Tesla To Upgrade Its Autopilot, Will Rely More On Radar

Some Tesla Motors vehicles can park themselves without a driver inside with a software update beamed to customers over the January 9-10 weekend. And Musk says this version might have prevented the collision that killed Brown.

The update will be applied to all radar-equipped Model S and Model X cars made in the past two years.

False positives (with a driverless auto identifying, for example, a road sign as an obstacle) are more easily avoided with radar when compared to camera systems, by measuring the density of objects as well as their distance from the vehicle.

What do you think of the new Tesla Autopilot upgrade, will you feel comfortable riding in autopilot mode? Updating to this version will be made through an “over-the-air” system and the improvements will be based on the better use of the radar and thus the vehicle will have a better perception of what is around, as cameras are limited by weather conditions and the amount of light they can capture.

Following an investigation, it was determined Tesla’s software did not pick up an oncoming trailer due to the “brightly lit sky” that obscured both human and machine, resulting in the auto colliding with the trailer. However, Tesla Motors will now be using radar as the primary control sensor for Autopilot, with the system not requiring the onboard cameras to visually confirm objects detected by radar.

In another big upgrade, Tesla’s auto-steering feature will disengage if the driver ignores repeated warnings to keep his or her hands or the wheel.

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.

Musk said the Tesla Version 8.0 software update offers more than 200 enhancements and would make greater use of the car’s on-board radar in an effort to better detect oncoming obstacles. “There won’t ever be zero fatalities”, Musk stated.

This means that the radar is now the primary control sensor.

Tesla says the new system also learns from other vehicles.

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“Therefore, the big problem in using radar to stop the vehicle is avoiding false alarms”, the company said.