I was punished by Auto - Pilot

[EveT9641]

I was on Auto-pilot mode with my hands rest on the steering wheels, not hold it very tight as I don't want to the force to turn off the auto-pilot.

I got couple of warnings that I need to hold the steering wheels firmer.

Then at half of the trip, autopilot turned off by itself and when I tried to turn it back on, it gives me a warning: No auto pilot would be available for the rest of the trip. I tried couple of times, same result.

First time got punished by the robot!!!

Also, when the AC just started turned on, I feel the accelerator pedal vibrating. It's gone after the temperature cools down. Is that normal?

 

[jboy210]

It is called AutoPilot jail. Don't keep your hands on the wheel and exert some turning force on the steering while every few seconds and you get a couple of warnings. Then Bam. No more autopilot for you! Until you stop.

The way around it is to get used to guiding the car lightly with your hands even if AP makes is turning the wheel. It takes a while if you have never done it before. This is a safety feature to make sure you are paying attention and not texting, eating, sleeping, .... You need to stay in the loop and be able to take control at any moment.

 

[mbp11]

This takes a little practice, to keep one hand on the wheel and with a upward or slight downward drag. I use my left hand to grasp the left side of the wheel and drag down slightly with the weight of my arm, seems to work. With practice, you can even fall asleep in that posture... but I do not recommend that.

I notice that the car gets particularly anxious or upset if I am in an two-lane to one lane merge and I am not putting enough weight on the wheel- then I get a stern rebuke with a beep and a red and black alert on the dash display to put more weight on the steering wheel and pay attention. This has only recently appeared the past few updates. I immediately do what it tells me to do.

 

[Silicon Desert]

Pull over somewhere, put car in park, wait a minute and continue your trip. You'll have it again.

 

[Bellavate]

You can wrap a wrist weight (like the ones used for working out) around the bottom of the steering wheel and it won’t ask you for your presence. You must still stay 100% alert, but at least you won’t have to lift your arms until you’re taking over.

 

[Twiglett]

or just learn to apply torque to the wheel rather than hold it

 

[vthreee]

i initially thought i was supposed to hold the wheel firmer too; but it actually says to apply a turning motion.

 

[NHK X]

No n

Pull over somewhere, put car in park, wait a minute and continue your trip. You'll have it again.

no need to even wait a minute. You can park and put it right back in drive and have it available.

 

[NoMoGas]

Guys, the warning specifically says to apply slight turning movement to the wheel. Can't just ignore it (although Ive ended in Tesla Jail many times)

 

[ValleyGeek]

I've been learning to keep one of my hands grasped over the bottom half of the wheel with my elbow in my lap. It's somewhat more comfortable on the longer trips and generally keeps enough resistance for the car while allowing for a reaction if needed.

when the AC just started turned on, I feel the accelerator pedal vibrating. It's gone after the temperature cools down. Is that normal?

When the exterior AC fan kicks into high it does get pretty loud and can lead to some slight pedal vibration. If it's intense enough to cause your foot to slide or tingle then I'd say you make an appointment to see if it's out of spec.

 

[Silicon Desert]

no need to even wait a minute. You can park and put it right back in drive and have it available.

I've never had that work for me when I have experimented with this. In one case I had to leave the car.

 

[Silicon Desert]

It is called AutoPilot jail. Don't keep your hands on the wheel and exert some turning force on the steering while every few seconds and you get a couple of warnings. Then Bam. No more autopilot for you! Until you stop.

The way around it is to get used to guiding the car lightly with your hands even if AP makes is turning the wheel. It takes a while if you have never done it before. This is a safety feature to make sure you are paying attention and not texting, eating, sleeping, .... You need to stay in the loop and be able to take control at any moment.

good info. I'll add that there is another lesser known reason why driver's get put in AP jail even if their hands ARE ON the wheel and applying slight torque. If you suddenly hit the accelerator to exceed a speed much greater than the AP, even if for a short period of time, it will disengage and lock you out until you park the car and reset it. I was told at the factory that it was something on the order of "roughly" 30 mph over the setting. Depends on your speed. I tried it out in the desert and sure enough, it locked me out when I hit 90.

So yes, you can press the accelerator to go faster on AP as most every one has found out, but too fast and AP will jail you

 

[posity]

When this happens, I just do a two button reset while I'm driving down the road (press and hold both steering wheel buttons). Then the picky computer starts its '3 strikes you're out' logic over from zero. Yes, I lose the two displays for a few seconds and the turn signals won't work while rebooting, so I only do a reset if NOT in heavy traffic. I've noticed that a reset tends to break the LTE connection for quite some time, so after a reset you frequently lose navigation and streaming music. So there is an immediate 'get out of jail' card available on the Tesla, but it has its caveats...

 

[OBX John]

I've taken to pulling on the AP stalk instead of touching the wheel to get rid of the nag.

Much easier than getting the torque right as sometimes AP will be disabled with the slightest touch when it's unsure.

 

[ValleyGeek]

...and the turn signals won't work while rebooting, so I only do a reset if NOT in heavy traffic.

Off topic for this thread but I'm pretty sure the turn signals still work during a reboot, you just won't see the indicator on the screen or hear the click sound. I haven't personally verified this though.

 

[DCGOO]

I've taken to pulling on the AP stalk instead of touching the wheel to get rid of the nag.

Much easier than getting the torque right as sometimes AP will be disabled with the slightest touch when it's unsure.

You can also just hit any of the buttons on the steering wheel, such as adjusting the volume control.

 

[OBX John]

You can also just hit any of the buttons on the steering wheel, such as adjusting the volume control.

Yep, but I've found the stalk to be the easiest target - no aiming needed, just pull.