Hit a deer, where was the driver assisted features?

[nimrooz]

So, yesterday I hit a deer...
My model S is a 2017, about 4 months old, with autopilot etc, also I have the latest update.
Where all my driver assisted features sleeping? -because, it did not make a warning sound, it didn't brake, it did nothing at all...
Off course I didn't ram straight into it, but tried to steer away from the deer.
But not a single reaction was made by the car, I would have thought that it would register the deer, or am I wrong?
Visible damage is; hood, front left fender, grille, headlight, front bumper. Invisible damage that I noticed so far is possibly radar and sensors in the front/side, because after the hit it won't turn on any assisted driving features. Automatic high beam deactivated, cruise control deactivated, autopilot deactivated, park assist and summon deactivated, and off course the screen tells me to contact Tesla service...
But why didn't it do anything or make any sounds? Deer was bigger than a small person, so does that mean that my car don't register people either?

 

[Kristoffer Helle]

In a few months, it probably will. Not yet.

 

[whitex]

You should never count on AP1 or AP2 driver's assist features. The system is in perpetual Beta state which is akin to a prototype, meaning it might work sometimes, but you really should never trust your safety to it. Even Tesla disclaimer says that for any of the automated feature you must be ready to take over at any time. It's not like an airbag which should always deploy in a sufficient impact if functioning correctly.

 

[jimmyjohn]

Yes, I did hit a deer, and - per your question - the deer did NOT warn me.

Cheers

 

[Aieukl378]

No autonomous system could prevent that. Deer are too fast and random.

 

[jimmyjohn]

... too fast and random ...

^ this quote on my tombstone, please!

 

[whitex]

Yes, I did hit a deer, and - per your question - the deer did NOT warn me.

Cheers

The deer only warns if IT's about to hit you. If YOU hit the deer, YOU were supposed warn it.

 

[murphyS90D]

Radar is absorbed by anything that is mostly water. Consider what a microwave oven does. If there is no reflection the radar can't see the deer. The ultrasonic sensors do not have enough range to be of much use. It is close to impossible to avoid a deer that waits until the last second to dart in front of a car.

My only encounter with a deer was while riding with my brother on interstate 80 in PA. It jumped over the hood and never touched the car.

 

[whitex]

Radar is absorbed by anything that is mostly water. Consider what a microwave oven does. If there is no reflection the radar can't see the deer. The ultrasonic sensors do not have enough range to be of much use. It is close to impossible to avoid a deer that waits until the last second to dart in front of a car.

Ok, so you covered that radar and ultrasonics are not well suited for this, how about the cameras?

 

[Wespen]

Something that even the mid-range Volvos has for a decade or so..
And these days I saw commercials for B segment vehicles with this features (I wont even talk about 100k plus segment)

 

[whitex]

Something that even the mid-range Volvos has for a decade or so..
And these days I saw commercials for B segment vehicles with this features (I wont even talk about 100k plus segment)

There are other features which come with much cheaper cars, like reliable blind spot monitoring, automatic wipers or proper phone integration. Tesla is still playing catch-up on everything other than the electric drive-train.

 

[David.85D]

No autonomous system could prevent that. Deer are too fast and random.

I don’t agree with this. It’s exactly the situation where autonomous systems should excel (speaking in general) - constantly gather and process data faster than human reaction times, with no distractions or inattention.

If these cars are converging on autonomous operation, they need to deal with situations like this, which aren’t much different than an adult pedestrian stepping out in front of the car (another bag of water, lol) or the harder case of a little kid running in front of the car.

 

[agloutney]

I'm almost 100% certain the radar did in fact pick up the deer. Contrary to what was said above, radar has no problem picking up water. Weather radars on airplanes use the same microwaves and have a much harder time detecting frozen solid precipitation like ice crystals or hail. The problem with our cars is the computer needs to analyze the data from the radar and determine what it is. If the deer is frozen in the headlights hence very stationary then the computer doesn't know what to make of it. It might as well be a construction marker or a tree. If it's moving at a slow pace then it gets interpreted as an object that needs to be avoided and triggers the auto braking. If the deer jumps across out of nowhere well then not much can be done about that. With AP2 it's hard to know what it sees and what it doesn't as it doesn't display everything. I know AP1 usually sees bikes and pedestrians but not squirrels and unfortunately skunks!

 

[Aieukl378]

I don’t agree with this. It’s exactly the situation where autonomous systems should excel (speaking in general) - constantly gather and process data faster than human reaction times, with no distractions or inattention.

If these cars are converging on autonomous operation, they need to deal with situations like this, which aren’t much different than an adult pedestrian stepping out in front of the car (another bag of water, lol) or the harder case of a little kid running in front of the car.

How would it detect something instantly jumping out from the woods and then how best should the car to react?

 

[croman]

2.5 has a better radar for this exact scenario. I hope that Tesla will be able to address this defect in AP without upgraded radar.

 

[bak_phy]

I'm pretty sure that once your foot touches the brake all of the driver assist features turn off as it assumes that you know best.

 

[Sprandt23]

For what it's worth - I had a coyote run out of the median on the interstate, right into the front left fender of my MS (AP1), and I got no warnings, and I didn't even have time to brake.

The 'hidden' damage was much worse than the initial estimate for body work (went from $3500 to over $9000 after they got in to it).

 

[trm2]

Yes, I did hit a deer, and - per your question - the deer did NOT warn me.

Cheers

But was it at least crossing by one of the signs where it is supposed to?

 

[daniel]

... The problem with our cars is the computer needs to analyze the data from the radar and determine what it is. If the deer is frozen in the headlights hence very stationary then the computer doesn't know what to make of it. It might as well be a construction marker or a tree. If it's moving at a slow pace then it gets interpreted as an object that needs to be avoided and triggers the auto braking. ...

So AP will brake for a moving car, but will not brake if you are about to hit a tree? Whaaa???

 

[Need]

This reminded me of one of the Knight Rider made for TV movie. The one that have a new and "improved" KITT and Michael was driving it on autopilot mode.... it was going to hit a deer (or some other wild animal) and Michael had to take control to avoid hitting it.

"Didn't you see it?"
"Yes, but we will not sustain any damage by hitting it." (something like that)