About 4 weeks ago I got a new job and at the same time, a new commute. My new commute would probably guarantee a fail for AP2 right now and I have to wonder how many years it will be before it can get good enough to handle it. Yeah I know AP2 isn't "self driving" yet, but even when it is, my commute will give it several challenges.
I live in a medium sized city that just happens to have more roundabouts than pretty much any other city in the states. We're known for having them, and in my 4.9 mile commute there are SEVEN of them. All are of different sizes. Some have painted lines, and some just have curbs.
The real trick to these things in the tight merges you have to make while not stopping. I'm typically looking to the left while point my car slightly right. You have to time the gaps of the cars in the circle to smoothly yield into it. Most visitors to our city can't even get it right with human level perception and intelligence. If the circle is full you do have to yield, but be ready to slip into your opening when one becomes available.
You'd think that would be enough to make my commute the bane of self driving cars, but enter the high school. Despite it's marking on my map of well below my commute line, the majority of students park north of that road. In the morning this means that the horizontal road in the middle of my commute is jammed with cars. There is a crossing guard that stands out in the middle of the street. I often get stopped here and have to wait while students cross and just the other day I had to wait in the front of that line. Kids stepping right out in front of my car while the guard was adjacent to me. I had to know to watch his batons to know when to go. Will a cars AP system be able to perceive human body language?
I know my commute is a corner case for self driving cars, but it's one that will need to be mastered to get to level 5. We've come really far and I applaud Tesla for pushing the envelope here!
Dogbone round about over a highway:
I live in a medium sized city that just happens to have more roundabouts than pretty much any other city in the states. We're known for having them, and in my 4.9 mile commute there are SEVEN of them. All are of different sizes. Some have painted lines, and some just have curbs.
The real trick to these things in the tight merges you have to make while not stopping. I'm typically looking to the left while point my car slightly right. You have to time the gaps of the cars in the circle to smoothly yield into it. Most visitors to our city can't even get it right with human level perception and intelligence. If the circle is full you do have to yield, but be ready to slip into your opening when one becomes available.
You'd think that would be enough to make my commute the bane of self driving cars, but enter the high school. Despite it's marking on my map of well below my commute line, the majority of students park north of that road. In the morning this means that the horizontal road in the middle of my commute is jammed with cars. There is a crossing guard that stands out in the middle of the street. I often get stopped here and have to wait while students cross and just the other day I had to wait in the front of that line. Kids stepping right out in front of my car while the guard was adjacent to me. I had to know to watch his batons to know when to go. Will a cars AP system be able to perceive human body language?
I know my commute is a corner case for self driving cars, but it's one that will need to be mastered to get to level 5. We've come really far and I applaud Tesla for pushing the envelope here!
Dogbone round about over a highway:
