gearchruncher
Well-Known Member
Read the thread. I was responding to the following:Either the rule is not necessary for any vehicle, or if it is necessary then it has to apply to all vehicles, and Tesla would be no different than anyone else. You are cherry-picking Tesla's automation systems specifically for criticism while ignoring the implications of your analysis to other vehicles. This is the very definition of bias.
The use of the name by Tesla is completely appropriate, those who are "confused" should learn the meaning of the word instead of blaming others who use it correctly.
@ZsoZso was claiming that Tesla's AP is just like an aircraft AP, which does not replace a human, and the name is appropriate. I was pointing out that the FAA would never approve Tesla's AP as an "Autopilot" because Tesla clearly allows it to be used in environments where very fast takeovers are required. I was not saying Tesla's product shouldn't be allowed, but that the name Autopilot could be confusing and is actually not well aligned with standard aviation use of the name.
We have "cruise control" in airplanes too, it's called autothrottle. Nobody calls it an autopilot, and it has completely different standards given how different the risk is when it fails.But this is also the case for regular cruise control, which has been available in automobiles for over 60 years. And in those 60 years, no such rule has been enacted by the NHTSA.
Given the altitude of most planes in flight there is more distance to cover in that time should something go wrong mid air unlike the extreme shorter distance to travel for a car on the road so not sure that's a fair comparison unless I'm misunderstanding what you said.
Aircraft autopilots can take off and land aircraft. They are close to the ground in many cases. But you are right in many cases an aircraft autopilot is way easier to make than one for a car. But the difficulty of making something is not relevant to how you name it- the name tells you what it's function is, and the function of Tesla's autopilot is much different than an aircraft autopilot due to the level of monitoring needed by the operator.