New Tesla Model S Has 2nd Triple Cam For Autopilot & Pedestrian Noise Unit

[Joeski1]

Ya mean if I get another Tesla.. It won't be quiet anymore? Does this unit make noise all the time.. or only when there's a pedestrian? I get home late at night.. and my town has a noise ordinance .. will this beep like construction equipment?

Ps.. and here I thought that warning pedestrians and bicyclists is what my horn was for!!

 

[Zybd1201]

Ya mean if I get another Tesla.. It won't be quiet anymore? Does this unit make noise all the time.. or only when there's a pedestrian? I get home late at night.. and my town has a noise ordinance .. will this beep like construction equipment?

Ps.. and here I thought that warning pedestrians and bicyclists what my horn was for!!

It basically mimics the sounds of a car when backing up or going forward under a certain speed. I believe these are new safety regulations being imposed on electric car manufacturers (not sure about the regulation though). They are not loud and are designed to be consistent with acceptable noise levels.

 

[Joeski1]

Not sure if you are serious but...

A pedestrian noise unit is used to address the fact that there are blind people who cross the road and depend on the noise of a car and even non blind people are alerted by the noise. Electric cars don't have motor noise.

Electric vehicle warning sounds - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

just have some pun wit ya... but really.. I have a horn to warn folks if they can't see or hear? me.. now do they have ear buds in place? Or are they paying any attention to traffic at all?

 

[Joeski1]

It basically mimics the sounds of a car when backing up or going forward under a certain speed. I believe these are new safety regulations being imposed on electric car manufacturers (not sure about the regulation though). They are not loud and are designed to be consistent with acceptable noise levels.

As long as I can't hear it in the car.... I really hope not.... guess that they'll be a speaker located outside somewhere now too...

I was really getting used to how quiet the car is.... and liking it extremely....

 

[Canuck]

An additional camera is not needed for this. It is part of MobileEye's one camera system.

I think with stop signs and traffic lights the effect of an error can be so devastating that without redundancy we won't see AP 1.0 recognizing them despite the fact that it technically can.

 

[Joeski1]

I think with stop signs and traffic lights the effect of an error can be so devastating that without redundancy we won't see AP 1.0 recognizing them despite the fact that it technically can.

To tell you the truth.. i DON"T trust the AP at all..... believe in AP @ your own peril... I only use mine when I 'm alone on the road... away from traffic... I debate against myself whether it was worth the money I spent on it at all at times...

 

[Zybd1201]

I think with stop signs and traffic lights the effect of an error can be so devastating that without redundancy we won't see AP 1.0 recognizing them despite the fact that it technically can.

in what way does another camera using the same software add redundancy to the identification of a stop sign or stop light?

 

[Canuck]

in what way does another camera using the same software add redundancy to the identification of a stop sign or stop light?

It won't use the same software or hardware. That's part of the redundancy needed before I believe you will see any car go through a light or stop sign.

From the link below:

Here’s Musk’s full response, when asked if it would be possible to move toward greater levels of autonomy in the Tesla Model S without adding hardware:

"There’s more that can be done, but the sensor suite is not the full autonomy suite. For full autonomy you’d obviously need 360 cameras, you’d probably need redundant forward cameras, you’d need redundant computer hardware, and like redundant motors and steering rack. For full autonomy you’d really want to have a more comprehensive sensor suite and computer systems that are fail proof."

Elon Musk says that the LIDAR Google uses in its self-driving car ‘doesn’t make sense in a car context’

 

[Zybd1201]

It won't use the same software or hardware. That's part of the redundancy needed before I believe you will see any car go through a light or stop sign.

From the link below:

Here’s Musk’s full response, when asked if it would be possible to move toward greater levels of autonomy in the Tesla Model S without adding hardware:

"There’s more that can be done, but the sensor suite is not the full autonomy suite. For full autonomy you’d obviously need 360 cameras, you’d probably need redundant forward cameras, you’d need redundant computer hardware, and like redundant motors and steering rack. For full autonomy you’d really want to have a more comprehensive sensor suite and computer systems that are fail proof."

Elon Musk says that the LIDAR Google uses in its self-driving car ‘doesn’t make sense in a car context’

Those statements don't really have anything to do with what we are talking about though. He is saying for FULL autonomy you would 'probably' need these things.

With regards to seeing stop signs or stop lights why would you need another camera to do that? In what way would another camera add functional redundancy?

 

[SR22pilot]

Those statements don't really have anything to do with what we are talking about though. He is saying for FULL autonomy you would 'probably' need these things.

With regards to seeing stop signs or stop lights why would you need another camera to do that? In what way would another camera add functional redundancy?

In the demo when the D was launched, red light recognition was shown. However, stereoscopic vision can help with placement i.e. distance in confusing situations such as when approaching several closely spaced intersections.

 

[J1mbo]

With regards to seeing stop signs or stop lights why would you need another camera to do that? In what way would another camera add functional redundancy?

Wider field of vision, higher resolution image data, more accurate 3D placement, reduces the impact of reflections, shadows, bugs on the glass... that sort of thing.

 

[gpetti]

It basically mimics the sounds of a car when backing up or going forward under a certain speed. I believe these are new safety regulations being imposed on electric car manufacturers (not sure about the regulation though). They are not loud and are designed to be consistent with acceptable noise levels.

As long as I can't hear it in the car.... I really hope not.... guess that they'll be a speaker located outside somewhere now too...

I was really getting used to how quiet the car is.... and liking it extremely....

I'm not clear if what is described here is actually what Tesla is deploying? I've been thinking about this problem for a while and I definitely believe the car needs some kind of low level noise to be used primarily when cruising parking lots or other areas where a silent car can be a liability; however, I've always assumed that it would be something one could switch on or off as required. One could say that this is what a horn is for but sneaking up behind a pedestrian in a car and then laying on the horn is a recipe for heart attacks (though probably also very amusing for those with a dark sense of humor). A switchable "hum" type of noise, not unpleasant but easily audible (maybe even with a volume control for headphone wearers) makes a lot of sense to me. It is true that often one is driving very slowly when the noise would be required but the number of times I've needed noise when driving slowly is about 1% of my driving so having it always on at slow speed doesn't seem like the best solution. I'm thinking there might be scenarios driving at speed where the noise is required. For example driving through a national park with a lot of wildlife. Maybe the car could have selectable sounds including one like a "moose whistle".

 

[AZ Desert Driver]

or a

I'm not clear if what is described here is actually what Tesla is deploying? I've been thinking about this problem for a while and I definitely believe the car needs some kind of low level noise to be used primarily when cruising parking lots or other areas where a silent car can be a liability; however, I've always assumed that it would be something one could switch on or off as required. One could say that this is what a horn is for but sneaking up behind a pedestrian in a car and then laying on the horn is a recipe for heart attacks (though probably also very amusing for those with a dark sense of humor). A switchable "hum" type of noise, not unpleasant but easily audible (maybe even with a volume control for headphone wearers) makes a lot of sense to me. It is true that often one is driving very slowly when the noise would be required but the number of times I've needed noise when driving slowly is about 1% of my driving so having it always on at slow speed doesn't seem like the best solution. I'm thinking there might be scenarios driving at speed where the noise is required. For example driving through a national park with a lot of wildlife. Maybe the car could have selectable sounds including one like a "moose whistle".

or a cow bell?

 

[Science fan]

Or, as someone wrote earlier on this board, the sound made by the Jetson's flying car.

 

[DoubleE]

To tell you the truth.. i DON"T trust the AP at all..... believe in AP @ your own peril... I only use mine when I 'm alone on the road... away from traffic... I debate against myself whether it was worth the money I spent on it at all at times...

I think the only way it can get better is when more people use it consistently.

Considering we're all supposed to have our hands on the wheel to be able to take control at any time, it's no different than normal driving situations. A lot less stressful.

I use it 90%+ in LA traffic and at speeds up to 80mph.

 

[Joeski1]

I think the only way it can get better is when more people use it consistently.

Considering we're all supposed to have our hands on the wheel to be able to take control at any time, it's no different than normal driving situations. A lot less stressful.

I use it 90%+ in LA traffic and at speeds up to 80mph.

Wow! Good luck.. I get too much lane wander on the roads I drive regularly.. locally the AP won't exceed 5 MPH over the posted speed limit usually. .and folks in Nj get REAL aggravated real quick with that.. to reduce road rage incidents I usually avoid using it if I feel I might stack folks up behind me.. I really haven't had much chance to use it on our interstates.. just too darn much traffic.. it slows down before I make a lane change and then I enter the next lane 10 mph slower than that traffic is flowing unless I over rule it.. too confusing and dangerous for me.. take care..

 

[DoubleE]

Wow! Good luck.. I get too much lane wander on the roads I drive regularly.. locally the AP won't exceed 5 MPH over the posted speed limit usually. .and folks in Nj get REAL aggravated real quick with that.. to reduce road rage incidents I usually avoid using it if I feel I might stack folks up behind me.. I really haven't had much chance to use it on our interstates.. just too darn much traffic.. it slows down before I make a lane change and then I enter the next lane 10 mph slower than that traffic is flowing unless I over rule it.. too confusing and dangerous for me.. take care..

Must be the line marking where you're at.

Seems like they've improved the marking out here in California to assist.

 

[Timtim]

Wow! Good luck.. I get too much lane wander on the roads I drive regularly.. locally the AP won't exceed 5 MPH over the posted speed limit usually. .and folks in Nj get REAL aggravated real quick with that.. to reduce road rage incidents I usually avoid using it if I feel I might stack folks up behind me.. I really haven't had much chance to use it on our interstates.. just too darn much traffic.. it slows down before I make a lane change and then I enter the next lane 10 mph slower than that traffic is flowing unless I over rule it.. too confusing and dangerous for me.. take care..

There is a setting that lets you adjust the AP speed in relationship to the speed limit. I don't know where it is, but I remember seeing it.

 

[davidc18]

You can set the alert for exceeding the posted speed limit, but AP does not use this feature. It will restrict your maximum speed on what it considers "restricted" roads to + MPH over what it thinks the posted speed limit is.

If regulators are worried about the Tesla being quiet, they just need to hear the noise the air conditioning makes.

 

[jerjozwik]

Wow! Good luck..

ive noticed AP does a lot more lane darting when im alone on the freeway than it does when its surrounded by cars in traffic. i guess thats why i love it so much, my autopilot deflowering was done on a packed freeway with average speeds of... 10mph.