How are people applying enough force in NOA steering?

[Fernand]

With the 2019.8.5 update, the Navigate On Autopilot is an order of magnitude more powerful. In fact it's amazing. But I find it tricky to satisfy "sufficient resistance" on the steering wheel. If I just rest my right hand relaxed on the wheel like previously, it seems to nag too easily. That's not so bad.

But a new problem that develops for me, is that the opposite excess resistance seems to easily kick the system out of auto-steer, which can be very troublesome at highway speeds. By the time I fully realize it, many milliseconds and significant distance have elapsed, with that many opportunities for catastrophe.

I'm tempted to do the unthinkable and hang a "sock full o' change" weight on the wheel -- not so I can text or surf, or do the Macarena, or crawl in the back over the folded down back seats to take a "power nap", but ONLY so I can rest my right hand on the wheel without having to constantly adjust how much to fight it. Know what I'm sayin' ?

Anybody else having this issue? Approaches? Solutions?

 

[steve1313]

I have a similar issue on my Model X. Just lightly resting my hand(s) at the base or top of the wheel doesn't seem to satisfy the cars need for feedback. I can squeeze the wheel with some force to satisfy the warning, but it's an unnatural effort compared to just "lightly" gripping the wheel like the alert asks for.

 

[M3Nicola]

With the 2019.8.5 update, the Navigate On Autopilot is an order of magnitude more powerful. In fact it's amazing. But I find it tricky to satisfy "sufficient resistance" on the steering wheel. If I just rest my right hand relaxed on the wheel like previously, it seems to nag too easily. That's not so bad.

But a new problem that develops for me, is that the opposite excess resistance seems to easily kick the system out of auto-steer, which can be very troublesome at highway speeds. By the time I fully realize it, many milliseconds and significant distance have elapsed, with that many opportunities for catastrophe.

I'm tempted to do the unthinkable and hang a "sock full o' change" weight on the wheel -- not so I can text or surf, or do the Macarena, or crawl in the back over the folded down back seats to take a "power nap", but ONLY so I can rest my right hand on the wheel without having to constantly adjust how much to fight it. Know what I'm sayin' ?

Anybody else having this issue? Approaches? Solutions?

This is a great point and something that happened to me recently when trying out the new NOA feature for one of the first times. Twice I accidentally disengaged Autopilot while attempting to give enough force to the steering wheel so that NOA would change lanes. And both times I hadn’t realized right away that NOA has disengaged and it could have led to a very dangerous situation. There seems to be a very narrow acceptable window between “provide steering to prove your hands are on the wheel” and “too much steering so AP will disengage”.

 

[jamnmon66]

I'm sure this is going to illicit a long string of lectures but here goes...

It takes about 11-12 oz of force to prevent the nag and that hasn't changed. You can defeat the nag by simply sticking some wheel weights to the back and bottom of one of the spokes of the steering wheel. If you take a little time with the placement then you'll hardly notice them. It will take two layers of weights to get enough weight on there. If the regulators ever approve the removal of the nag, then a little Goo-gone will take them off without damaging the surface.

I'll add my own lecture to the list of the ones to follow. Don't do this if you'll be tempted to stop paying attention to the road. I'm very disciplined about paying attention to the road. Leaving my hand on the wheel wouldn't add to that. Do this at your own risk.

 

[Fernand]

So is it safer to hang that sock with fishing weights on the wheel
until they tweak that overly narrow window?

Another case a bit like that is when NOA or AS disengages,
but TACC remains. That scares me, when my Nicki happily
drops out of steering duties but barrels at 25 MPH towards
the car in front. I've never fully tested it, I chicken out, but
it seems that he'd be perfectly content to rear-end that car.

 

[Dana1]

Hold hand at 7 o clock position. This provides enough torque to satisfy system.

 

[woodguyatl]

With the 2019.8.5 update, the Navigate On Autopilot is an order of magnitude more powerful. In fact it's amazing. But I find it tricky to satisfy "sufficient resistance" on the steering wheel. If I just rest my right hand relaxed on the wheel like previously, it seems to nag too easily. That's not so bad.

But a new problem that develops for me, is that the opposite excess resistance seems to easily kick the system out of auto-steer, which can be very troublesome at highway speeds. By the time I fully realize it, many milliseconds and significant distance have elapsed, with that many opportunities for catastrophe.

I'm tempted to do the unthinkable and hang a "sock full o' change" weight on the wheel -- not so I can text or surf, or do the Macarena, or crawl in the back over the folded down back seats to take a "power nap", but ONLY so I can rest my right hand on the wheel without having to constantly adjust how much to fight it. Know what I'm sayin' ?

Anybody else having this issue? Approaches? Solutions?

I have just rest my thumb on the horizontal/circle connection with my elbow resting on my leg or the console.

 

[lukex4]

I simply lower the volume by one notch, no need to apply any torque to the wheel.

 

[ewoodrick]

So is it safer to hang that sock with fishing weights on the wheel
until they tweak that overly narrow window?

Another case a bit like that is when NOA or AS disengages,
but TACC remains. That scares me, when my Nicki happily
drops out of steering duties but barrels at 25 MPH towards
the car in front. I've never fully tested it, I chicken out, but
it seems that he'd be perfectly content to rear-end that car.

Absolutely not.

 

[ewoodrick]

With the 2019.8.5 update, the Navigate On Autopilot is an order of magnitude more powerful. In fact it's amazing. But I find it tricky to satisfy "sufficient resistance" on the steering wheel. If I just rest my right hand relaxed on the wheel like previously, it seems to nag too easily. That's not so bad.

But a new problem that develops for me, is that the opposite excess resistance seems to easily kick the system out of auto-steer, which can be very troublesome at highway speeds. By the time I fully realize it, many milliseconds and significant distance have elapsed, with that many opportunities for catastrophe.

I'm tempted to do the unthinkable and hang a "sock full o' change" weight on the wheel -- not so I can text or surf, or do the Macarena, or crawl in the back over the folded down back seats to take a "power nap", but ONLY so I can rest my right hand on the wheel without having to constantly adjust how much to fight it. Know what I'm sayin' ?

Anybody else having this issue? Approaches? Solutions?

I tend to often rest my hands on my lap and use that. Or even sometimes just a single finger against the wheel.

You'll get there, it just takes a little bit of time to get used to it.

 

[SageBrush]

I found a solution that I think works for me, but I don't have a lot of time behind the wheel with it:

By way of background, my two inter-related issues are inadequate pressure on the wheel and AP that responds a little later to turns than I do.
So now in AP I start to turn the wheel before AP. Not enough to yank the car out of AP, but enough so that I immediately know when AP starts to turn. This way I can take over with minimal delay if AP goofs, and AP knows I am being attentive.

 

[Need]

If you have not done so, change your steering mode to the tightest one (sport or something like that). You can put more weight on the wheel before it takes your out of autosteer. I did notice that 8.5 seems to give you more nag. Before that, I almost never got nag since I took delivery back last year in August. Since 8.5 I have been nagged about 5 times in 3 to 4 weeks.

 

[davecal]

Has anyone else had this issue..when AP disengages after it doesn’t accept my hand pressure I get a message that says “AP is no longer available on this route”
I can not restart it even on perfect highway conditions until I stop the car and restart my drive again. Is this normal?

 

[mongo]

I have a similar issue on my Model X. Just lightly resting my hand(s) at the base or top of the wheel doesn't seem to satisfy the cars need for feedback. I can squeeze the wheel with some force to satisfy the warning, but it's an unnatural effort compared to just "lightly" gripping the wheel like the alert asks for.

The car senses rotational force (torque), not grip force..

Has anyone else had this issue..when AP disengages after it doesn’t accept my hand pressure I get a message that says “AP is no longer available on this route”
I can not restart it even on perfect highway conditions until I stop the car and restart my drive again. Is this normal?

Yes, if you do not make it happy, it requires going into park to reset AP ability.

 

[davecal]

Ok good to hear, thought maybe something was wrong. Thank you

 

[ecarfan]

I am on 2019.8.5 and do not notice a difference in the amount of torque the steering wheel requires during AP. These two methods have always worked fine for me.

Hold hand at 7 o clock position. This provides enough torque to satisfy system.

I have just rest my thumb on the horizontal/circle connection with my elbow resting on my leg or the console.

 

[Fernand]

I simply lower the volume by one notch, no need to apply any torque to the wheel.

Wait is this in jest or are you describing something real?

At 7:00 position? This sounds convoluted, but I'll try, I swear,
those double 0 bucky balls don't belong on top of the airbag
just ornaments

 

[commasign]

Left hand at 9 o’clock position, resting on the horizontal part of the steering wheel. Allows easy access to the signal stalk and audio controls.

 

[lukex4]

Wait is this in jest or are you describing something real?

No jest. Any user input is ok for the nagging to got away. You can click on the screen if you prefer or use the turning indicators.

Elon Musk on Twitter

 

[lolder]

The wheel does not want grip pressure, it wants torque or turning force. If you ever had a car that was a little out of alignment or the tires were abnormally worn and the car didn't track straight, the amount of force required to drive it straight is what is required. It is required only about every 30-50 seconds while moving. The weight of a hand on either side of the wheel is sufficient.