One one hand, Tesla says that Mobileye wanted out of its contract with the automaker because it found that Tesla Motors was developing its individual program of driver assistance systems. But the product Tesla released allowed drivers to take their hands off the wheel for minutes at a time.
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Government investigators are looking into Autopilot’s role in the Florida crash.
Tesla will roll out the newest version of the Autopilot software “if no last-minute issues discovered”, Musk said in a Twitter post.
Musk said the update could have prevented the fatal accident that occurred in May while a Tesla Model S was driving in Autopilot.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which along with the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash that killed former Navy Seal Joshua Brown, would not comment. Mobileye develops computer vision and collision-avoidance systems for motor vehicles.
Tesla Motors has sued a man it said was the chief financial officer of a firm that works for the oil industry, accusing him of trying to impersonate Elon Musk in an e-mail to get non-public data about the auto maker. But Autopilot allowed drivers to take their hands off the wheel for short periods.
Tesla’s cars will also now be able to bounce their radar signals underneath any cars driving in front of them in order to see further ahead in the road and identify coming obstacles before the vehicle’s camera or even its driver. The company also says it has never claimed or implied that Autopilot makes cars fully autonomous.
“In recent years, oil companies have spent billions of dollars on legislative efforts and campaigns aimed at blocking progress toward electric cars and other sustainable energy solutions in the United States and overseas”, the lawsuit reads.
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“After careful consideration, we now believe [radar] can be used as a primary control sensor without requiring the camera to confirm visual image recognition”, wrote Musk, explaining the update will include more data points from the radar to create a 3D picture of the car’s surroundings.
