Tesla's Autopilot Feature: Are Self-Driving Cars The Future?
Self-driving cars are a very controversial topic.
The government has created laws against it, argumenting that it wasn't safe and fully developed yet.
But I think Tesla has proven that things are different.
Driving assistants have been out there for quite some time now.
I tested out different cars with an assistant like this, for example the Audi A8. While it had a great software that could recognize if cars are around you, in the end it was just an assistant and not an autopilot like Tesla's.
Take a look at this video of a Tesla driving from home to work all by itself!
The car analyzes its environment, checks for other cars or pedestrians on the street, knows the speed limits and stays perfectly in the middle of the road.
So basically, the "driver" is just there to be alert in case anything unforseen happens.
So of course you're not supposed to sleep in the driver's seat, but Autopilot can help you drive much more relaxed.
The most useful feature for a lot of people will probably be the car's ability to parallel-park itself!
As you can see at the end of the video, it can park itself perfectly without any help.
Elon Musk even added that the car skipped past a few parking spots because it knew it wasn't allowed to park there, and chose a different spot by itself.
Tesla is continuously pushes the technological standard and comes up with new techniques and solutions.
It has been announced that from now on, every new Tesla will be equipped with everything it needs for the autopilot feature.
Elon Musk is probably one of the most successful and most innovative people of our time, and we can be sure that he'll surprise us with new inventions in the future as well!
He tweeted that Tesla users will be able to summon their car via a tap on their smartphone in the future - and the car will come to you! (wherever you are)
Of course, not every technology is 100% fail-proof, and there have been recent reports about crashes in Tesla's Autopilot mode.
But in all cases, Tesla analyzed the situation and responded that the drivers were too careless, didn't have their hands on the wheel and ignored security alerts from the car.
So how does the autopilot feature work exactly?
Let's take a look at this interesting video :
It will be interesting to see how the governments react to the constantly improving technology in the future, and if they will eventually allow self-driving cars if the technology is developed enough!
- Instagram -
© Sirwinchester
Self driving cars may well be technogically possible but are humans ready to deal with them. What will be the headlines when the first fatality happens. Even though humans kill humans with cars every day.
Good point.
People will probably want to blame everything on electronics
Tesla is awesome! We can expect a lot from them in the future 😁
I remember reading an interesting article about the "split second" decisions that autonomous cars need to make on our behalf. Some of the more interesting questions were...
You are driving along a one-way road. There is a sheer drop to your right and a solid wall to your left. As you round a bend, there are four children in front of you. There is no possibility of stopping. Do you:
The follow-up question was ... What if, instead of children, it was an armed man who appears to want to car-jack you?
If you were the programmer, what would you tell the code to do?
The answer to this question comes from denying the assumptions.
If you are driving on a one-way road next to a cliff. Then visibility is X feet.
If you cannot stop in X feet, you are going to fast, slow down.
This continues until you are safe, or you have stopped.
And the answer, if you include "all of a sudden" into the scenario is to brake as hard as you can. It is the least damaging thing you can do. The other option is to turn the car into a known deathtrap. In case of emergency, the passengers will be terminated.
Turning the car into a known deathtrap for it's owners on emergency seems like a good way to turn people away who would want to buy these cars. I think the car should kill the other people, and not it's master :) How else will the loan ever be paid off then for the car? lol. Breaking as fast as it can sounds like the best option, but I think this would be a rare edge case to program for.
This is the best answer!!! Do autonomous cars travel at the posted speed limit or do they take into account for visibility?
These are some deep and very interesting questions!
It's incredibly hard to answer those.
This is something you don't think about, but of course the programmers have to deal with those kind of questions too.
how many times have you had to decide in a situation like that?
I live in Northern Ontario in Canada.
For us, it's usually a situation closer to ...
Autonomous vehicles would have radar at minimum.
Probably infra-red, sonar, and who knows what else.
They'll be able to see through the snow.
If the snow is so heavy that they CAN'T...why are you on the road in the first place?
The likely hood hitting anything in front of it would be much less than with human drivers.
if the wee beastie were to jump out in front (like I had a deer do to me) then the autonomous vehicle would STILL be more likely to avoid it than you or me. 360 sensors don't you know...and reactions at the speed of light, not slow biological reflexes.
Any way you look at it, in any given situation, autonomous vehicles will be safer than people
The government HAS to alter the laws in the future! Self driving cars are only the beginning!
I think so too!
I bet you cars in the future will be 100% electric, self driving and gliding above the floor
Yes, my guess would be similar. Current vehicles will be outdated soon
Looks like I need to get a Tesla! Even if you don't let it run on Autopilot all the time, it's definitely more comfortable on long journeys !
That's true, it will be a big help and lessen the pressure of the driver
Very interesting, that first video looks amazing
I wish my car would park itself like that lol
Wow the video looks awesome! Would love to try that out
Awesome video. I want a Tesla now!