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Autopilot thoughts

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I gotta say... Sitting on the 405 in traffic is almost fun now with autopilot. I mean it takes all the stress of getting somewhere completely out. I feel bad for all the ice cars that weave in and out of lanes and add to their frustration for the day lol

Not as easy to use on a 3 and our S is pre-AP 2013... but definitely a plus
 
I gotta say... Sitting on the 405 in traffic is almost fun now with autopilot. I mean it takes all the stress of getting somewhere completely out. I feel bad for all the ice cars that weave in and out of lanes and add to their frustration for the day lol

I do find AP makes driving easier and less stressful but by definition that is only true if it allows you to pay less attention. And if we are doing that (which I do admit I do) then we are operating it against what we are suppos to do as we are supposed to keep hands on wheel, eyes on road and monitoring each second for something to go wrong so we can take over within a split second. If I do that, it would be more streeful than manual drive.

In my opinion AP makes driving easier because we are treating it as if it is a level 3 system but it really isn’t right now.
 
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I do find AP makes driving easier and less stressful but by definition that is only true if it allows you to pay less attention. And if we are doing that (which I do admit I do) then we are operating it against what we are suppos to do as we are supposed to keep hands on wheel, eyes on road and monitoring each second for something to go wrong so we can take over within a split second. If I do that, it would be more streeful than manual drive.

In my opinion AP makes driving easier because we are treating it as if it is a level 3 system but it really isn’t right now.

I think reality is somewhere in the middle. Autopilot does allow you to relax a little and relieves stress. You do still need to be paying attention, however I don’t think you need to be keyed up and ready to take over in a split second. In general, the things that autopilot has issues with don’t come up suddenly. It has problems in construction when the lane lines don’t always make sense, but you can see construction coming up and take over or pay more attention while you are going through it. It has problems when a lane is ending, but again, as long as you are paying a minimal amount of attention to the driving you should be able to see the lane ending and take over or switch out of that lane. It has problems when traffic (or a fire truck) is stopped ahead, but again, if you’re actually looking out the windshield and not reading text messages on your phone you will see the traffic coming up with plenty of time to stop manually.

I think all of the highly publicized accidents involving autopilot were caused by someone not paying any attention at all... not by someone who happened to look away for a second or two.
 
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My Model S has less than 1,000 miles and the Autopilot is sometimes crazy. You would think someone's drunk uncle is behind the wheel. It sometimes just veers off for no reason. I believe it may still be calibrating?
I see a few of these posts, totally useless and clueless. What you were doing at the time, did the lane marker show on the dash, how fast, type of road, etc. needs to be in your comment. Otherwise it's assumed you are just another ICE type here to bash Tesla.

AP works very well in some places. In the carpool lane in stop and go with good lane markings AP is 100%. Long freeway stretches at any speed under 90 MPH in light traffic, again 100%. Mountain roads with poor markings, turns and construction 0%. We are teaching AP to drive on a daily basis.
 
I suppose one's happiness level with AP comes down to what their expectations are. I sometimes see posts where they expect/equate it to FSD (gulp) or that they simply demand perfection even within the boundary of its limitations. Seems to me that these people are either misinformed or underestimate the complexity of what it takes to make something like this work against actual driving conditions out in the real world at a level that exceeds the average human driver, and simply need to adjust their expectations. I also sometimes see posts where they expect it to be better simply because of the car's price. Well, in case of the overall quality/luxury of the interior and perhaps fit and finish of the car, sure, there are a number of cars in the $80K-$140K price range that set the standard that we can compare Tesla to. But just exactly what other brand at any price range can we compare AP to? It seems to me that Tesla is the standard for AP, at least currently.

The point is, you just have to test AP on your own and develop a feel for where it works, where it doesn't, and where it works but not perfectly smoothly. For me, I have learned to trust to use it 90% of the time, with the remaining 10% being the known limitations and typically "the last mile" (e.g. local roads with poor lane marking or that involve more turns). For that 90% (stop-and-go, highway), it has greatly helped in minimizing the mundanity of my daily commute. The fact that sometimes it's not perfectly dead-center in the lane is a minor issue to me. Heck, it probably does a better job at that than me as I probably simply don't recognize my own flaws just because I'm actually doing it. The car is so fun to drive that I have to remind myself not to use AP from time-to-time even though I know I can fully trust it to do so.
 
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Like others said. Use AP and see where it usually fail. You will learn to take over at those bad spots. The rest of the time, I keep my hands on the wheel and look for cars merging. Otherwise, it almost drives itself on highways.
 
I'm with Dipper - I know my route and the spots where it might have an issue (almost none with last few updates). I do pay attention, but am more relaxed. Especially in stop/ go traffic. Love it.... its far from perfect, but far better than adaptive cruise in other cars.
 
Sometimes my autopilot is awesome. Other times it swerves rapidly then slows down immediately. When it works, it's great. I know what to expect and I know what's coming in self-driving cars. There's a gap right now but I have hope it'll work properly because I've seen the real deal.
 
I have had autosteer just twitch off to the side for no reason I can see. It's very rare but it has happened 3-4 times..and this is on good
marked highway (280 to San Francisco from Moumtain View, Ca). (I got the car in April 2015.)

I always keep my hand on the wheel, so I'm able to keep it from getting very far but it happens.
My sister-in-law was with me one time and she looked at me and said : "What was THAT?"

All systems normal..hasn't happened in a 'while'..is it not going to happen again?

I still find it very useful...when I need to fiddle with nav or audio, it keeps me from wandering all over.
 
Like Stiction there are times Nicki just gets it wrong. Headed south on 680 from Fremont well into San Jose is always flawless. Coming back, not so much, especially around Mission Blvd. It's the bumps and dips while turning. Sometimes it takes a big bump, sometimes a little dip but I can see the lane markers move and she tries to center in what is a false lane image.
 
I have had autosteer just twitch off to the side for no reason I can see. It's very rare but it has happened 3-4 times..and this is on good
marked highway (280 to San Francisco from Moumtain View, Ca). (I got the car in April 2015.)

...

I drive the same road every week, sometimes twice a week and mine does the same on some sections. Often I find it depends on the time of day, lighting conditions and the amount of traffic. Driving directly against the rising sun seems to throw it off sometimes. OTOH sometimes there is dense fog on a small section and it does admirably there...

Point being, you have to learn what it objects to and adjust accordingly. There are sections where you can rely on it 100% as was noted before. On a new road for the first time? Do as Tesla says, keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel..
 
This is such a fascinating conversation for a researcher like me. We're collecting huge amount of data on real-world Tesla use. And I'm trying to find if there exists a sweet spot to the balance between allowing the driver to relax and allowing the driver to be inattentive.