Driver engagement while in Autopilot?

[ProSkeptic]

When we went form pulsing brakes to ABS, no training was required.

Well... no.

When ABS first hit the major market, it was expected to drastically reduce crashes. In fact, there was no benefit from the implementation. There were myriad complaints to service departments about malfunctioning brake systems, since drivers felt the ABS pulsing in the pedal during a hard stop. It took years of customer acclimation and improvements to controllers before benefits were realized. Even today, one doesn't have to look very hard to find a luddite who swears that they can do better at modulating lockup than a well designed ABS system.

 

[Stoneymonster]

WRT unreasonable expectations: There were even some comments about people saying something along the lines of "AP will suck, since it'll follow the navs horrible route guidance". Sigh... I'm sure there will be lots of threads about people misusing AP and either getting into accidents or nearly getting into accidents.

Which is funny to me, because if autopilot was capable of following even nav's "horrible" guidance, that would unbelievably amazing.

 

[Max*]

Which is funny to me, because if autopilot was capable of following even nav's "horrible" guidance, that would unbelievably amazing.

That should be Level 3 (semi-autonomous), I'd say give it <5 years (but not with our cars hardware/software).

 

[Stoneymonster]

That should be Level 3 (semi-autonomous), I'd say give it <5 years (but not with our cars hardware/software).

Yeah, I'm with you there. I think people are not prepared for how quickly driving is going to change over the next 5-10 years.

 

[dirkhh]

I agree that AP will lead to more careless driving. The question is, will the reduction in accidents compensate for the small fraction of people who are driving more careless? I would expect it to be so, but time will tell.

I spoke just recently to one of the leads in the Google autonomous driving team... and they are quite certain that this will be a net positive, even with the idiots abusing them. But they are very worried that the related press will kill the projects. And that our always rational and wise law makers (see: PATRIOT act, DHS, TSA) will throw the baby out with the bath water...

WRT unreasonable expectations: There were even some comments about people saying something along the lines of "AP will suck, since it'll follow the navs horrible route guidance". Sigh... I'm sure there will be lots of threads about people misusing AP and either getting into accidents or nearly getting into accidents.

Without a doubt.

I'm not aware of any training that Mercedes required for AP+Lane keep. So I don't expect Tesla to do it either. Would it be a good thing if they offered OPTIONAL training? Sure. People suck at driving, so any additional training will be beneficial to them. Do I think Tesla will offer anything besides a blurb saying "pay attention, you're responsible, this isn't autonomous driving"? I doubt it.

So Audi has a bunch of videos online and from talking to a friend who just two weeks ago bought a loaded Audi (couldn't convince him to get a Model S - I tried) it appears they are suggesting quite strongly to watch all of them before using the feature on the roads.
I hope that Tesla would have a rather elaborate set of videos like that. Just like they did the initial walk through video way back when...

 

[Stoneymonster]

I spoke just recently to one of the leads in the Google autonomous driving team... and they are quite certain that this will be a net positive, even with the idiots abusing them. But they are very worried that the related press will kill the projects. And that our always rational and wise law makers (see: PATRIOT act, DHS, TSA) will throw the baby out with the bath water...

Without a doubt.

So Audi has a bunch of videos online and from talking to a friend who just two weeks ago bought a loaded Audi (couldn't convince him to get a Model S - I tried) it appears they are suggesting quite strongly to watch all of them before using the feature on the roads.
I hope that Tesla would have a rather elaborate set of videos like that. Just like they did the initial walk through video way back when...

Well they do have a giant screen in every car... I could see them distributing a video that way. How to enforce you watch it though?

 

[Max*]

I spoke just recently to one of the leads in the Google autonomous driving team... and they are quite certain that this will be a net positive, even with the idiots abusing them. But they are very worried that the related press will kill the projects. And that our always rational and wise law makers (see: PATRIOT act, DHS, TSA) will throw the baby out with the bath water...

I could 100% believe that.

Well they do have a giant screen in every car... I could see them distributing a video that way. How to enforce you watch it though?

Simple. Everyone with a car has a MyTesla account. Login, watch the video, fill out a 10 question quiz, if you get a 100%, Tesla will enable lane keep. Otherwise you just the v7.0 appearance, with no additional functionality.

Don't expect it to happen in-car. Image the uproar when people realize that Tesla can stream videos to the car, but they can't play their own media. Wait for the 150+page TMC thread.

 

[dirkhh]

Well they do have a giant screen in every car... I could see them distributing a video that way. How to enforce you watch it though?

Video watching is disabled on the center console.
I don't think you could "enforce" this. Encouraging it might go a long way. And take away plausible deniability for the idiots (yeah right... a guy can dream)

- - - Updated - - -

Simple. Everyone with a car has a MyTesla account. Login, watch the video, fill out a 10 question quiz, if you get a 100%, Tesla will enable lane keep. Otherwise you just the v7.0 appearance, with no additional functionality.

Uhhhh, I love that idea. Imagine the outrage. The picket lines. This would bring the TMC servers to their knees...

 

[Stoneymonster]

I could 100% believe that.



Simple. Everyone with a car has a MyTesla account. Login, watch the video, fill out a 10 question quiz, if you get a 100%, Tesla will enable lane keep. Otherwise you just the v7.0 appearance, with no additional functionality.

Don't expect it to happen in-car. Image the uproar when people realize that Tesla can stream videos to the car, but they can't play their own media. Wait for the 150+page TMC thread.

We've reached critical mass here that any change to the car/website/press release/planetary alignment will produce a 150+ page thread.

 

[Max*]

Uhhhh, I love that idea. Imagine the outrage. The picket lines. This would bring the TMC servers to their knees...

Hey, I just gave a Stoney a solution. I didn't say I agree with it!

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Well they do have a giant screen in every car... I could see them distributing a video that way. How to enforce you watch it though?

A while back, I suggested that they disable any new autopilot feature until you took an interactive tutorial, similar to what you have when starting a new computer or console game. A voice could explain things and walk you through the process. Gradually the reminders would become less frequent as you learn to use the features.

 

[BozieBeMe2]

I am not so sure of that statement. We just came back from a 600 mile "trip", which we used the TACC. While driving down a two lane, black topped road, a very large John Deer tractor and bush hogg mower crossed in front of us. We were about 1000 feet from it. The cruise control indicator stayed Grey, right up until the point I jammed on the brakes and swerved the car. At no point did Tessie offer to slow down or stop. Our car is 1 month old, 1200 miles, and has always had a faultless TACC record, until this past weekend,,,,

 

[Max*]

I am not so sure of that statement. We just came back from a 600 mile "trip", which we used the TACC. While driving down a two lane, black topped road, a very large John Deer tractor and bush hogg mower crossed in front of us. We were about 1000 feet from it. The cruise control indicator stayed Grey, right up until the point I jammed on the brakes and swerved the car. At no point did Tessie offer to slow down or stop. Our car is 1 month old, 1200 miles, and has always had a faultless TACC record, until this past weekend,,,,

Crossed perpendicular to your travel path? If so, then TACC acted as intended, no?

 

[DuluthDad]

Agreed. You have to keep one eye on the road. I use TACC on the highway every week driving to the busiest airport in the US (ATL). TACC down I-85 makes the drive less stressful and allow by right foot to have less strain, but you have to pay attention to your environment. The DOT electronic signs remind me that texting is illegal while driving - something i agree with.