure out what to do. Alas, it did not.

FWIW, I use Autopilot everywhere and I try to push it into uncomfortable scenarios. Partially for my own curiosity but also in hopes it provides Tesla with some data.

 

[TomB985]

I’m getting an error with the video, can you check the link?

 

[Runnergirl]

Link worked for me. Thanks for taking risks for the benefit of all! Is that Phoenix?!!

 

[SMAlset]

Do you think it happened because there was a rather long break in the center line?

 

[lolder]

Had this happened before on this curve? The center line is missing for too long.

 

[richyrich]

Do you think it happened because there was a rather long break in the center line?

Yeah that road is very poorly (negligently?) marked and that will cause issues. This is one of the reasons AP is meant for use on highways, which are generally very well marked and maintained.

 

[SunCharged]

That’s crazy. I’ve used autopilot plenty of times on roads with no lane markings. Of course i started or engaged autopilot in a section of road with lane markings. So I’m rather surprised this happened.

 

[Knightshade]

Just decided to hit the "save" button on my dash cam to show this. Not a big deal, and nothing dramatic, but this is just a bit of evidence that Autopilot in its current state isn't ready for the streets of my town, at least.

The owners manual explicitly states AP isn't intended for use on local, undivided roads.

The exact place you were using it.

 

[diplomat33]

but this is just a bit of evidence that Autopilot in its current state isn't ready for the streets of my town, at least. The dream of "full self driving" seems painfully far away when a simple rounding of a corner results in driving on the wrong side of the road.

Autopilot is not full self-driving and was never designed for city streets. Wait for AP3 and the FSD software to be released. It will be able to handle that situation.

 

[diplomat33]

Just decided to hit the "save" button on my dash cam to show this. Not a big deal, and nothing dramatic, but this is just a bit of evidence that Autopilot in its current state isn't ready for the streets of my town, at least. The dream of "full self driving" seems painfully far away when a simple rounding of a corner results in driving on the wrong side of the road.

I was paying attention and my hands were on the wheel. I saw that there were no cars coming so when it started to "glitch", I allowed it to carry on with its maneuver to see if it could figure out what to do. Alas, it did not.

FWIW, I use Autopilot everywhere and I try to push it into uncomfortable scenarios. Partially for my own curiosity but also in hopes it provides Tesla with some data.

By the way, it is actually "normal" that AP failed in that scenario because AP was designed to simply follow lane lines. So if the lanes disappear, AP will fail every time. Again, AP was never designed to be full self-driving, it was always designed just to follow lane lines.

 

[bcsteeve]

Is that Phoenix?!!

It is (the car, not the city)!

Do you think it happened because there was a rather long break in the center line?

I'm sure that's why, yes. That's why I was trying it there. Chappie (my 2015 Model S) also had problems on that exact corner, so I was trying to see if it got any better at handling things like that. The outcome was far worse, but it tried harder. Chappie would just start beeping and braking and swerving and generally freaking out lol. Which is better? I guess it depends on what's coming the other way

Had this happened before on this curve? The center line is missing for too long.

Agreed. This is the kind of thing I like testing to see how it handles it.

The owners manual explicitly states AP isn't intended for use on local, undivided roads.

The exact place you were using it.

I do admit, I'm not one for following arbitrary manufacturer rules. If you like to do what a manual tells you to the letter... I don't judge you.

You'll note that I never said it didn't behave contrary to what the manual said. I was pointing out a situation that Tesla is going to have a real hard time overcoming in their quest for Full Self Driving. It *needs* to handle situations like this, unless we've all been duped by this hope for an automated future and it actually depends on the city's ability/willingness to upkeep to an impossible standard (in which case every car is on basically equal footing because the AI part of it will be moot).

To be clear, I'm not knocking where they're at. It is AMAZING how well this system works. Yes, even in situations that you explicitly aren't supposed to be using it

 

[bcsteeve]

By the way, it is actually "normal" that AP failed in that scenario because AP was designed to simply follow lane lines. So if the lanes disappear, AP will fail every time. Again, AP was never designed to be full self-driving, it was always designed just to follow lane lines.

I disagree. Both with your assessment on how it was "designed just to follow lane lines" (there are many, MANY situations where it works with no lane lines at all) and in your description of "failed".

The way my S (AP1, older firmware) "failed" makes more sense... it beeped, and shut AP off. My 3 (current firmware) didn't "fail" and turn off AP... it put me in the wrong lane with AP still engaged.

 

[argon2018]

I disagree. Both with your assessment on how it was "designed just to follow lane lines" (there are many, MANY situations where it works with no lane lines at all) and in your description of "failed".

The way my S (AP1, older firmware) "failed" makes more sense... it beeped, and shut AP off. My 3 (current firmware) didn't "fail" and turn off AP... it put me in the wrong lane with AP still engaged.

Your assessment is incorrect. Autopilot is not meant for streets right now. Nevertheless I think HW3 will be vastly different for those who have FSD and will bring autopilot to streets.

 

[bcsteeve]

I didn't say it was

 

[Knightshade]

You'll note that I never said it didn't behave contrary to what the manual said. I was pointing out a situation that Tesla is going to have a real hard time overcoming in their quest for Full Self Driving. It *needs* to handle situations like this, unless we've all been duped by this hope for an automated future and it actually depends on the city's ability/willingness to upkeep to an impossible standard (in which case every car is on basically equal footing because the AI part of it will be moot).

I don't think "doesn't do something it explicitly tells you it isn't supposed to do" is evidence they'll have a hard time with anything or not.

Driving in situations like you describe is going to use significantly different software (and a much larger NN), and a different, much more powerful, computer.

It'd be like saying "Well, that 3 month old keeps falling over every time I stand him up to walk... clearly he'll have a real hard time EVER walking"

 

[BobAbooey]

Just decided to hit the "save" button on my dash cam to show this. Not a big deal, and nothing dramatic, but this is just a bit of evidence that Autopilot in its current state isn't ready for the streets of my town, at least. The dream of "full self driving" seems painfully far away when a simple rounding of a corner results in driving on the wrong side of the road.

I was paying attention and my hands were on the wheel. I saw that there were no cars coming so when it started to "glitch", I allowed it to carry on with its maneuver to see if it could figure out what to do. Alas, it did not.

FWIW, I use Autopilot everywhere and I try to push it into uncomfortable scenarios. Partially for my own curiosity but also in hopes it provides Tesla with some data.

If ur playin with AP on them backroad you better keep ur eyes on the road. Not made for that... yet

 

[bcsteeve]

Fair enough. But then its also like saying, "Hmmm... let's see if this toddler can drive [disclaimer: be ready to take the wheel from the toddler]".



I get your point, certainly. And I hope their significantly different software etc can magically get us gigantic leaps and bounds from where we are (which is already enormous leaps and bounds from where we were). But we're a long way. Will we get there? I personally don't think so, with the cars we're driving now. I hope so - obviously, since i bought the FSD package on that hope - but I don't think so.

Fun to find out

 

[ewoodrick]

Your assessment is incorrect. Autopilot is not meant for streets right now. Nevertheless I think HW3 will be vastly different for those who have FSD and will bring autopilot to streets.

I'm going to have to disagree with your assessment. There are a lot of features built into autopilot today that aren't designed for Interstates. I also don't believe that Tesla even expects people not to use it on surface streets, I suspect that they want people to use it there.

Interstates don't have stop lights. Why did they add the ability to detect stop lights?

 

[ewoodrick]

Just decided to hit the "save" button on my dash cam to show this. Not a big deal, and nothing dramatic, but this is just a bit of evidence that Autopilot in its current state isn't ready for the streets of my town, at least. The dream of "full self driving" seems painfully far away when a simple rounding of a corner results in driving on the wrong side of the road.

I was paying attention and my hands were on the wheel. I saw that there were no cars coming so when it started to "glitch", I allowed it to carry on with its maneuver to see if it could figure out what to do. Alas, it did not.

FWIW, I use Autopilot everywhere and I try to push it into uncomfortable scenarios. Partially for my own curiosity but also in hopes it provides Tesla with some data.

In the US, I believe that the road is not using a standard marking. I believe that lanes are usually marked with a double yellow lane, not a single one. Indeed, the car seems to thing that the middle line has disappeared and was trying to center itself on the road.

I disagree with some of the comments that it only uses lines. I've seen a lot of evidence that it detects road edges and makes a lot of guesses as to where the lines should be. Large intersections are a good exampl of lines missing for a long time.

In this case, if it wasn't for the oncoming cars, I think that some people would do the same thing. IT does seem that the car didn't start to center until after the cars had passed. The line seemed to end before the cars passed.

 

[focher]

It’s correct that Tesla’s position is that AP is for freeway conditions. It’s equally true that the software itself uses more than just lane markings. It clearly also uses “vehicle following” as an additional mechanism, as can be seen if following another vehicle into a “no lane marking” situation. Most likely, it uses any combination of methods at any particular moment depending on conditions when attempting to follow the lane.

I’d be surprised if most of didn’t often try AP in situations it’s officially not ready for to see how it handles that situation. Seems like the OP is in that category, and followed common sense in paying attention and being ready to take over if necessary.