Autopilot reminder every 15 seconds??

[tahiti14]

I have a 2023 Standard Model 3 and when I go on to work on the hiway I use Basic autopilot. Sometimes it reminds me to touch the wheel or interact with it svery two minutes. Recently it is flashing to touch the wheel every 12-15 seconds. over tve course of a two hour drive this is more distracting that just driving. Im constantly hitting the scroll wheel or shaking the wheel and I find it is causing me to look at the screen more to make sure the flashing blue goes away then keeping my eyes on the road. Im often just steering myself because this is more
of a nuisance than the relaxing drive that auto steer could be.

Does anyone know why a couple months ago it would sometimes remind every 2 mins and now its constant? Is something wrong with my Tesla is this normal?

 

[Mullermn]

The reminders vary depending on the driving conditions. Faster driving and worse weather mean you get nagged more often. Could that be the difference?

Incidentally, something it took me an embarrassingly long time to work out is that you don’t have to wiggle the wheel, just have a static weight on it. These days I drive (under AP) with one hand on the wheel and that same elbow resting on the door so that the weight of my hand kinda ‘hangs’ on the wheel and I never get nagged.

 

[EVRider-FL]

Construction zones will cause more reminders, as will pressing the accelerator to temporarily increase the cruising speed.

 

[Twiglett]

applying torque to the wheel completely gets rid of the messages

 

[Tronguy]

I've got two "legal" methods, either of which work:

• Both hands on the wheel. With breathing, first torque one way, then, on the next breath, torque the other way. Make it a habit; eventually, one doesn't need to think about it. That keeps the alert from going off.
• One hand on the wheel on one side. The car's normal jiggling around when driving applies variable torque to the steering wheel and Keeps The Alerts Away. Extra credit: Switch hands from time to time.

 

[aset]

sunglasses?

 

[Mullermn]

I've got two "legal" methods, either of which work:

• Both hands on the wheel. With breathing, first torque one way, then, on the next breath, torque the other way. Make it a habit; eventually, one doesn't need to think about it. That keeps the alert from going off.
• One hand on the wheel on one side. The car's normal jiggling around when driving applies variable torque to the steering wheel and Keeps The Alerts Away. Extra credit: Switch hands from time to time.

Nothing wrong with what you’ve said, but as I said above you don’t acutely need any juggling or movement at all. As long as there is a net torque on the wheel in one direction or the other you won’t get nagged even if it’s completely static.

 

[Tronguy]

Nothing wrong with what you’ve said, but as I said above you don’t acutely need any juggling or movement at all. As long as there is a net torque on the wheel in one direction or the other you won’t get nagged even if it’s completely static.

Um. Maybe it's because I've been on FSD-b for a year and some. There have definitely been times when, doing the breathe-left, breathe-right game, that if I stayed on one side, it would alert and complain.

There was a point in time where idiots of various descriptions would buy defeat devices, which consisted of a jiggly weight attached to the wheel. As a result, one, maybe two things happened:

1. The NHTSA got seriously mad and went after the folks selling this stuff. Mainly on Amazon. One sec: Yeah, a quick look reveals that they're not obviously for sale on Amazon any more.
2. It is Strongly Suspected that Tesla changed algorithms in an attempt to detect defeat devices. No question, though: even with the "breathe" approach, and sometimes the one-handed approach, on long trips the alarm would trip. Sometimes the whole business would get so squirrely that, in an attempt to get enough torque to prevent a Strike (too many strikes, and no FSD for you), one would end up disengaging, a bad thing in traffic.

Over time the algorithms have gotten a bit better, to the point where I haven't seen any alerts so long as the "breathe" or "one-hand" tricks were going, so you may be right.

One more fun tidbit: On FSD-b, Tesla does tell one up front that they're going to use the in-car camera to make sure you're looking out the windows. It's not crazy aggressive; one can look around, glance at the screen, and so forth. But if one stares at the screen for more than, say, 10 seconds or so, the alert will appear telling one to pay attention.

Interestingly, it's been noted by denizens of the 11.x thread that wearing sunglasses interferes with the eyeball tracker. I think that's true. Apparently, some other manufacturers of FSD-like capability (GM, I think) use an IR camera for eyeball tracking since, reportedly, the IR camera can track eyeballs through sunglasses.

Ha. One of the resident trolls came to the 11.x thread and crowed that he/she didn't have to touch the wheel and could read a book, since said troll was using a defeat device and wearing sunglasses. Which got people mad at the troll, which was probably the troll's purpose in stating all that.

Thing is, though: FSD-b in particular and, to a lesser extent, EAP, makes mistakes on a regular basis. Less regular these days than, say, last year this time, but those mistakes, while easy to recover from if one is paying attention, would be deadly if one wasn't paying attention. So anybody actually doing what the troll claimed he/her was doing would definitely be in death-wish country. So: Don't defeat the safety measures.

By the way: Those Ford commercials where people play patty-cake while the car is driving itself around? You tell me: Which is safer: Having your hands on the wheel when something unexpected occurs, or playing patty cake and having to first move one's hands to the wheels, then take emergency action?

 

[skelch]

I was always able to grip the bottom right of the steering wheel and rest my arm on the center console cushion and just the weight was good to not get the annoying error pops. Ever since 11.4+ it has gotten very sensitive. I constantly get the error pops now, even when I am gripping the steering wheel correctly, IMO something has changed because I never got them much before.

 

[Larry Hutchinson]

I use one hand and simply never get nags. Have been driving Teslas since 2013. I use my right hand at about 5 o’clock partly resting on my knee in my 3 (in my X, my knee is too far away.) I simply hook my thumb and forefinger and provide a slight continuous torque. I have never disabled autopilot this way. I also occasionally switch hands. I apply about 1 pound of downward force at the 5 o’clock position.

 

[NYHeel]

I can't seem to make the AP wheel nags go away. It's really annoying. I have to awkwardly pull or turn the wheel to get the nag to go away. Natural wheel holding doesn't work. I can hold the wheel the same way I do when I drive and I still get nagged every time. I've tried different spots on the wheel and I still get the nag and I need to work to make the nag go away.

I think the issue is that I've set the seat height to about the highest it goes on my Model 3. So I'm relatively high compared to the steering wheel. This makes it hard to apply torque to the wheel. I'm going to try a lower seating position on my next road trip but am a bit nervous because I was having significant back issues with other seating positions. I raised the seat to try and minimize the back pain I was getting from sitting in the Model 3 for more than 20 minutes.

Other than the seat height I don't know what else to try. Having to pull really hard on the steering wheel every 2-3 minutes makes using AP pretty annoying.

 

[Dewg]

I can't seem to make the AP wheel nags go away. It's really annoying. I have to awkwardly pull or turn the wheel to get the nag to go away. Natural wheel holding doesn't work. I can hold the wheel the same way I do when I drive and I still get nagged every time. I've tried different spots on the wheel and I still get the nag and I need to work to make the nag go away.

I think the issue is that I've set the seat height to about the highest it goes on my Model 3. So I'm relatively high compared to the steering wheel. This makes it hard to apply torque to the wheel. I'm going to try a lower seating position on my next road trip but am a bit nervous because I was having significant back issues with other seating positions. I raised the seat to try and minimize the back pain I was getting from sitting in the Model 3 for more than 20 minutes.

Other than the seat height I don't know what else to try. Having to pull really hard on the steering wheel every 2-3 minutes makes using AP pretty annoying.

It takes a single finger to satisfy the torque request. If it's taking more than a finger of pressure turning the wheel, you have a torque sensor problem.

 

[Watts_Up]

It takes a single finger to satisfy the torque request. If it's taking more than a finger of pressure turning the wheel, you have a torque sensor problem.

Try using the tiny scrolling buttons located of the steering wheel by moving up or dow like when adjusting the speed or the speaker volume.

 

[NYHeel]

It takes a single finger to satisfy the torque request. If it's taking more than a finger of pressure turning the wheel, you have a torque sensor problem.

Are you saying that simply having one hand holding the bottom of the wheel should be enough to avoid the nag? I usually have my hand on the bottom of the wheel the entire time I’m on AP and I still get nagged every time.

 

[NYHeel]

Try using the tiny scrolling buttons located of the steering wheel by moving up or dow like when adjusting the speed or the speaker volume.

Yeah, I do that sometimes. I’d just really like to avoid getting the nag in the first place. I keep one hand on the wheel at all times, I’m looking at the road and I still get the nag every few minutes. Am I doing something wrong?

 

[Dewg]

Are you saying that simply having one hand holding the bottom of the wheel should be enough to avoid the nag? I usually have my hand on the bottom of the wheel the entire time I’m on AP and I still get nagged every time.

I have my left hand resting on my left knee, holding the wheel at 7 o'clock, pulling down very slightly (like gravity weight). I rarely get nags. The only time I get them is on long, straight portions of freeways. Usually the natural wheel-turns with normal lane shifting is enough to satisfy. In the event I do get a nag, all I do is turn the wheel a tiny bit (wiggle it really) up and/or down, and the nag is satisfied.

 

[JB47394]

applying torque to the wheel completely gets rid of the messages

It does, but there's something new going on with their monitoring software. Starting about a month ago I started seeing a warning the instant that I back off on the torque. I'll back off to readjust my hand, or shift in the seat, whatever. Not always, but sometimes. I also get warnings even while torqueing, but they seem to last only for a split second. The false positives are triggering a Cry Wolf reaction from me.

I've long wondered what sort of long-term performance those torque sensors provide. And are they variable from car to car?

 

[Larry Hutchinson]

Are you saying that simply having one hand holding the bottom of the wheel should be enough to avoid the nag? I usually have my hand on the bottom of the wheel the entire time I’m on AP and I still get nagged every time.

No. You need to heed the new updated message I saw recently "Apply slight turning force to steering wheel". I hold with my thumb and forefinger at about 5 o’clock and apply about the weight of my hand. Never use two hands unless one is at the bottom applying no turning force that might cancel the other.

 

[Watts_Up]

I have my left hand resting on my left knee, holding the wheel at 7 o'clock,

I would not recommend this position, you should keep both hands on the steering wheel at 10 am and 2 pm
because you need to react fast in case the car makes a sudden jolt in a wrong direction.

5 Tesla Accidents in Same Location in Yosemite

 

[legendsk]

While last year the steering wheel roller / buttons could be used to satisfy the nags, starting a couple of updates ago, with the last update, they will occasionally work, but generally do not. Further, with this last update, simply supplying some increased torque frequently does not satisfy it - it usually requires turning the wheel 15º - 30º and about 1/2 the time, won't give up until the wheel has been forced to 45º or so and disengages.

A couple of updates ago, the car began diving into real short, (50 ft or so), exit ramps intended for u-turns. If allowed to do this, it will run out of exit ramp doing 75 mph and instead of trying to do a u-turn, will just jump the end of the ramp and into the median, whip the wheel back and forth a few times, then throw the red screen of death and give the take over immediately message. I find it best to just not allow it to dive into the exit to start with.

But it applies a lot of torque when it does this and so I have to have both hands on the wheel at 9 & 3 typically, with about as tight a grip as I can squeeze, and each hand torquing 30 or 40 ft lbs of torque against each other. If I were to have only one hand on the wheel, applying 4 or 5 inch ounces of torque, (like a year ago), it would leap into the exit ramp before I could react and be in real trouble.

In a brand new experience, a couple of days ago, I was sitting at a red traffic light behind one car and with one on each side and was pretty relaxed for a moment, because it was going to be a while before the light would turn green and cars would begin to move and only had one hand on the wheel, when the nag message flashed, the screen began to blink blue at the upper left and then the whole screen flashing blinking blue and the wheel began to violently flip back and forth 90º or so, before I could even get my right hand on the wheel and it then took a hell of a lot of torque to stabilize the steering wheel and get it to disengage.

It was a particularly scary episode because it hinted that the car may have decided it needed to pass the car in front of me because of some emergency (?), and might at any moment lurch forward into one of the three nearby cars. I didn't even have my right foot poised over the brake or accelerator to prevent such a thing if needed. Probably a good thing it happened as it did, because it was another learning experience, not only have both hands on the wheel, seriously pushing against each other, but have the left foot hovering over the brake and the right foot hovering over the accelerator, ready to react as fast as possible if needed.

(Sorry about not having the current version number. I put the software version in my profile so it would appear if someone hovered over my pic. But then I discovered with the next update, that I am not allowed to change that until 2025, so it will be wrong until then and I will remove it.)