Autopilot - some suggestions

[LoveMyT]

Having now driven my autopilot for a week or so, I have a few suggestions which might improve the operations.

First, when following a car with the autopilot in use, I believe that we should be able to adjust even further the distance you follow a car. For example, when traveling at 45 mph, it appears that you might be 2 to 3 car lengths behind. I have always been toldl that you should be at least 4 car lengths or more.

When not following a car, as you come up to a car stopped at a red light, I believe that you need to almost double the distance while in the braking mode. It really stops fast. I would like to see a longer distance while stopping.

Finally, I would like to say that Tesla has done an outstanding job with the autopilot. I have not had one thing that has gone wrong. It has taken me without fault around Naples Florida. Elon, keep up the great work. You have a real supporter here. Own 2 Model S's

 

[Max*]

First, when following a car with the autopilot in use, I believe that we should be able to adjust even further the distance you follow a car. For example, when traveling at 45 mph, it appears that you might be 2 to 3 car lengths behind. I have always been toldl that you should be at least 4 car lengths or more.

Have you adjusted the TACC distance setting from 1 to 7? (if you scroll the stalk that you use to pull to engage autopilot, you can set the distance between you and the car in front of you)

 

[Todd Burch]

Agree with all your comments, except I find the range of following distances to be accurate.

Stopping definitely needs to be more gradual. WAY too much use of the brake. So much so that when I'm using it on surface streets, I always disengage autopilot coming up to a light because if I don't I know my brakes are in for a bit of exercise. Approaching curves on the sharper side, the car needs to slow down more than it is. The steering could be smoother. (These last two are supposedly addressed at least to some degree in the upcoming Autopilot 1.01 release).

I think the biggest thing that needs to be worked on with autopilot is the lane biasing (the tendency of the car to shift to the left/right of the lane centerline in various scenarios). I'm not a fan of how the car biases strongly away from curbs/barriers, without biasing away from other traffic. I find that the car is constantly shifting to the right edge of the lane, right next to an adjacent car, in order to avoid a 4" curb on the other side. That is totally backward and usually forces me to disengage autopilot. Put me *slightly* closer to the curb and further from the adjacent traffic please! It's far more likely for the car next to me to swerve slightly into my lane than it is for the curb to swerve out!

 

[mobe]

Agree with all your comments, except I find the range of following distances to be accurate.

Stopping definitely needs to be more gradual. WAY too much use of the brake. So much so that when I'm using it on surface streets, I always disengage autopilot coming up to a light because if I don't I know my brakes are in for a bit of exercise. Approaching curves on the sharper side, the car needs to slow down more than it is. The steering could be smoother. (These last two are supposedly addressed at least to some degree in the upcoming Autopilot 1.01 release).

I think the biggest thing that needs to be worked on with autopilot is the lane biasing (the tendency of the car to shift to the left/right of the lane centerline in various scenarios). I'm not a fan of how the car biases strongly away from curbs/barriers, without biasing away from other traffic. I find that the car is constantly shifting to the right edge of the lane, right next to an adjacent car, in order to avoid a 4" curb on the other side. That is totally backward and usually forces me to disengage autopilot. Put me *slightly* closer to the curb and further from the adjacent traffic please! It's far more likely for the car next to me to swerve slightly into my lane than it is for the curb to swerve out!

Agree 100%

 

[ZachShahan]

Having now driven my autopilot for a week or so, I have a few suggestions which might improve the operations.

First, when following a car with the autopilot in use, I believe that we should be able to adjust even further the distance you follow a car. For example, when traveling at 45 mph, it appears that you might be 2 to 3 car lengths behind. I have always been toldl that you should be at least 4 car lengths or more.

When not following a car, as you come up to a car stopped at a red light, I believe that you need to almost double the distance while in the braking mode. It really stops fast. I would like to see a longer distance while stopping.

Finally, I would like to say that Tesla has done an outstanding job with the autopilot. I have not had one thing that has gone wrong. It has taken me without fault around Naples Florida. Elon, keep up the great work. You have a real supporter here. Own 2 Model S's

I'd send a tweet to Elon with a link to this thread. He seems to eagerly be taking feedback. Happy to do it if you don't do the Twitter bird, but since they're your thoughts to kick things off, figured best from you.

 

[znib]

I think the biggest thing that needs to be worked on with autopilot is the lane biasing (the tendency of the car to shift to the left/right of the lane centerline in various scenarios). I'm not a fan of how the car biases strongly away from curbs/barriers, without biasing away from other traffic. I find that the car is constantly shifting to the right edge of the lane, right next to an adjacent car, in order to avoid a 4" curb on the other side. That is totally backward and usually forces me to disengage autopilot. Put me *slightly* closer to the curb and further from the adjacent traffic please! It's far more likely for the car next to me to swerve slightly into my lane than it is for the curb to swerve out!

I totally agree with that, this has to be addressed quickly!
When I'm driving in the right lane of a two lane highway, it drives perfectly in the center of the lane. But on the left lane, where I usually am (in Europe the slow traffic like trucks is usually on the right lane), it drives way to far to the right. So much that sometimes the right mirror is right above the center line! I'm always nervous if I drive past another car because it is so close, and if there is a big truck next to me I often have to take the steering wheel and manually steer more to the left.
I was afraid this may be a European problem, because our lanes are not as wide as those on US highways (I can see the sonar sensors almost all the time picking up the curb on the left), so I'm glad to read it does the same on US freeways, this raises my hope that they will fix this soon.

 

[Btrflyl8e]

at least it's better than THIS: http://i.imgur.com/dI8xnCj.gifv

 

[Todd Burch]

I totally agree with that, this has to be addressed quickly!
When I'm driving in the right lane of a two lane highway, it drives perfectly in the center of the lane. But on the left lane, where I usually am (in Europe the slow traffic like trucks is usually on the right lane), it drives way to far to the right. So much that sometimes the right mirror is right above the center line! I'm always nervous if I drive past another car because it is so close, and if there is a big truck next to me I often have to take the steering wheel and manually steer more to the left.
I was afraid this may be a European problem, because our lanes are not as wide as those on US highways (I can see the sonar sensors almost all the time picking up the curb on the left), so I'm glad to read it does the same on US freeways, this raises my hope that they will fix this soon.

Definitely a problem here in the US too. I also see the side mirror almost directly over the lane marking.

 

[ZachShahan]

at least it's better than THIS: http://i.imgur.com/dI8xnCj.gifv

Haha, I just saw that this morning with the title "The Future Is NOW" and laughed so hard