Opinion: what I think Tesla should do to "solve" FSD

First, I want to acknowledge all the hard work of the Tesla FSD team. Tesla has spent years building a sophisticated vision-only system. And the perception part is very advanced. I am not saying that Tesla Vision is perfect. There are still gaps in the perception system. But I feel like Tesla has build a pretty good foundation for FSD. I am not suggesting Tesla start from scratch. On the contrary, I think Tesla should continue to build on that vision-only foundation.

But here are 3 things that I think Tesla should do in order to deploy a more reliable and more robust FSD system.

TLDR Tesla should copy Mobileye.

1) Crowdsourced maps
Tesla has a big fleet of vehicles on the road. They could leverage the vision system in every car on the road to crowdsource detailed maps, similar to what Mobileye is doing. With such a large fleet of vehicles, Tesla could map large areas pretty quickly. Tesla could probably map every road in the US in a relatively short time. And with such a large fleet of vehicles on the road, Tesla could also update the maps pretty easily too since there would always be a Tesla somewhere checking the maps. A lot of the errors that FSD beta makes seem to be due to poor map data. Crowdsourcing could really help solve those issues since there would be a Tesla likely checking that spot pretty regularly. And detailed maps could help make FSD more robust. With crowdsourcing, only the first car would need to drive the road mapless, other cars that encounter the road later, would have the benefit of a map as a prior. And detailed maps can provide useful non-visual info like slowing down for a bend in the road that you can't see because of obstacles or preferred traffic speed different from actual speed limit.

2) Driving Policy
Tesla has done a lot of work with perception but one area where FSD Beta is very weak, is driving policy IMO. For example, FSD beta is poor at knowing when to change lanes when traffic is dense to avoid not missing an exit. FSD beta can wait too long and then miss its chance to merge because of dense traffic. Also, FSD beta can be overly cautious at intersections when there is no traffic at all. FSD beta can also be too shy when going from a stop sign or too aggressive when making unprotected left turns. These are issues that better driving policy would help with. It would improve the driving decisions of the car and make for a safer and smoother ride. Mobileye has a very good RSS policy that helps the car drive safely. So I think Tesla needs to focus more on driving policy. I think FSD Beta would benefit greatly from a driving policy.

3) Sensor redundancy
I think Tesla is smart to focus on vision-only. This is important as a foundation for perception. And I think vision-only will work great for L2 "door to door". So what I am proposing is that Tesla continue to do vision-only for L2 but work on a lidar-radar subsystem that could be added on top of the existing vision-only FSD system to provide extra reliability and redundancy, that could help get the system to "eyes off". This is essentially what Mobileye is doing and I think it is smart. I think vision-only is fine for L2 but having radar-lidar as a back-up is crucial for "eyes off". This because in order to do "eyes off", you really need to be able to trust the system to be super reliable in all conditions. Vision-only cannot do that. With vision-only, if the cameras fail, the entire system will fail or need to pull over. But with cameras, radar and lidar, your system is less likely to fail if the cameras fails. I think having extra sensors as back-up will really help to reach that extra reliability.

"Full Self Driving Tesla" by rulenumberone2 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail

 

[MOE J]

Forward and backward

I want summon BACK. I had it in my first two Teslas and I'm pissed I don't have it in my newest one. Even if it was just "Actually Stupid Summon" just so that I can properly park all the way into my garage and retrieve it daily. No fancy steering or anything. Just forwards and backwards. I don't understand why they couldn't provide this to the current hardware cars while they sort out/figure out "Actually Smart Summon" and get it released.

that’s all u want-that’s easy, it’s the other functions like pick a target or follow yr phone that’s cool.

 

[Fairchild]

I remember getting my first Autopilot activated on my 2014 Model S. I was like a kid in a candy shop. It was awesome and so advanced. Mobileye, developed by an Israeli company. Light years ahead and then, Elon got into a contest with the owner of Mobileye, and that was the end of that party. Autopilot was then in Tesla engineering hands and it was a long game of catch-up.

I also had early FSD on my Model X Raven, and of course, at that time it was not that impressive. Simply, an enhanced autopilot. It was like the first MS Windows that had a wordpad and a calculator (Most of you are way too young to remember that. With the advent of free FSD, I have had an opportunity to be exposed to the new and enhanced FSD, and I must say that I am impressed with the progress. I took it through a busy traffic circle with my hands wheel-ready, and it did quite well.

After a few weeks, my personal revelation is that, "I just like driving too much", so short of using it on long trips, I actually prefer Autopilot. I am providing feedback after each disengagement, and I think it is genius that Tesla is providing it for 30 days for free. Well, not really, free. Image how much data Tesla will get from all of us test dummies over the 30 days to further enhance the FSD.

I don't envision the long-promised autonomous vehicles coming for a number of years now that the NHTSA, and "friends" of Missy Cummings have their claws into Tesla. Quite truthfully, short of wearing sunglasses all the time, I find the constant intrusions of the eye-monitoring, (where I find myself scrambling not to be put in Autopilot jail), to make me more accident-prone, than less.

A glance to the center screen (Musk world) or even to the side mirrors for any period of time, sets off the warning and sends me scrambling. I wouldn't have to glance at the side mirrors for any period, if only Tesla would cough up a few bucks to install blindspot warning lights in all vehicle mirrors. NSHTSA should demand it in all vehicles. It does so much. First, at a glance, it let's you know if someone is in your blind spot. Second, it lets the person in the blind spot know that you have been alerted to their presence.

Now, many will say, you have a window on the "Center of the World Musk Screen", that will show you who is alongside. Well, to me, it is not at all intuitive to look right, when I am about to make a left lane change. And by the time I study the view, the eye-monitoring system is yelling at me to keep my eyes on the road. It's a safety hazard that has brought me to several close calls. I have attached small convex circle mirrors mounted on my side view mirrors and I still turn around to ensure that there is no one in the lane I am about to enter. A simple mirror warning light would eliminate this.

Others will say, let FSD safely make the lane change for you. I find that at least 50% of the time, FSD makes lane changes that I would not have made. My view extends much farther than the FSD view, and as I said, I prefer to drive, not be driven. Just today, it moved me into the fast lane as the same time the semi in front of me was moving there.

Don't get me wrong. For long boring trips on the highway, FSD has it's purpose, but even then it can at times be a hazard. I never use even autopilot at night, as it can lull you to near sleep with a lack of something to do. As far as safe, autonomous city driving goes, we are still quite a ways off. The first death caused by Telsa FSD will spread through the press like lightning, resulting in lengthy further implementation delays, and more NHTSA restrictions. Remember, how long the space shuttle was "down" after the Challenger and Columbia accidents.

Drive and enjoy driving. Use autopilot and FSD as an assist when appropriate, and above all be safe. In a few weeks, when my Cybertruck arrives, without autopilot and FSD, I wonder really how much I will miss it. I suspect I will miss the autopilot portion as it pertains to highway driving, but quite honestly when FSD arrives, I will probably defer it to autopilot to avoid the intrusions.

I am sure some/many will disagree. Just my humble opinion and experience with nine Teslas and I respect disagreement and other's opinions. I am also curious to know if there are any others who have similar opinions.

 

[MOE J]

The self parking:smart park summon is cool but is not efficient. U can’t just summon yr car when your inside a grocery store to pull up where yr waiting. The car takes the loooong way around, stops, backs up, blocks traffic, and very slow. The go to target is a little glitchy and takes the longest route. For some reason the mirrors always fold in, even if u disable them. I’m awaiting the bug fix update.

 

[MOE J]

Bug fix update where are you, my Tesla is waiting !. Plenty of looky loos want to be entertained by me showing off Tesla driving with no one in car, you know demo mode.

 

[johnnycnote]

The self parking:smart park summon is cool but is not efficient. U can’t just summon yr car when your inside a grocery store to pull up where yr waiting. The car takes the loooong way around, stops, backs up, blocks traffic, and very slow. The go to target is a little glitchy and takes the longest route. For some reason the mirrors always fold in, even if u disable them. I’m awaiting the bug fix update.

I don't mind the mirrors folding in. Don't need them until I get in the car anyway. Even then, don't need them. But, yeah, nice party trick but too slow and clunky to be of real use

 

[DanCar]

It will all be solved when AGI arrives. 2029?

 

[MOE J]

I don't mind the mirrors folding in. Don't need them until I get in the car anyway. Even then, don't need them. But, yeah, nice party trick but too slow and clunky to be of real use

Agreed, show off party trick