AutoPilot and Paper Bag on Highway Scenario

Getting Amped So · Oct 12, 2014

I've had my S60 (VIN X4846) since February 2013 and have been extremely happy with it, but want to upgrade to a S85D this Spring. I'm wondering how well the AutoPilot will work and whether the TM engineers considered the case where a paper bag appears in your lane when you're cruising down the highway at 65 mph. Us humans can detect the slight movement of the bag as cars pass it and can quickly determine that it's harmless trash, and know we shouldn't nail our brakes or swerve drastically to avoid it, but will the AutoPilot be that smart? How will it know the difference between a trailer hitch and a similarly-sized crumpled piece of paper?

Also, why is the TM forum closed? Is anyone else having that problem?

EarlyAdopter · Oct 12, 2014

A paper/plastic bag won't have a radar signature, so the car will ignore it. Radar based adaptive cruise control systems have been out for a while now and haven't had an issue with this.

Ultimately though it will be on you, the driver, to avoid obstacles in the road as the car isn't likely to be able to "see" a trailer hitch either. That's why this is driver assist technology and not autonomous driving.

The official Tesla forums are likely closed temporarily to offload their servers to handle the influx of new orders for The D.

FredTMC · Oct 12, 2014

Getting Amped So said:
I've had my S60 (VIN X4846) since February 2013 and have been extremely happy with it, but want to upgrade to a S85D this Spring. I'm wondering how well the AutoPilot will work and whether the TM engineers considered the case where a paper bag appears in your lane when you're cruising down the highway at 65 mph. Us humans can detect the slight movement of the bag as cars pass it and can quickly determine that it's harmless trash, and know we shouldn't nail our brakes or swerve drastically to avoid it, but will the AutoPilot be that smart? How will it know the difference between a trailer hitch and a similarly-sized crumpled piece of paper?

Also, why is the TM forum closed? Is anyone else having that problem?

Yep, I had same question. I DO think it's possible algorithm-wise to distinguish the difference, but I'll be excited to hear that this scenario is handled. Elon mentioned about the ultrasonics detecting the difference between soft and hard objects when I was at the the D event. But this is different scenario and there is always trash all over the freeways in California. I'm confident that Tesla will solve it

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EarlyAdopter said:
A paper/plastic bag won't have a radar signature, so the car will ignore it. Radar based adaptive cruise control systems have been out for a while now and haven't had an issue with this.

Ultimately though it will be on you, the driver, to avoid obstacles in the road as the car isn't likely to be able to "see" a trailer hitch either. That's why this is driver assist technology and not autonomous driving.

The official Tesla forums are likely closed temporarily to offload their servers to handle the influx of new orders for The D.

Ah, yes. Good point. It's not a problem with existing ACC systems.

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AutoPilot and Paper Bag on Highway Scenario

Getting Amped So

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EarlyAdopter

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FredTMC

Model S VIN #4925

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