The autopilot jiggle

[rhaekar]

When I'm resting my hands on the wheels without feedback I still get the hold steering wheel message. Even if I grip it hard it doesn't seem to suffice. I have to jiggle the steering wheel a little bit and it goes away.

Anyone else have issues with the pressure sensor on the wheel?

 

[Derek Kessler]

Correct. It's not looking for your hands. Gripping does nothing because there is no pressure sensor.

What it is looking for is resistance to steering. A slight nude of the wheel is really all it takes.

 

[araxara]

There are no pressure sensors on the steering wheel. The car senses torque changes on the steering wheel. That’s why you have to move the wheel slightly. I find that if I keep “fighting” the autopilot occasionally (while still holding the wheel), then it prevents the nag messages.

 

[rhaekar]

Correct. It's not looking for your hands. Gripping does nothing because there is no pressure sensor.

What it is looking for is resistance to steering. A slight nude of the wheel is really all it takes.

Ah ok thanks. I just remember seeing a video of someone defeating it on an S by squeezing an orange in the wheel.

 

[araxara]

Ah ok thanks. I just remember seeing a video of someone defeating it on an S by squeezing an orange in the wheel.

It was not the squeezing that defeated it. It was the weight of the orange. A beer can works just as well

 

[Doug_G]

Just apply a little twist continuously. Not enough to kick off autopilot, but enough that it knows you are there.

Yes this is dumb, but it’s how it works.

 

[d21mike]

You already got a lot of great answers. My input is do not use the JIGGLE method. When I first started using AP I was doing the JIGGLE because I thought that was how to do it. And the more nags I got I would kind of panic and JIGGLE more. Until I figured out a very easy turning of the steering wheel is all that is needed. If on a long trip I might just rest one hand on the bottom of the steering wheel. And as the road turns slightly I just go with it (steering wheel) but just a touch more and that is all that is needed to remove 90% of the nags.

 

[boaterva]

The orange really did nothing, it didn't have enough angular momentum. I can't even get a wiggle to work sometimes. What I do is what it says: 'hold' the wheel, meaning stop it from turning. Resist the (micro-)movements the car is making. That always works (at least on my 2018.12 AP2.5). YMMV.

The 'idea' behind all the fruit videos is that the weight of the piece of fruit at the outside of the wheel will be enough out of balance to make the car think your hand is resting on the wheel. I'm not even sure if your hands were resting on one or both sides it would be enough. There needs to be active counter-force to the car's motion to stop the nag or to have it never occur.

 

[boaterva]

When I'm resting my hands on the wheels without feedback I still get the hold steering wheel message. Even if I grip it hard it doesn't seem to suffice. I have to jiggle the steering wheel a little bit and it goes away.

Anyone else have issues with the pressure sensor on the wheel?

Yeah, there is no 'pressure' sensor. I had this long 'conversation' on youtube about this before giving up. Someone thought the orange was squeezing things in the wheel. Momentum was a foreign concept....

 

[FlyF4]

Just apply a little twist continuously. Not enough to kick off autopilot, but enough that it knows you are there.

Yes this is dumb, but it’s how it works.

Yes, I would have used a pressure sensors for that purpose. HOWEVER, what Tesla designed into the wheel does allow the same torque sensor to serve 2 purposes. A slight torque lets the car know your hand is on the wheel and more torque tells it you want to disengage auto-pilot because you are turning the wheel to over-ride auto-pilot for a reason. Just gripping the wheel doesn't serve that purpose. Thus, it is less expensive to have one sensor rather than 2. That's the reason.

 

[FlyF4]

You already got a lot of great answers. My input is do not use the JIGGLE method. When I first started using AP I was doing the JIGGLE because I thought that was how to do it. And the more nags I got I would kind of panic and JIGGLE more. Until I figured out a very easy turning of the steering wheel is all that is needed. If on a long trip I might just rest one hand on the bottom of the steering wheel. And as the road turns slightly I just go with it (steering wheel) but just a touch more and that is all that is needed to remove 90% of the nags.

Yes, Mike I do the same thing and that works. Although on a long straight interstate, it doesn't work, so I have gotten in the habit of resting my hand on the wheel at about the 4 o'clock or 8 o'clock position so it is constantly sensing a slight torque from the weight of my hand without disengaging AP.

 

[Pkmmte]

I usually just disengage autopilot then immediately turn it back on whenever this happens.