Autopilot test on curvy road

So what would happen if you didn't slow down yourself?

And what would happen if you don't grab the wheel on the last turn? Off into the weeds?

I saw the recommended speed for that corner to be 25 mph, and you were just slowing down to 30.

I wonder if road glare is not an issue on the last curve....

That last turn looked to me like the issue might have been more about glare on the road than the tightness of the curve. Was the glare as pronounced in real life as it appeared on the video?

Lloyd said:

I saw the recommended speed for that corner to be 25 mph, and you were just slowing down to 30.

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Agreed, you could have taken that at 50.

So autopilot does not slow down for turns. Seeing it fail in such a simple turn isn't very encouraging. Glare is kind of a common thing.

It looked like glare issues on that last corner to me. Seemed like the car was handling the road fairly well overall though!

What stands out to me is that they need to get the auto-speed adjustment based on posted speed limits implemented. TACC works great based on you setting the speed and adjusting to other cars, but not based on speed limit changing. So when you get on a road like the one in the video you basically need to take over.

David99 said:

So autopilot does not slow down for turns. Seeing it fail in such a simple turn isn't very encouraging. Glare is kind of a common thing.

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Really??? What were you expecting??? All of the early returns I've read have been very positive with essentially everyone being impressed, if not at least satisfied... Keep in mind this is a beta 1.0 and for what it does, it's impressive. What it doesn't do isn't surprising either and we'll get there eventually.

Jeff

If it doesn't slow down for turns, what happens when it runs out of grip?

jaguar36 said:

If it doesn't slow down for turns, what happens when it runs out of grip?

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Assuming you're the driver paying attention to what the car is doing this scenario simply won't come up.

Jeff

Autopilot != Autonomous

That is all.

David99 said:

So autopilot does not slow down for turns. Seeing it fail in such a simple turn isn't very encouraging. Glare is kind of a common thing.

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I'm pretty sure AP will slow down as it gets less confident, but it is very difficult for a simple camera to pick up that turn and interpret it correctly. Keep in mind, this is a highway autopilot which may work on other roads.

Max* said:

Autopilot != Autonomous

That is all.

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it is a bit irritating , isn't it, that so many people confuse autonomous and autopilot. Given that autopilot derives from aircraft butnobody thinks an autopilot can operate without constant management and intervention from a pilot. If somebody wants a drone
the y can go to Google Cars.

1st world problem....Why doesn't my self driving car have sun glasses to avoid road glare? Geez. What next?

I bet in a future software update it will slow down for turns automatically. Hurray for borg Teslas!

jbcarioca said:

it is a bit irritating , isn't it, that so many people confuse autonomous and autopilot. Given that autopilot derives from aircraft butnobody thinks an autopilot can operate without constant management and intervention from a pilot. If somebody wants a drone
the y can go to Google Cars.

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Ah, but I have a drone. It's full hands on, all the time. No Hands, Not Pretty.

Maybe I need an autonomous drone!

David99 said:

So autopilot does not slow down for turns. Seeing it fail in such a simple turn isn't very encouraging.

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I would agree. I hope the car under AP will slow with turns and actually turn.

Douglas said:

I would agree. I hope the car under AP will slow with turns and actually turn.

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There are very few freeways, especially ones that adhere to the interstate standards, in the US that curve at very sharp angles. I can think of one in downtown Kansas City (I-70 east of downtown), but outside of that they are very few and far between. Given that this first release is targeting freeway driving, it would seem to me that it's met and exceeded those expectations thus far. The one tweak I see that's needed is better handling of exit ramps, but I'm sure that'll come with time.

Jeff