Traffic Circles

[Kabillyhop]

I have tried going through a traffic circle on autosteer at moderate speeds, just to see what it would do.
It's ok if you're following another vehicle, but if there is no other vehicle to follow it has absolutely no idea what to do.
It doesn't slow down at all, and it doesn't see cars coming from the other directions.
I don't think the model 3 has the hardware it would need to safely navigate a traffic circle on its own. It would need side view radar to see vehicles coming from multiple directions and determine their speed and distance.
Where I live more and more intersections are being converted to traffic circles. I think these will present a very difficult challenge for FSD to overcome.

 

[M3BlueGeorgia]

I've (once) done it here. The car successfully slowed down, but didn't understand the circle and therefore didn't understand where and how to exit it, so that required an intervention.

Its likely the two cameras on each side would provide enough overlap, but I really don't know where Tesla are in the process of implementing logic to handle traffic circles. And Tesla can't legitimately claim completion of FSD without handling traffic circles.

 

[Twiglett]

as traffic circles have no standard in the US, its difficult to see how autopilot (as FSD isn't released) could be expected to handle them.
So not really sure how you can expect it to work without being dangerous.
I remember reading the New Jersey highway code - its guidance at the time was "local custom applies" as to wether you should yield to traffic on the circle or not

 

[focher]

as traffic circles have no standard in the US, its difficult to see how autopilot (as FSD isn't released) could be expected to handle them.
So not really sure how you can expect it to work without being dangerous.
I remember reading the New Jersey highway code - its guidance at the time was "local custom applies" as to wether you should yield to traffic on the circle or not

But AP works in Europe, where roundabouts are very common. Of course, they're not on highways so there's that ...

 

[Quamera]

as traffic circles have no standard in the US, its difficult to see how autopilot (as FSD isn't released) could be expected to handle them.
So not really sure how you can expect it to work without being dangerous.
I remember reading the New Jersey highway code - its guidance at the time was "local custom applies" as to wether you should yield to traffic on the circle or not

I assume you are discussing roundabouts where an intersection is replaced by a circle of road. They only work when the traffic on the roundabout has right of way otherwise they would clog up very quickly. Most of the developed world has clearly defined traffic laws for them although I have heard that some Italian drivers ignore them completely.

They are excellent for low traffic volumes with no more than 2 lanes especially when there is reasonable vision either side of the roundabout so no vehicle actually has to stop at the intersection, you just adjust your speed to give way to traffic from one direction no matter which way you are exiting from that intersection and follow it around to your desired exit.

They are all clearly line marked and just like a sharp bend in a road with a giveway (yield) to all traffic they should not provide much of a problem for autopilot or FSD once the software has been "taught" how to handle it. Certainly they would be easier to navigate than crossing an intersection where giving way was required.

 

[Seth2020]

I have had 0% success with traffic circles on AutoPilot. I have stopped trying

Here is a YouTuber who demonstrates how AP cannot handle Traffic Circles

 

[boiler81]

Sure autopilot can't handle round-abouts, but you do it without a radar, so don't assume vision alone can't solve this traffic problem.

I think they just need to line the interior of the roundabout with traffic cones and it would work fine

 

[lUtriaNt]

 

[Knightshade]

I have had 0% success with traffic circles on AutoPilot. I have stopped trying

Good- since the manual explicitly tells you it's not intended to be used there anyway

As to the "needing side radar" idea I don't see why- the car has a 360 visual view- which is more than the human drivers who go through them usually have.

 

[Dr. J]

And people say flying cars don't exist!

 

[Radlaw]

I have tried going through a traffic circle on autosteer at moderate speeds, just to see what it would do. It's ok if you're following another vehicle, but if there is no other vehicle to follow it has absolutely no idea what to do.

When I'm driving manually and come to roundabouts, I have no idea what to do either.

 

[RobRain]

But AP works in Europe, where roundabouts are very common. Of course, they're not on highways so there's that ...

We do have roundabouts on our dual-carriageways in the UK. These are similar to our motorways (four or more lanes, up to 70mph limits possible, just less strict rules about junctions). There are at least two motorways with roundabouts (M180 in Lincolnshire, joining the M18 - Google Maps).

I live (when Covid isn't forcing me to extend a short visit in the UK indefinitely) in Whistler, right next to one of the few traffic circles in the area (look, I'm bilingual!). I wouldn't let the Tesla drive itself over it since none of my neighbours seem to know what the hell to do when confronted with it - most of them just stop if there's any other traffic nearby and wait for the other party to do what they want, whether they're on the circle or approaching it. I've had people let me onto it even when they wanted to turn off in my direction. I'm sure you get taught traffic circles at driver's ed; what is the problem?

 

[Dan203]

I have tried going through a traffic circle on autosteer at moderate speeds, just to see what it would do.
It's ok if you're following another vehicle, but if there is no other vehicle to follow it has absolutely no idea what to do.
It doesn't slow down at all, and it doesn't see cars coming from the other directions.
I don't think the model 3 has the hardware it would need to safely navigate a traffic circle on its own. It would need side view radar to see vehicles coming from multiple directions and determine their speed and distance.
Where I live more and more intersections are being converted to traffic circles. I think these will present a very difficult challenge for FSD to overcome.

They're using the cameras and image recognition for 99% of autopilot. The radar is only used as backup. The cameras have pretty much a 360 degree view. So if they can teach it to do a traffic circle (we call them roundabouts) the hardware should be sufficient. The problem is that machine learning and image recognition are hard. So it'll take a long time to teach it each of these various little nuances to driving.

Tesla's ultimate goal is to make the car drive using the same mechanism we do... sight. It's a very ambitious project, and likely to take a LOT longer than Elon would like.

 

[LACALawyer]

Turing test for artificial intelligence.

Roundabouts for FSD.

 

[rdunniii]

AP/EAP is for interstate/freeway driving only and, to my knowledge, there are no traffic circles/roundabouts on limited access roads so there is no problem here. One of the reasons I did the $4K FSD upgrade is that I have several roundabouts in my neighborhood to get to and from home and TACC and active autosteer are, to me, dangerous in roundabouts. It has done some totally unpredictable things while I was testing it, including shutting down and braking the car and refusing to restart until rebooted, in the middle of the roundabout.