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The sensors are inadequate for this particular situation. The problem for the car was that the obstacle was about five feet off the ground. The parking sensors

by chc 10y ago

The sensors are inadequate for this particular situation. The problem for the car was that the obstacle was about five feet off the ground. The parking sensors aren't adequate to deal with something floating in the air like that, so the car was oblivious to the fact that anything was there. There is a camera that could have seen it, but Summon apparently doesn't use the cameras, only the sensors. But with regards to how "humans need seconds, not milliseconds, to react to complex unexpected events": That actually doesn't seem to be a problem in this situation. This human evidently had seconds to deal with it. What appears to have happened here is that the guy somehow accidentally activated the feature, ignored the alert that came up, got out of the car and stood there as the car very slowly edged toward the trailer.

FireBeyond 10y ago
So Summon mode, which Tesla itself advertises as, amongst other things, a way by which your car can put itself in the garage (https://www.teslamotors.com/blog/summon-your-tesla-your-phone https://www.teslamotors.com/blog/summon-your-tesla-your-phon...), can't see objects that are not 'on the ground' but in the air, like, say, a Garage Door... Seems like something of an oversight.
- Animats 10y ago
  Especially since the PR reads "It will open the garage door and come to greet you." That implies sufficient sensing to detect garage door clearance. Going into a garage automatically, without sensing overhead or projecting objects, is going to cause problems. Especially since the user, who's probably behind the car at that point, is in the wrong place to see obstacles. (Oh, but it's "beta". No, Tesla, that doesn't excuse you.)
  - maratd 10y ago
    It is the responsibility of the driver to check to make sure the car has a clear path. In other words, you get out of the car, check to make sure everything is clear, then engage the feature. The sensors are only there to tell the car when to stop (as in, to sense the back of your garage). What if the guy activated regular vanilla cruise control and rammed into the truck. Would everybody be going off on Ford/GM/etc.? I doubt it.
    - FireBeyond 10y ago
      That's a little different. Tesla advertises the feature as you being able to walk away while the car parks itself (and in some promos, even opens and closes garage doors by itself). That's more than a little bit different from "careless on cruise control" (which, point of fact, most (new) cruise control systems will prevent due to those same sensors).
- Dylan16807 10y ago
  How often is your garage door halfway up and not moving? (If it's moving, it will hit the car anyway.) Sounds like a rare edge case to me.
  - FireBeyond 10y ago
    Not when you realize that one of the use cases from Tesla themselves is that the car can open the door and close it by itself. How does it know when it's safe or that there is clearance, moving or not?
rorosaurus 10y ago
You are correct. Summon can be improved by using the camera as well as other sensors. I expect we'll see that in the future. The other problem is a UI issue, from my perspective. Summon will automatically move forward after two presses of the stalk (one press is park). With being so easy to confuse with a park command, I think it would be imperative to have the user select "forward" or "backward" for summon to start, instead of assuming "forward". Otherwise perhaps better indication that the summon feature has been initiated?

by chc 10y ago

FireBeyond 10y ago

So Summon mode, which Tesla itself advertises as, amongst other things, a way by which your car can put itself in the garage (https://www.teslamotors.com/blog/summon-your-tesla-your-phone https://www.teslamotors.com/blog/summon-your-tesla-your-phon...), can't see objects that are not 'on the ground' but in the air, like, say, a Garage Door... Seems like something of an oversight.

Animats 10y ago
Especially since the PR reads "It will open the garage door and come to greet you." That implies sufficient sensing to detect garage door clearance. Going into a garage automatically, without sensing overhead or projecting objects, is going to cause problems. Especially since the user, who's probably behind the car at that point, is in the wrong place to see obstacles. (Oh, but it's "beta". No, Tesla, that doesn't excuse you.)
- maratd 10y ago
  It is the responsibility of the driver to check to make sure the car has a clear path. In other words, you get out of the car, check to make sure everything is clear, then engage the feature. The sensors are only there to tell the car when to stop (as in, to sense the back of your garage). What if the guy activated regular vanilla cruise control and rammed into the truck. Would everybody be going off on Ford/GM/etc.? I doubt it.
  - FireBeyond 10y ago
    That's a little different. Tesla advertises the feature as you being able to walk away while the car parks itself (and in some promos, even opens and closes garage doors by itself). That's more than a little bit different from "careless on cruise control" (which, point of fact, most (new) cruise control systems will prevent due to those same sensors).
Dylan16807 10y ago
How often is your garage door halfway up and not moving? (If it's moving, it will hit the car anyway.) Sounds like a rare edge case to me.
- FireBeyond 10y ago
  Not when you realize that one of the use cases from Tesla themselves is that the car can open the door and close it by itself. How does it know when it's safe or that there is clearance, moving or not?

rorosaurus 10y ago

You are correct. Summon can be improved by using the camera as well as other sensors. I expect we'll see that in the future. The other problem is a UI issue, from my perspective. Summon will automatically move forward after two presses of the stalk (one press is park). With being so easy to confuse with a park command, I think it would be imperative to have the user select "forward" or "backward" for summon to start, instead of assuming "forward". Otherwise perhaps better indication that the summon feature has been initiated?