How is .40/.42 AP2 doing for you?

[Joe F]

It is no longer confused by shadows since the new NN came or overhanging branches.

Thanks. Always cautious. Light grip on the wheel and you know when it's going to go wonky.

Tree shadows were the worst, followed closely by intersections, and lastly side street line loss.

Really could have used .42 weeks ago. Two road trips putting about 1500 miles on over all types of roads, but mostly highway. Tight curvy deer laden mountain roads at 2 AM on a new moon was a real eye opener.
Need night goggles for the co-pilot if we do that again!

 

[croman]

Thanks. Always cautious. Light grip on the wheel and you know when it's going to go wonky.

Exactly. The car no longer feels wonky. Which is incredible. But it still does some herky jerky stupid stuff in certain situations. Only lanes are still an issue. Curved intersections, 6 way intersections, and I'm sure other edge situations will create unpredictable results.

 

[_jal_]

I am really impressed with .42. And though it doesn't add any new functionality, it does feel like they actually knew what they were doing when they put it together. It was really worrisome when they put out 17.26.76 (the "Silky Smooth" update) and functionality severely regressed. It made me wonder if my definition of "better" was profoundly different than Tesla's. But in this case, it does seem like they've actually accomplished something, albeit that it seems like they're picking up from where they left off in May. I'm hopeful that we might actually see some progress from this point on.

I did drive through a six-corner intersection that was recently blacktopped. I had AP engaged before entering the intersection where the road still had lane lines. But even on the asphalt with no lane lines, the blue lines pointed directly ahead and the car navigated directly into the correct lane on the other side of the intersection. I don't even know how it did that.

 

[croman]

I did drive through a six-corner intersection that was recently blacktopped. I had AP engaged before entering the intersection where the road still had lane lines. But even on the asphalt with no lane lines, the blue lines pointed directly ahead and the car navigated directly into the correct lane on the other side of the intersection. I don't even know how it did that.

You are a braver man than me. I started at the Damen/Milwaukee/North and it did not inspire confidence so I gave it the short hook.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Absolutely concur with @_jal_, only in my most recent AP experiences has it shown some level of actual confidence in what it is doing.

So, it is weekend and time for more than just commutes on local roads, so I again took .42 out for 30+ minutes of criss-crossing few divided roads - this time including my local stretch of motorway that is where I've most often tried the past versions with poor results...

.42 was solid. Very nice. As said, it actually felt like it has some confidence in what it was doing - and soon I was finally having some confidence it is as well! This was a very welcome feeling after months and months of questionable progress and mostly just giving up on AP2 as a gimmick. There wasn't even any ghost brakings this time!

One thing still bugs me a little, the slight bias in positioning within lane - the 40-60 split in space to the left and right. Often it was a bit too close to the middle for maximum comfort. IC showed the position accurately so the car knew it was slightly to one side.

Anyway, this is indeed looking like good progress.

 

[_jal_]

You are a braver man than me. I started at the Damen/Milwaukee/North and it did not inspire confidence so I gave it the short hook.

I was going north on Lincoln and I think it was at Wellington that the intersection was all new asphalt. So those are smaller roads than the intersection you were at which may have made it easier

 

[chillaban]

One thing still bugs me a little, the slight bias in positioning within lane - the 40-60 split in space to the left and right. Often it was a bit too close to the middle for maximum comfort. IC showed the position accurately so the car knew it was slightly to one side.

Really glad that you’re finding improvements in the update! I’ve enjoyed reading your opinions as a more critical Autopilot customer.

It’s interesting you bring up this lane positioning bias. I’ve noticed the same in this update. I’ve chalked it up to the system giving itself a bit of leeway when off center to not immediately snap back to center, which was definitely a problem in .28/.34 where lanes thatvmomentairly widen or narrow would result in a sudden and unnecessary correction.

But this goes back to an AutoSteer limitation that’s been in AP1 and AP2: I am fine with being off center as long as it’s done with awareness of surrounding cars. Good drivers often leave space for erratic drivers or large vehicles next to them, when there’s nothing on the other side. AP1 and AP2 both lack thus awareness as a defensive driving capability. They might react to already dangerous encroaching on your sides, but that’s too late to instill comfort.

Even though AP1 did a better job of drawing cars near you, as of 17.4 when I stopped using AP1 I saw zero evidence that it ever factored into its decisions. Same with drawing of different types of cars. All cosmetic, not functional per se.

 

[run-the-joules]

Regarding the left-side lane positioning bias, here's an interesting one for you… as someone who primarily commutes via motorcycle until winter starts setting in and it gets too cold for me to put up with it (at least until I get my Model 3 or give up and buy an A4 or an S, at which point I might stop using the bike for commuting in general), I'm usually splitting lanes between the HOV lane (leftmost, in California) and the leftmost non-HOV lane.

As I'm in the Bay Area, I see a lot of Teslas, as you might expect. The slight leftward bias of a Tesla traveling in the HOV lane gives me a little bit of extra room, and I definitely appreciate it. I do NOT know if this is the intent of that, but it's noticeable and I like it.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

The bias may well be intentional, but I would love it to be adjustable as this is very region and situation specific. One car came too close as it actually slipped over the lane line to my lane and Autopilot was biased towards that edge at the same time...

I noticed the bias only in .42. I tried .40 too briefly to notice and .36 definitely did not have it. Past versions for me have stayed pretty well centered (but had tons of other issues of course).

It seems to me there is a tendency to hug a bit towards the left when on the rightmost lane, a bit towards the right when on the leftmost lane and no bias in the middle lane. Almost as if it is trying to leave space on the curb/outside edge for some reason.

Of course lane bias has been discussed e.g. with Audi Traffic-jam pilot that leaves Rettungsgasse - emergency vehicles corridor - by hugging outside edge of lanes at slow speeds... So kind of reverse of what Tesla is doing here.

Anyway, this is not a showstopper at all. But a slight discomfort.

 

[run-the-joules]

The bias may well be intentional, but I would love it to be adjustable as this is very region and situation specific. One car came too close as it actually slipped over the lane line to my lane and Autopilot was biased towards that edge at the same time...

I noticed the bias only in .42. I tried .40 too briefly to notice and .36 definitely did not have it. Past versions for me have stayed pretty well centered (but had tons of other issues of course).

It seems to me there is a tendency to hug a bit towards the left when on the rightmost lane, a bit towards the right when on the leftmost lane and no bias in the middle lane. Almost as if it is trying to leave space on the curb/outside edge for some reason.

Of course lane bias has been discussed e.g. with Audi Traffic-jam pilot that leaves Reittungsgasse - emergency vehicles corridor - by hugging outside edge of lanes at slow speeds... So kind of reverse of what Tesla is doing here.

Anyway, this is not a showstopper at all. But a slight discomfort.

Yeah absolutely should be optional/configurable. What would be interesting would be making it lane-aware. Notwithstanding non-divided roads, if you're in the leftmost lane, bias slightly to the left. In the rightmost lane, bias slightly to the right. Otherwise, center as best as is possible.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Yeah absolutely should be optional/configurable. What would be interesting would be making it lane-aware. Notwithstanding non-divided roads, if you're in the leftmost lane, bias slightly to the left. In the rightmost lane, bias slightly to the right. Otherwise, center as best as is possible.

The bias seems to be lane-dependent for me, but in the wrong direction - leaving space on the curb side, not in the middle. A bias to the different direction would be nicer...

 

[run-the-joules]

The bias seems to be lane-dependent for me, but in the wrong direction - leaving space on the curb side, not in the middle. A bias to the different direction would be nicer...

Yeah that's less useful. The curb is less likely to be texting or getting road head and drifting into our lanes, right?

 

[Doug_G]

Yesterday .42 seemingly tried to take a right turn from the left lane while driving through a four lane divided intersection. Clear lane markings. Hand on wheel prevented it. So it’s not perfect.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Yesterday .42 seemingly tried to take a right turn from the left lane while driving through a four lane divided intersection. Clear lane markings. Hand on wheel prevented it. So it’s not perfect.

Ah, too bad. Anyway, I guess you guys are much braver than I am using this in intersections though. I'm mostly doing motorways.

 

[chillaban]

Regarding the left-side lane positioning bias, here's an interesting one for you… as someone who primarily commutes via motorcycle until winter starts setting in and it gets too cold for me to put up with it (at least until I get my Model 3 or give up and buy an A4 or an S, at which point I might stop using the bike for commuting in general), I'm usually splitting lanes between the HOV lane (leftmost, in California) and the leftmost non-HOV lane.

As I'm in the Bay Area, I see a lot of Teslas, as you might expect. The slight leftward bias of a Tesla traveling in the HOV lane gives me a little bit of extra room, and I definitely appreciate it. I do NOT know if this is the intent of that, but it's noticeable and I like it.

FWIW one thing nice about AP usage is that it lets me spend more time looking at my RVM for bikers. Upon seeing one, I usually will take over and bias my car myself.

Note that for whatever reason the ultrasonic sensors are really sensitive to the sound of motorcycle engines, and if you hang around a rear corner of a Tesla in Autopilot it will likely shift the other way just slightly.

 

[run-the-joules]

FWIW one thing nice about AP usage is that it lets me spend more time looking at my RVM for bikers. Upon seeing one, I usually will take over and bias my car myself.

Note that for whatever reason the ultrasonic sensors are really sensitive to the sound of motorcycle engines, and if you hang around a rear corner of a Tesla in Autopilot it will likely shift the other way just slightly.

We appreciate you!

 

[Jays200]

I would like EAP to get the lane bias from me.

That is, when I initiate Autopilot, it recognises where I am in the lane and takes that as my preference instead of reefing me over to where it thinks I should be. That way I can position away from the kerb for drains and maximise my separation from oncoming traffic.

 

[Doug_G]

Ah, too bad. Anyway, I guess you guys are much braver than I am using this in intersections though. I'm mostly doing motorways.

I don’t do that routinely, but I do experiment with it periodically.

 

[Uncle Paul]

I have noticed that Auto Pilot maintains position in a lane far better than other drivers do.

When I watch manual drivers ahead of me, I notice they typically wander all over the lane. They rarely are locked, like Tesla into the middle of the lane. When riding with other drivers, in ICE cars it is amazing how many times they run over the botts dots or over the dotted lines due to lack of precision and focus.

 

[Utahken]

I've noticed that the car is stable in a highway lane, but if the lane increases in width (at one place in my drive) the car initiates a ping ponging behavior to find the center of the newly widened lane. Once the lane shifts back to a normal width, the car is once again stable.