Tesla replacing ultrasonic sensors with Tesla Vision

[gtg465x]

A few observations from trying it out in my car.

1. I installed the update in my garage and was surprised that it was working and showing "14 inches" and a rough outline of the boxes in front of my car right away. I thought it would only be able to estimate distances when the car was moving, but apparently it can even estimate from a static video feed.
2. I parallel parked my Model 3 on the street in front of my house with nothing in front of it, and then I parallel parked my other car very close in front of my Model 3 (measured 12 inches with a tape measure at the closest spot). When I got back in the 3 and put it in drive, it immediately showed the outline of the car in front and “13 inches”. Someone on Reddit had speculated that it wouldn't work if you parallel parked and someone later parked in front of you. Not sure how it works, but it does. Maybe it just calculates the distance to the lowest spot it can see, which should be fine for the parallel parking case.
3. The lines it draws in front of and behind the car seem to be 12 inches from the actual objects the car sees, so I guess they are meant to show where you need to stop, not where the objects are. When you touch those lines, that's when it switches from saying "12 inches" to "STOP". The lines on the sides seem like they don't have the 12 inch buffer, though, and I think it's just putting the lines on the side exactly where the objects or curbs are.
4. The lines on the sides aren't quite precise enough to park super close to a curb (like 3 inches). That's not so bad. The 360 cam on my Mazda has the same limitation, but in that case it's because the camera and / or screen aren't high enough resolution to see when I'm getting super close to the curb. I still think the repeater cameras are best if you want to park really close to a curb, and the vision park assist was beeping at me and telling me to stop when I parked at about 3 inches from the curb.

 

[jeewee3000]

A few observations from trying it out in my car.

1. I installed the update in my garage and was surprised that it was working and showing "14 inches" and a rough outline of the boxes in front of my car right away. I thought it would only be able to estimate distances when the car was moving, but apparently it can even estimate from a static video feed.
2. I parallel parked my Model 3 on the street in front of my house with nothing in front of it, and then I parallel parked my other car very close in front of my Model 3 (measured 12 inches with a tape measure at the closest spot). When I got back in the 3 and put it in drive, it immediately showed the outline of the car in front and “13 inches”. Someone on Reddit had speculated that it wouldn't work if you parallel parked and someone later parked in front of you. Not sure how it works, but it does. Maybe it just calculates the distance to the lowest spot it can see, which should be fine for the parallel parking case.
3. The lines it draws in front of and behind the car seem to be 12 inches from the actual objects the car sees, so I guess they are meant to show where you need to stop, not where the objects are. When you touch those lines, that's when it switches from saying "12 inches" to "STOP". The lines on the sides seem like they don't have the 12 inch buffer, though, and I think it's just putting the lines on the side exactly where the objects or curbs are.
4. The lines on the sides aren't quite precise enough to park super close to a curb (like 3 inches). That's not so bad. The 360 cam on my Mazda has the same limitation, but in that case it's because the camera and / or screen aren't high enough resolution to see when I'm getting super close to the curb. I still think the repeater cameras is best if you want to park really close to a curb, and the vision assists was beeping at me and telling me to stop when I parked at about 3 inches from the curb.

Great info, do tell us more if you find the time.

 

[JHCCAZ]

...I parallel parked my Model 3 on the street in front of my house with nothing in front of it, and then I parallel parked my other car very close in front of my Model 3 (measured 12 inches with a tape measure at the closest spot). When I got back in the 3 and put it in drive, it immediately showed the outline of the car in front and “13 inches”...

Thank you for setting up real scenarios and reporting real data. Especially considering the very limited number of cars that have this particular hardware/software combination at the moment.

 

[jeremymc7]

Said in other threads, but the USS removal was an industry-wide supply shortage issue. It would have been removed, even if there was no replacement software solution in the works. Waiting was not an option at all: Tesla would not hold up production for a feature that was worth at most a few hundred dollars.

Unlike with radar, Tesla isn't claiming that Vision is a replacement for cars with USS (cars with USS remain unchanged).

Isn't this new version also replacing USS functionality with Tesla Vision for HW3 USS cars. This seems to be implied but not stated in release notes.

 

[MP3Mike]

Isn't this new version also replacing USS functionality with Tesla Vision for HW3 USS cars. This seems to be implied but not stated in release notes.

No. The release note doesn't show on cars that have USS.

 

[jeremymc7]

They are claiming it's a replacement. They never mentioned supply shortage to be the reason (but it partly is, I'm aware) but stated Vision is the future and will be better in the end than USS. Yes, they didn't say USS would be disabled but they do see it as a replacement.

Vision only might be the future but we need more camera coverage, heaters, wasters, perhaps wipers. With ONLY Vision and the current setup there are too many situations where one or multiple cameras are obscured and we're left with little to no backup in those situations.

 

[YW555]

It thought a pedestrian crossing lane an obstacle. I guess that's the flaw of camera based systems.

 

[Dewg]

It thought a pedestrian crossing lane an obstacle. I guess that's the flaw of camera based systems.
View attachment 921111

How far away was the pedestrian? I get my USS giving me a STOP sometimes when I pull up behind a car at a red light.

 

[EVNow]

A few observations from trying it out in my car.

Is this only park assist or is the auto park enabled too ?

 

[gtg465x]

Is this only park assist or is the auto park enabled too ?

Assist. No auto park or summon enabled with this update.

 

[YW555]

How far away was the pedestrian? I get my USS giving me a STOP sometimes when I pull up behind a car at a red light.

It thought the lane marking was a curb.

 

[whitex]

1) You assume based on no data whatsoever.
2) Just because the lines move around when moving does not mean it's inaccurate/unsafe. I've been looking at all videos on this for the last hour and the lines "update" based on extra movement but the lines in front and at the rear are quite accurate. It's mostly the sides and corners that are adapting for example when reversing out of the garage it is drawing the corner whilst you're passing it.
This seems actually better than USS and just needs getting used to. I'm pretty sure that once one is familiar with it one can tell what to pay attention to and what is just "updating" lines (further out mostly).
3) It seems to underestimate the distances shown, just like USS do a full beep ("stop!") before hitting something. This is just the software being conservative and it's better this way than the other way around. Again: this is something you can get used to. If you know "when it says STOP I can still go for 3 centimeters" just like I did with my USS on my last (non-Tesla) car.

The one hickup that does worry me was a video of a guy where it would say "park assist unavailable" when he got close to his blue trash can in his driveway. But it activated within seconds after this occurence.

I'll only accept criticism on the software from people testing it out. Not from a fear mongerer like you.

I assume based on past history. Want to see my old AP1 car "find me anywhere on private property" (I sold it but I know where it is)? How about 691hp P85D? Battery swap which is faster than filling up a gas tank? Full self driving, which as the name implies (and Teslas description from 2016) should be Level 5 autonomy, unless "full" has a different definition for Tesla (it probably does). All of these were delivered in a VERY underwhelming form. "Find you anywhere on private property" turned into "drive few feet forward or backwards while you hold a dead-man-switch". 691hp turned out was the theoretical limit for the motors, if they were installed in a much more capable EV - actual delivered power, 463hp (yes, you'd need a 50% power boost to reach anywhere near the advertised hp). Battery swap was just as faked as FSD video in 2016 - service center wants a full day to swap a battery in a Model S, no way to do it in under 3 minutes unless you don't bother hooking up the cooling system, so really, your battery catches on fire within an hour of battery swap. Full Self Driving turned out to be Level 2 driver assist many years later. Welcome to Tesla and Elon! When I tried warning people in 2016 that FSD was never coming, people like you called me a fear mongerer. Want to bet that none of the 2016 cars with FSD will ever summon from New York to L.A. like Elon said they would?

 

[VT_EE]

I assume based on past history. Want to see my old AP1 car "find me anywhere on private property" (I sold it but I know where it is)? How about 691hp P85D? Battery swap which is faster than filling up a gas tank? Full self driving, which as the name implies (and Teslas description from 2016) should be Level 5 autonomy, unless "full" has a different definition for Tesla (it probably does). All of these were delivered in a VERY underwhelming form. "Find you anywhere on private property" turned into "drive few feet forward or backwards while you hold a dead-man-switch". 691hp turned out was the theoretical limit for the motors, if they were installed in a much more capable EV - actual delivered power, 463hp (yes, you'd need a 50% power boost to reach anywhere near the advertised hp). Battery swap was just as faked as FSD video in 2016 - service center wants a full day to swap a battery in a Model S, no way to do it in under 3 minutes unless you don't bother hooking up the cooling system, so really, your battery catches on fire within an hour of battery swap. Full Self Driving turned out to be Level 2 driver assist many years later. Welcome to Tesla and Elon! When I tried warning people in 2016 that FSD was never coming, people like you called me a fear mongerer. Want to bet that none of the 2016 cars with FSD will ever summon from New York to L.A. like Elon said they would?

Yes, some of us learned the FSD lesson the hard way. I'm more skeptical now, but am definitely pleasantly surprised they have already release the first version of park assist. I also think HW4 will get them to some amount of useful autonomy in good weather conditions. HW3, not so much. I'm just hoping they can get to level 3 on the highway with HW3. I didn't bother wasting money on FSD with my new Model 3.

 

[PianoAl]

 

[jeewee3000]

I assume based on past history. Want to see my old AP1 car "find me anywhere on private property" (I sold it but I know where it is)? How about 691hp P85D? Battery swap which is faster than filling up a gas tank? Full self driving, which as the name implies (and Teslas description from 2016) should be Level 5 autonomy, unless "full" has a different definition for Tesla (it probably does). All of these were delivered in a VERY underwhelming form. "Find you anywhere on private property" turned into "drive few feet forward or backwards while you hold a dead-man-switch". 691hp turned out was the theoretical limit for the motors, if they were installed in a much more capable EV - actual delivered power, 463hp (yes, you'd need a 50% power boost to reach anywhere near the advertised hp). Battery swap was just as faked as FSD video in 2016 - service center wants a full day to swap a battery in a Model S, no way to do it in under 3 minutes unless you don't bother hooking up the cooling system, so really, your battery catches on fire within an hour of battery swap. Full Self Driving turned out to be Level 2 driver assist many years later. Welcome to Tesla and Elon! When I tried warning people in 2016 that FSD was never coming, people like you called me a fear mongerer. Want to bet that none of the 2016 cars with FSD will ever summon from New York to L.A. like Elon said they would?

I get the trend and I agree Tesla/Elon overpromises and underdelivers often, but the question was: "how well does the just released Tesla Vision park assist perform?" And your answer was very negative based on past letdowns but was not based on actually testing the software. Therefore I disregarded your answer.

 

[gtg465x]

So far I'm pretty impressed with it, especially for a first iteration. Is it perfect? No, but it definitely makes navigating tight parking spaces easier.

Here's a few more observations:

1. It does a great job estimating the distance to an empty flower pot in my garage that is below the bumper and not visible to me when I pull up to it. I have measured on three separate attempts now, and all three times it was within an inch. See images below for one example.
2. I suspect it's subtracting 12 inches from the calculated distance in cases where it has low confidence. It seems to do this more often than not when I'm pulling forward or backing into a curb at the end of a parking space. For example, I'll pull into a parking space and stop when it says 13 inches, but when I get out and measure the distance to the curb, it's actually more like 25 inches. Maybe it tends to have less confidence in detecting curbs because they're so low, so it's just being cautious and giving 12 inches of extra buffer in those cases.
3. When parallel parking, it seems to give a single ding when your wheel gets about 12 inches from the curb, and once your wheel gets to about 6 inches from the curb, it starts giving a repeating beep with a more urgent tone.

 

[whitex]

I get the trend and I agree Tesla/Elon overpromises and underdelivers often, but the question was: "how well does the just released Tesla Vision park assist perform?" And your answer was very negative based on past letdowns but was not based on actually testing the software. Therefore I disregarded your answer.

Fair point. Btw, I based my reply both on the trend and on a brief video I saw online showing the vision based parking. But you are right, a brief video, no personal experience with this vision-only system. I actually hope the vision based system works, as my own parents bought a Model Y without USS and their feedback has been that it is one feature they miss as compared to their 10 year old car they traded it for it. That said, realistically speaking, I remain very skeptical, especially that my parents' primary purpose for it would be to know the distance in front of the car, which is going to be total guess work on Tesla software side with no camera coverage in front of the bumper.

On the topic of vision based systems, I recently took some pictures with another car I own (not a Tesla) which has 360 vision system, including camera on the front bumper, and yet, things like the picture below can still happen (a giant pole turns into a stain of the pavement). Note that the USS based warning was the only thing that let the car know there is something in front of the car.

PS> Full disclosure, my 2015 Model S with a simple backup camera and USS was easier to use and more reliable than the Porsche backup system with all of it's fancy 3D and surround vision. I like having the front camera, but the rear camera is horrible. People say it takes getting used to, so maybe in a few months I will change my mind. Right now, after owning it a month and half, I see it as form over function - nice and flashy looking, not as useful for parking close as a simple camera and some ultrasonics.

PS2> I made it very clear to my parents - when buying a Tesla, count only on what is available on delivery day, Any future functionality is a pure chance bonus, so don't buy the car planning future functionality will come.. Plan for no more functionality, hope for full functionality, hope no functionality gets removed over time.

 

[WyoDude]

It slowed down production for some, others were delivered parking sensor or assist functionality. Google it and you can find the info.

Citroen, Mercedes and BMW to name a few. Lots of others took them off their lower end models where they had smaller margins due to the competition for sensors.

Eg

Citroen C3 hatch, C5 Aircross lose key safety tech, parking sensors amid semiconductor shortage

Citroen has become the latest car brand in Australia to cut driver assistance features to navigate the semiconductor shortage – but there won't be a price cut to compensate.

www.drive.com.au

Granted they gave rebates or promises to fit in the future rather than do it the hard way.

I can’t actually easily find articles related BMW or Mercedes. Can you link any for these brands?

 

[YW555]

The parking assist lines only work if you are driving under 20mph, does the same limitation apply to the USS as well?

While driving in bumper to bumper traffic I noticed that the parking assist lines are tracking cars next to me fairly well. It'll even wrap around to their front bumper. The funny thing is that while semitrucks next to me would float and jump all over the place, the parking assist lines would track their real location. I wish they would do something about the semitruck tracking on the base Autopilot.

Also I've never seen semitrucks in my garage until this recent update.

 

[DrGriz]

The parking assist lines only work if you are driving under 20mph, does the same limitation apply to the USS as well?

While driving in bumper to bumper traffic I noticed that the parking assist lines are tracking cars next to me fairly well. It'll even wrap around to their front bumper. The funny thing is that while semitrucks next to me would float and jump all over the place, the parking assist lines would track their real location. I wish they would do something about the semitruck tracking on the base Autopilot.

Also I've never seen semitrucks in my garage until this recent update.

Ultrasound shows the snow berms alongside the road when we are driving at any speed if they are within a few feet.

I have seen semis in my garage since day 1.