Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) held a press conference to share more details about the upcoming capabilities of the Autopilot with v8.0 software updates.
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Innovative US carmaker Tesla said on Sunday that its new self-driving system would have been able to prevent the crash which led to the death of a Model S driver in May of this year.
These sensors allowed the cars to operate in “autopilot mode” – steering and driving themselves (although the company has always stated that autopilot mode was a beta feature, and that humans should always remain in control).
The updates to Autopilot, Mr Musk said, will give the auto the ability to make greater use of the radar to spot potential dangers.
Model S and X owners will also get a redesigned map and navigation interface. Tesla also claims that this technology, which will now be used as a primary control sensor for the auto, will easily see through fog, dust rain or snow. Radar was initially added to Tesla vehicles in October 2014 as part of the Autopilot hardware suite. Tesla has been pushed to make improvements after multiple crashes and a fatality made news. This technology bounces radar off the road under the auto in front and rear to recognise objects ahead of that vehicle.
The automaker announced in a blog post that it would be upgrading the Autopilot software to primarily rely on radar sensors instead of cameras, which will help the vehicle paint a better picture of its surroundings.
Increasing the use of radars, alongside the car’s cameras, will help Autopilot detect not only the object directly in front of it, but also whatever is in front of that auto, Musk said.
If one user ignores three warnings of this kind within the hour, the Auto-steer feature will be deactivated until the vehicle is parked.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been investigating Tesla’s Autopilot system since June because of the fatal accident.
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Musk thinks that the Autopilot improvements will significantly increase the safety of passengers, though he added that road accidents will likely not be gone for good. Brown was known for driving the vehicle hands-free, and according to Tesla, the car’s brakes weren’t applied before the crash.
