What does Autopilot do, and what it doesn't? When will it not be "Beta"?

[jsollender]

So still waiting for my MX VIN assignment. Reading the various FB or TM forums, I have read various discussions on autopilot functionality. I have not previously owned an EV, so MX is 1.0 for me. What can I expect autopilot to reliably execute? I gather that in my residential street with no white lines or yellow lines, I can expect autopilot to do nothing. If I am on major street with aforementioned lines, will autopilot make turns at intersections or turn onto highway on ramps if there are no lights involved? I know AP does not recognize stop signs or traffic signals, so in that regard, it is not fully autonomous smart. Does collision avoidance just apply brakes or does the car turn to avoid collisions? Putting in a destination address in navigation allows how much autopilot control versus driver control?
Lastly, while I think I know the answer, if you have car in autopilot on highway and you are the "at fault" driver in a collision, are you fully liable, or does Tesla take any ownership of the functionality of its product as the blame for an avoidable accident that autopilot did not avoid? Is this why they call it "Beta" and what more will it take (stop sign and light recognition) to no longer be an experimental product?

 

[pvogel]

Autopilot keeps you on the street you are on in the lane you are in (with the exception of automatic lane changing when you indicate a lane change with the turn signal).

It *does not* exit the highway for you, it does not turn at intersections for you, etc. you have to follow the nav yourself.

Collision avoidance is primarily brakes, but if it sees a side collision about to happen it will turn away from the collision to reduce the impact force.

 

[Drivin]

When will it not be "Beta"?

It will no longer be in beta when people find a better excuse for why it doesn't work well.

Does Tesla take any ownership of the functionality of its product as the blame for an avoidable accident that autopilot did not avoid?

Of course they won't.
The interesting question is whether a jury will eventually decide against Tesla.

Penis-injury lawsuit to rise again - federal appeals court

 

[pvogel]

Of interest to this thread:

Watch Tesla’s Autopilot feature prevent an accident with a merging truck

 

[Drivin]

Of interest to this thread:

Watch Tesla’s Autopilot feature prevent an accident with a merging truck

You can see the truck starting to merge at around 15 seconds in the video and anyone who was focused on driving rather than narrating a video would have seen it and avoided it.

 

[AdamSM]

@Drivin That might be, but with most accidents caused by human error (and inattention is a big part of that), there's still a big gain from automated systems that prevent accidents that human inattention would have caused.

 

[FequalsMA]

Pure personal speculation here.
Think Autopilot could only leave Beta once additional hardware/ sensors are added.
If true, this would mean old/ current cars may only be relegated to being in Beta forever.

 

[jerry33]

Think of it as autopilot in aviation. The pilot controls the plane during takeoffs and landings but switches to autopilot once the cursing altitude is reached. Substitute surface roads for takeoffs and landings and that's what Tesla autopilot is for.

 

[loganintx]

LOL. cursing altitude. Damn it, we're at 35,000 feet!

 

[vandacca]

I think AutoPilot will always be a limited form of autonomous driving. When the new sensors are added, there will be a new "Autonomous Driving" mode that will be a different and more advanced form of AutoPilot. Maybe they will call it SmartPilot or SmartDrive.

And Tesla will charge more for it.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

I think AutoPilot will always be a limited form of autonomous driving. When the new sensors are added, there will be a new "Autonomous Driving" mode that will be a different and more advanced form of AutoPilot. Maybe they will call it SmartPilot or SmartDrive.

And Tesla will charge more for it.

I think that it'll be the same. The $2.5k is paying for development work. The hardware gets cheaper and/or better and the development continues. They'll simply start putting the new hardware and software in their cars. Tesla is going to keep attacking competitors' margins.

 

[jerry33]

LOL. cursing altitude. Damn it, we're at 35,000 feet!

Don't you just love autocorrect

 

[calisnow]

I think autopilot gen 1 in current cars will always retain "beta" standard as a CYA legal maneuver.

 

[Saghost]

You can see the truck starting to merge at around 15 seconds in the video and anyone who was focused on driving rather than narrating a video would have seen it and avoided it.

I think I disagree. Seen the truck, certainly. Guessed that it was going to come charging into your lane when you're alongside it, though? It's certainly not expected behavior, and I certainly wouldn't count on being able to avoid it. Yes, I've dodged similar accidents in the past, but if the car can help me dodge the next one, I'll be glad to have the help.

 

[calisnow]

You can see the truck starting to merge at around 15 seconds in the video and anyone who was focused on driving rather than narrating a video would have seen it and avoided it.

And your point is - what exactly? That in your ideal fantasy world human beings pay attention all the time - and therefore in the real world active safety devices aren't needed?

 

[Drivin]

And your point is - what exactly? That in your ideal fantasy world human beings pay attention all the time - and therefore in the real world active safety devices aren't needed?

No the fantasy is that we can all sit in the back seat eating cheetos while a car does all our thinking and living for us.

Hail Hydra.

 

[vangogh]

I find auto pilot improving with each update (or perhaps my ability to know how to use it properly)....
I use auto pilot daily on my commute...Typically set for within 10% of speed limit and generally works great...keeps car in lane,
slows for traffic etc. There is one place on my commute however, (an overpass from 237 to 880) that the auto pilot
can only negiotiate properly everytime if the car is going 60mph or less...When going 73 (in a posted 65)... it can sometimes negotiate
the curve and sometimes it goes well outside the lane and I take control. I have been trained to reduce the cars speed for about
30 seconds (with a couple clicks of the AP stick) to ensure negotiation of this curve....I'm hoping eventually there
will be GPS centric rules for all driving areas that will do this automatically w/o the need for any intervention. There are already some places where auto pilot speeds have recently been limited (I'm assuming this is GPS or mapped based rules with upgrades) like on Hwy 156 connecting 101 and 1...

 

[FequalsMA]

I'm hoping eventually there
will be GPS centric rules for all driving areas that will do this automatically w/o the need for any intervention. There are already some places where auto pilot speeds have recently been limited (I'm assuming this is GPS or mapped based rules with upgrades) like on Hwy 156 connecting 101 and 1...

Could almost be certain that current upgrades/ future iterations of AP would include multiple profiles for the same road. They might already be doing this.

Linking to Google maps traffic conditions and adjusting live according to the condition(s) of the road (i.e: AP could have a drive profile for clear conditions, traffic conditions, rain conditions, high wind conditions, snow/ice conditions). Aside from adding more hardware/ cameras, I think this could be an upstream solution to kick AP to the next level and still remain relevant to older Tesla cars.

and also more static factors like road gradients, elevation changes could be taken into account as well.

 

[jsollender]

The car must see at least one white or yellow line to remain on task, right?

 

[dwebb66]

The car must see at least one white or yellow line to remain on task, right?

Yesterday while using autopilot, the blue lines disappeared (the street markings were not great), but the white/ghost car on the main screen turned blue and my X followed the car in front of me until the lane markers got better.