The Tesla Software Update 8.0 is planned for release in the next few weeks, with Tesla promising over 200 enhancements, including improved auto lane change and Autosteer to avoid collision.
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“It’s about minimizing the probability”, he said, “minimizing the probability of death, not the illusion of ideal safety”.
This update, for instance, comes after the death of Joshua Brown, a Florida man who died after his Tesla, operating in Autopilot mode, crashed into a truck.
Tesla will update its cars’ Autopilot function with new safety features created to prevent collisions, the company has announced.
“We’re making much more effective use of radar”, Musk told journalists on a phone call.
Musk said on Sunday that is “very likely” the improved Autopilot would have prevented the death of Brown, whose vehicle sped into the trailer of a truck crossing a highway.
In the past the vehicle used a camera and image processing as the primary sensors, and a radar system would then send secondary data.
Other updates introduced by Autopilot 8.0 include more prominent alerts with a flashing white border in the instrument panel to better get driver’s attention, and adjustments to make the system drive cars in a smoother manner.
Musk promised a stronger and more solid Autopilot than he said could reduce vehicle accidents by more than half its current rate. The fact that radar is already installed in all Model S vehicles means that the change is largely a software one – the upgrade can take place without drivers needing to head to a shop. “It’s really about improving the probability of safety”. “There won’t ever be zero fatalities, there won’t ever be zero injuries”. The radar, he said, also will work to spot objects beyond the auto directly in front of a Tesla.
The official blog discussed the problem with using radars in the Autopilot system and how the team have worked around it.
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Tesla’s self-driving mode has led to several accidents due to driver negligence; hence, the vehicle will do more to make sure that drivers are paying attention while running in self-driving mode. “We believe it would have”, he said, adding that the radar system likely would see a large metal object across a road.
