Has your autopilot been spooked?

[Battpower]

S

I've experienced similar, and do sometimes use it on some roads like this myself, my point of caution being just that it isn't (yet) designed to work on single carriageway roads.

Not doubting that autopilot isn't ready for these roads yet, especially in UK countryside, but is there a specific Tesla statement to that effect?

What about FSD? I feel that is basically at the same level, but again, Tesla (at least in the US) are suggesting current release is city aware.

 

[Pagemakers]

It’s happened to me in the fast lane of the M6 but my car is HW2 and I’m convinced it’s struggling to keep up.

The two HW3 test drives I’ve had in a 3P recently have had no such issues.

 

[LukeT]

S

Not doubting that autopilot isn't ready for these roads yet, especially in UK countryside, but is there a specific Tesla statement to that effect?

I can't point you to one, but i do think there is something from tesla somewhere (manual maybe?) to make clear that it isn't ready for these roads and in any case I'd regard this as a widely known limitation.

Edit: manual for 2020.4 (Model S but I assume 3 would be the same) states: "Warning: Autosteer is intended for use only on highways and limited-access roads with a fully attentive driver."

 

[Sixer]

For anyone that follows Green on Twitter it’s interesting he has experienced this recently also

green on Twitter

 

[Battpower]

For anyone that follows Green on Twitter it’s interesting he has experienced this recently also

green on Twitter

Awesome link. Thanks v. much for posting.

I don't tweet or fbook unfortunately (although my reasons / justification for not doing so probably went out the window when I got a Tesla.)

What is super cool in that thread is seeing evidence supporting the exact categories of phantom braking that I am seeing.

Now I compare info from that twitter thread, I reckon a strong candidate for the gantry and over-pass is double reflections from radar. When you have a large reflective surface above the carriageway (large signs on a gantry, the side of an overpass) they reflect radar back (obviously) and the direct reflection can be identified and ignored as too high, but an indirect reflection off the road surface looks like it can create a high probability of a stationary object right in the middle of the road surface just ahead of the car.

If this could trigger automatic emergency braking or other heavy braking response that would not be a function of slowing to match speed limit.

My experience exiting tunnels rules out the effect of many spurious real objects.

The only possible link I can see that goes against this catagory of ph brk is the existence of large shadow sections and similar shadow-like environment on dark roads in good visibility conditions.

 

[MrBadger]

Not doubting that autopilot isn't ready for these roads yet, especially in UK countryside, but is there a specific Tesla statement to that effect?

Yes, it the disclaimer that you agree to when enabling autopilot on the car.

Petition to unlock full Autopilot in EU

 

[MrBadger]

Now it’s not just that. On a dead straight road with nothing in my lane my car now moves to the far side of the lane when passing something. Then it moves back. This causes a gentle and sometimes erratic ping pong uncomfortable drive, the likes of which were not apparent 6 months ago.

This functionality came in around 2019.36 - the car moves over when passing larger vehicles and moves back after passing, but seemed to be more reactive than predictive so migh move back only to quickly move over again. It has gone through a number of incarnations some better than others. At worse, it felt like the car was drunk swaying down the road, but I thought it was pretty much sorted in later versions so disapointed to learn that its still a problem - I've not yet driven on 2020.4

 

[Battpower]

Yes, it the disclaimer that you agree to when enabling autopilot on the car.

Petition to unlock full Autopilot in EU

Interesting, as my car had AP / FSD already active as an ex-demonstrator so I have never activated / unlocked anything to my knowledge.

 

[MrBadger]

You can turn AP off and back on and it will show the disclaimer again.

 

[Battpower]

You can turn AP off and back on and it will show the disclaimer again.

Taa

 

[AndrewGR]

I have had hard braking on motorways when moving from lane 3 to lane 2 on TACC and there is a truck in lane one that you are approaching. The car does not know that you are going to steer into lane 2 rather than continue towards lane one. So it brakes. Very disconcerting. Especially for the cars behind. I’m not sure what the solution is other than to keep your foot on the accelerator to disable braking when overtaking on TACC.

 

[Pagemakers]

In my 3 years of owning a Tesla the entire autopilot system for me has gotten worse about 8 months ago.

1 Lane ping ponging.

2 Phantom braking some quite severe.

3 And this absurd and very dangerous EU rule about cancelling the lane change if it hasn’t been completed within 5 seconds. This is a crash-feature waiting to happen.

 

[AndrewGR]

Did I see somewhere that there is an EU rule that limits how tight a bend Autosteer is allowed to steer round - and that is why it can give up just as you are going round a tightening bend? There doesn't seem to be any warning about this in the manual, but it's pretty disconcerting as you head for the kerb / hedge / wall!

 

[Pagemakers]

Yep. If it’s too tight it gives you back control.

 

[MrBadger]

Its actually a lateral force rather than tightness of the curve. So speed plays a part. I believe the lateral force is planned to be relaxed, along with some other restrictions (such as lane change timeout), hopefully some time this year. Not really sure why Tesla have not been able to nail the speed part to keep within the lateral restriction, but it does seem to occur less often than before - I'm very rarely using AP on non motorways, but some intersections are still a problem.

 

[AndrewGR]

Interesting that it’s lateral force that causes autosteer to abandon. TACC already slows down rather erratically on bends - usually slowing down most when coming out of a bend. Just when I would normally be accelerating. Usually gives a pretty uncomfortable ride on a bendy road.

 

[MrBadger]

Well worth a watch. If you want to jump to the autosteer section, 10:35 is a good place to start, but you will have missed a very informational introduction to the regulations.

 

[interbear]

I’ve found myself using AutoPilot less and less. A couple of phantom braking incidents spooked me. And the fact you have to keep resetting it every time a lane change happens I find mildly annoying.

On a motorway I tend to use TACC more. Although that also has a mildly annoying behaviour. When using TACC, indicating right and moving into the fast lane to overtake, the car automatically slows down a little when changing lane, before speeding back up to the programmed TACC speed. Which is actually the opposite of what I want ie. a burst of acceleration to get into the fast lane. So now I apply my foot to the pedal for that, traditional style

I also only use either AP or TACC on motorways, never on single carriageway roads.


Clearly I’ll never be a candidate for full self drive, glad I never paid for that.

 

[Tony Hoyle]

The latest drafts (I believe accepted and waiting for inclusion in wp29) explicitly state that the car must not abort if it finds it can't meet the lateral force requirements when going around a bend. I expect this was the intention all along.

 

[AndrewGR]

Interbear- I’m pretty sure that on TACC the car slows down as you indicate just because you are closing on the vehicle being overtaken. Like you, I’ve learnt to put my foot on the accelerator in anticipation. Not ideal though.