Autopilot lane keeping still not available over 6 months after delivery

[donv]

Interesting. My experience has all been in the corporate/charter world, and I don't think I've ever even seen anyone do that (again, other than the coupled approach situation).

In Learjets, the pitch is controlled by the trim hat on the yoke, so you do rest your hand on the yoke a bit when changing pitch frequently... but in the older Learjets, I (and everyone else) generally hand flew to altitude and back anyway.

I learned that it was bad form to apply any pressure to the yoke while the autopilot is flying, since (at least in pitch) it will run the trim against your pressure. I realize you're not talking about pressure, but it's one reason why I wouldn't keep my hand on the yoke all the time.

It's a matter of degree. Perhaps my 4500 hours hand flying Beech 1900s, frequently down to minimums 6 or more times a day, makes me atypical, but once I graduated to big iron anywhere other than cruise I was always at least following the controls. Most of my crew members always did the same.

 

[Electricfan]

It's a matter of degree. Perhaps my 4500 hours hand flying Beech 1900s, frequently down to minimums 6 or more times a day, makes me atypical, but once I graduated to big iron anywhere other than cruise I was always at least following the controls. Most of my crew members always did the same.

I googled Beech 1900. It looks like that plane that went down in the northeast a few years back in a snowstorm when the pilot stalled it. Is that right?

 

[MileHighMotoring]

I think you'd be hard pressed to find any model of small plane that hasn't crashed. It's a dangerous hobby/profession, which is why life insurance rates are often 3-5x what they are for non-pilots.

 

[slevit1md]

It's a matter of degree. Perhaps my 4500 hours hand flying Beech 1900s, frequently down to minimums 6 or more times a day, makes me atypical, but once I graduated to big iron anywhere other than cruise I was always at least following the controls. Most of my crew members always did the same.

Right, you relaxed when in cruise, which I'd say is about analogous to highway driving. I don't think that my expectations are unreasonable and I only expect to have working what was promised....highway autopilot. Hopefully the beta testers will get it right and complain about anything other than absolutely minimal nagging, if any. If I have to continually interact with the system, even in the best conditions, it's not very autonomous.

 

[Max*]

Autonomous != Autopilot



If there is a nag, I might either keep my hands on the wheel the whole time or not use lane assist.

 

[GregTexas]

Infiniti doesn't have a nag. I think it is unlikely Tesla will have a nag.

 

[schonelucht]

How is this different than a driver of a "standard" vehicle (with no driver assistance features at all) that gets into an accident because of lack of attention? The insurance company will cover the damages beyond the policy's collision deductible, and of course the driver will be deemed to be at fault so insurance rates will therefore increase. I don't see the difference, personally.

(Note, this applies to my jurisdiction, maybe yours differs) It's different because the car owner has a duty to maintain the car to certain technical standards. If you don't, that's grounds for an insurer to reject part of your claims in case of an accident. Now I haven't looked specifically if disabling a mandatory safety feature itself is enough because I personally don't intend to do so. But if I were to, like wk057, then that would be the first thing I would look into. That's why I asked him the question.

 

[travwill]

You guys should start a new thread about competitors. We have beat this autopilot one to death anyway for now...

 

[Max*]

You guys should start a new thread about competitors. We have beat this autopilot one to death anyway for now...

You bumped a two day old thread, back to the front page, to say they should start a new thread?

 

[wk057]

You guys should start a new thread about competitors. We have beat this autopilot one to death anyway for now...

It's worth pointing out that the thread title could be updated to "8 months after delivery" at this point...

 

[Jhall118]

There could at least be a video or something showing us where they are at...

 

[thegruf]

It's worth pointing out that the thread title could be updated to "8 months after delivery" at this point...

sorry but I did lol at that!

 

[GlmnAlyAirCar]

I think you'd be hard pressed to find any model of small plane that hasn't crashed. It's a dangerous hobby/profession, which is why life insurance rates are often 3-5x what they are for non-pilots.

"Small plane" isn't quite accurate ... this is an turboprop airliner. My life insurance rates aren't and have never been any higher than they would be if I don't fly. What makes you say flying is dangerous? Show me some statistics.

 

[MileHighMotoring]

My life insurance rates aren't and have never been any higher than they would be if I don't fly.

Umm. That's patently untrue in my research. It's considered high risk activity/occupation and some insurers won't even cover pilots. Some insurance companies explicitly exclude death payouts if death is caused by operation of an aircraft, too. You may want to check your policy.

 

[LetsGoFast]

"Small plane" isn't quite accurate ... this is an turboprop airliner. My life insurance rates aren't and have never been any higher than they would be if I don't fly. What makes you say flying is dangerous? Show me some statistics.

My life insurance specifically excludes piloting general aviation aircraft, as do very many. I see ads for pilot term life insurance in all the aviation mags.

There are roughly 11 deaths per million flight hours in general aviation (FAA source). Assuming a conservative average speed of 100mph for easy math, that would result 11 deaths per 100 million miles travelled. Automobile fatality rates in 2013 were 1.11 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (source), making civil aviation about 10 times more dangerous for any particular journey. Being from Lake Wobegon, you are almost certainly a safer pilot than average but presumably you are also a safer driver.

 

[MarcG]

Model X design opened for sig reservation holders today.
One of the standard features listed is "Autopilot Convenience Features with self-parking and automatic lane steering".
Could this mean 7.0 (or whatever release includes lane keeping) will be made available when Model X is delivered?

 

[MsElectric]

I can just see the Model X reveal...

The Model X is parked some place with no one in it. Elon presses a button and the car autonomously leaves the parking spot and comes to him. The first reveal video of the Model S might be the car driving by itself onto the stage.

And then reality sets in and the rest of gets to experience this 2 years from then :tongue:

 

[Lex]

I sure hope it's not too much more than the one "corner case" with "low contrast" markings holding it up... heck I'm wondering about that little bit of info as I'd like BING BING BING and red lights when it can't see, so I can take over. I'm in fact all for the default of cancelling whenever it's not sure enough about anything. Then keep making it better. Heck I'd take it now even if it cancelled itself out half the time on perfectly flat, clearly marked lanes, for one reason or another. Well, I'd be concerned if the flaws weren't fixable, but I'd rather have some now and it's confuses me as there seems to be a clear way to deliver that safely.

On a more positive note, in addition to helping me further tolerate traffic (TACC is already like therapy for me) I am very much looking forward to being able to dramatically increase range by letting lane-keeping deal with the monotony of steering at sad-face speeds :frown: #whitelinefever

 

[Jhall118]

As much as I hope I am wrong, Autopilot with Model X isn't a for-sure thing. The model S specifications page talks about lane centering. I hope it's out by then, but I never dreamed it would be this long.

 

[electrish]

There could at least be a video or something showing us where they are at...

Due to the lack of updates, you could be watching these over and over again instead, like I do:

Mobileye Automated Driving - Video Dailymotion

The Future of Computer Vision and Automated Driving by Prof. Amnon Shashua - YouTube

I admit, it gets old after a while!:wink: