Model S performance in edge cases

[Shubham]

Hello everyone,

My name is Shubham Bhusari and I am a MSc student in TU Delft, Netherlands.
I am currently working on a project in order to understand the conditions and situations in which the autopilot function of Tesla fails along with understanding the drivers trust in the system around edge cases.

With this thread, I wanted to know if anyone of you Tesla Model S owners know a few situations especially on highways where the system deactivates automatically or doesn't perform as expected?

If yes, Please feel free to mention a few such situations here in this thread, to have a small discussion about as this would be really helpful for my project.

Looking forward to hear from all of you.

Cheers!
Shubham

 

[Ande]

Well marked, normal width roads are never a problem for me.
Those snowy, narrow roads with no or few visible markings, following traffic may fail, but in a predictable way.
I push AP a lot and it's comfortable and easy to learn when to take control, and where it will struggle.

 

[Shubham]

Well marked, normal width roads are never a problem for me.
Those snowy, narrow roads with no or few visible markings, following traffic may fail, but in a predictable way.
I push AP a lot and it's comfortable and easy to learn when to take control, and where it will struggle.

Hi Ande, thanks for your reply. Do you have any comments on the system's performance while driving close to large sized vehicles especially at curves? Does that have an impact on your level of trust on the system's performance?

 

[Ande]

On narrow well marked roads, in turns , I trust it the same near other vehicles as near a safety barrier, ready to take control of needed.
I have never experienced abrupt, crazy , unexplained behaviour from the AP, bit just like aircraft, I do actually monitor the ap , as drivers should.

 

[Shubham]

On narrow well marked roads, in turns , I trust it the same near other vehicles as near a safety barrier, ready to take control of needed.
I have never experienced abrupt, crazy , unexplained behaviour from the AP, bit just like aircraft, I do actually monitor the ap , as drivers should.

Great, thanks for your prompt response and for your valuable feedback. It gives me more clarity on my approach.

Cheers!

 

[Uncle Paul]

Sometimes, like when running close to a median barrier, or at higher speeds, driving close to a large truck going around curves, I get some anxiety about the autopilot performing flawlessly, however I get the same feeling when another driver is steering my Tesla when I am a passenger.

Starting to feel more comfortable letting the autopilot drive in difficult situations than my girlfriend.

 

[Uncle Paul]

My plan for the auto pilot is that I, as an older driver, realize that my own driving skills will be degrading as I get even older.

My hope is that as my skills get worse, the auto pilot will get better, and this should enable me to add additional independant driving years to my future.

As my eyesight gets worse, the Tesla's will get better. As my thought processes slow down, Tesla's will get faster. As my reflexes slow down, the Tesla's will get faster.

Same thing with my physical abilities. I got the Model X, as the S was a bit difficult for me to get in and out. The higher riding X makes getting out of both the front and rear seats a breeze. The self opening and closing doors eliminate the fear of arthritis making such actions painful. The great sounding and clear stereo will be welcome as my hearing gets worse, and the rear facing clear camera will make turning my head to look behind me un-necessary. The corner and side sensors can keep me from bumping into things with clear warnings when I get too close. Those same sensors will alert me if something is in my blind spot, relieving some anxiety.

Auto pilot could not have come at a better time for me. Independant driving for many years to come.

(added bonus is that if I get into a accident, I can always blame that darn autopilot : >)

 

[Snerruc]

Sometimes, like when running close to a median barrier, or at higher speeds, driving close to a large truck going around curves, I get some anxiety about the autopilot performing flawlessly, however I get the same feeling when another driver is steering my Tesla when I am a passenger.

Starting to feel more comfortable letting the autopilot drive in difficult situations than my girlfriend.

Don’t let her know that!

 

[Shubham]

Sometimes, like when running close to a median barrier, or at higher speeds, driving close to a large truck going around curves, I get some anxiety about the autopilot performing flawlessly, however I get the same feeling when another driver is steering my Tesla when I am a passenger.

Starting to feel more comfortable letting the autopilot drive in difficult situations than my girlfriend.

thanks for your valuable feedback

 

[eschummer]

With the feedback it would also be good top kn ow which version of autopilot people are commenting g on. I have 1.0 (2016 model S), and so far the weak spots are always areas where the lane markings are somehow disturbed, either by construction, or some other anomaly. I use it primarily during my daily commute, which is 95% California freeway. I only wish the distance selector had a 0.5 setting. In stop and go traffic AP leaves too much space, so divers are always tempted to cut in front of me. It could easily be speed related, so that at lower speeds it keeps a proportionately shorter interval.

 

[Shubham]

With the feedback it would also be good top kn ow which version of autopilot people are commenting g on. I have 1.0 (2016 model S), and so far the weak spots are always areas where the lane markings are somehow disturbed, either by construction, or some other anomaly. I use it primarily during my daily commute, which is 95% California freeway. I only wish the distance selector had a 0.5 setting. In stop and go traffic AP leaves too much space, so divers are always tempted to cut in front of me. It could easily be speed related, so that at lower speeds it keeps a proportionately shorter interval.

Thanks for pointing it out, yes indeed it would be better if people also mentioned their AP version while commenting.

 

[Solarwind]

2014 P85D AP1 wonderful on well marked road, wanders a little on high speed sharp turns, doesn't like narrow roads with sharp hills do not use on snow ice or construction zones

 

[mcbarnet007]

cresting a hill plus turn is usually bad day for AP. Actually, anytime you have hill + turn is bad for AP since the camera is fixed angle. Would be nice if the camera has a stabilizer or gimbal built in.

 

[Shubham]

2014 P85D AP1 wonderful on well marked road, wanders a little on high speed sharp turns, doesn't like narrow roads with sharp hills do not use on snow ice or construction zones

thanks a lot for your useful comments I will look into these situations in detail.

 

[Shubham]

cresting a hill plus turn is usually bad day for AP. Actually, anytime you have hill + turn is bad for AP since the camera is fixed angle. Would be nice if the camera has a stabilizer or gimbal built in.

Hi, thanks for your valuable feedback, I totally agree with you about the built in gimbel.

 

[The Duke]

Image stabilization is a problem, but a gimbel would probably make it worse. All new cameras stabilize their image with software and that is where the development needs to happen.

 

[mcbarnet007]

Gimbel is for when you are entering into a hill or cresting a hill, not for stabilization. Right now I take over if there is a big hill + turn coming up simply because the camera cannot see the lanes correctly like your eyeball can.

 

[The Duke]

Consider you are a programmer with a fixed feed from the front camera. You can tell front camera (car) vs world movement by tracking a few points. Now you compare those points with other cameras and build a world view. Adding a gimbel to the front camera will require angular feedback for the gimbel as well as the point tracking. Because now the camera angle has changed in relationship to the car as well as in relation to the world. The programming to orient the car in relation to the world just got very complex. Remember, there are many cameras and only one world. Now change the direction of only one of the cameras.......

Humans only use one camera, two eyes but we integrate them into one image. When we turn our head our ears give us "angular" feedback and we stay oriented. We aren't really a comparable system in this case.

Fun reading to see other methods: Image stabilization - Wikipedia

 

[mcbarnet007]

Yes your point is very valid that it make the problem a lot harder. I don't think tilting camera is really necessary anymore with a wide angle lens that AP2.5 already have. I was more or less thinking about AP1 since that's what I have to deal with. With a wide enough angle, AP should be able to see the lanes even when cresting or entering a hill.