Have you seen a self driving Tesla on the roads?
If not, you will soon as Tesla releases an updated Full Self Driving beta to a select few.
Source: James Locke
Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic, you might be starving for some exciting innovation, and Tesla has no shortage of it! Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology is something Tesla has been working on since 2019. But, in October 2020, some Tesla users got to experience the FSD experience in their cars.
When Elon Musk was asked in 2013 about the future of autopilot, he responded by saying “Autopilot is a good thing to have in planes, and we should have it in cars.” And, to make his self-driving car dream a reality, Tesla started seriously researching and implementing self-driving technology in their vehicles from 2014. FSD is Tesla’s latest approach to “autopilot” in cars.
In late 2019, Tesla started working on FSD--a self driving software that would allow motorists to “drive” stress free and monitor their journey without steering. The route and the obstacles around the car could be observed on the main control tablet.
FSD will be available in all configurations of Model S, X, and 3, according to Tesla.
Source: Tesla
Coming back to 2020, Tesla rolled out the most recent edition of FSD to some users and provided demo-drives to others. From the information that we could gather, we have noticed that this is a “demo” for a reason.
The FSD worked as most would expect it to function. It avoided most debris; it followed the rules on a conventional city street and even some highways; and, it allowed an easy switch in from autopilot to manual in a matter of seconds.
Even though the FSD checks off most of the basic driving predicates that you would expect out of an electrical automobile, it still has some flaws:
The FSD is not able to properly differentiate between objects: ”debris”, that are safe to pass over and those that are not. It will avoid road kills at times and at other times it will not. This provides a sense of inconsistency in the passengers inside the car. Not to mention that you wouldn’t want your brand new Tesla’s tires running over an avoidable anonymous object.
The car finds it hard to control its movement while in autopilot. FSD is in its beta, therefore, the software finds it hard to make harsh turns and usually goes out of line in a thrusting manner--making passengers uneasy.
The driver needs to be ready to take the wheel into their own hands at all times. The driver’s full attention is still required. This goes along with Tesla’s warning to drivers, “it may do the wrong thing at the worst time.”
Source: Tesla
Conclusion:
Full Self-Driving technology is something people used to fantasize about in books and movies, but, it now looks like it’s close to becoming a reality. Even though FSD has its flaws, people need to be reminded that it was an idea started by Tesla less than a year ago!
If Tesla was able to improve on their older autopilot idea’s this much in under a year, imagine how streamlined and polished it will be after some time. Fully self-driving cars will change not just how people commute, but, also how ride sharing platforms like Uber operate.
It will take a while for this fully self driving future to mature fully. While FSD is 90% of the way there, the next 10% to achieve complete autonomy will mean 0 errors and be incredibly difficult. However, we don’t underestimate the pace of innovation and are excited to see what breakthroughs Tesla and others make in the next decade.
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