4 ms·

Not good enough. I think Tesla have a lot to answer for here. They are pushing the limits of a technology which Google has said, "needs to be 100% autonomous"

by tpatke 10y ago

Not good enough. I think Tesla have a lot to answer for here. They are pushing the limits of a technology which Google has said, "needs to be 100% autonomous". No steering wheel. Tesla knows this, but branded their car as 'auto-pilot' anyway. When it became clear from early youtube videos that people were not using the technology 'correctly' Tesla did nothing more than issuing a statement. They should be considering a recall. It is not good enough that Tesla PR is 'sad' that someone died. What are they doing about it?

Jaruzel 10y ago
They don't even have to do a recall; All Teslas can be updated (or in this case, downgraded) over the air. All they need to do is either learn from this and fix the 'white vehicle against a white sky' problem, or remove the 'auto-pilot' feature completely, until they actually develop proper auto-pilot. Paraphrasing from JFK: We choose to make auto-driving cars, not because it is easy, but because it is hard. There will be casulties along the way. Deaths are not a reason to stifle development. If we'd done that, we'd never have spaceflight or Vaccines (or Nuclear Weapons for that matter...) .
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
Aoyagi 10y ago
>When it became clear from early youtube videos that people were not using the technology 'correctly' Tesla did nothing more than issuing a statement. Is personal responsibility something that's completely taboo nowadays?
gargravarr 10y ago
Tesla actually use the correct term for it, the fundamental problem is a mass misunderstanding of what aircraft autopilot does. Autopilot in an airliner is capable of flying the plane on a set course in ideal conditions. This means good weather, no other air traffic in the vicinity and full feedback from its various sensors. As soon as the plane enters a scenario outside of which it's designed to operate, control is reverted to the human pilots. That's exactly how Tesla's system is designed. So long as the computers can account for the current scenario, the car drives itself, but it explicitly falls back on the human (who, like a pilot, must be ready to take command at any time). A trucker pulling out on a driver and blind-siding them falls outside the definition of 'ideal condition' in my book. I live in Europe where underrun guards are mandatory on all trailers. Sounds like one wasn't fitted here. That's likely more to blame for the fatality than Tesla's software or a distracted driver - let's face it, anyone could suffer a lapse in concentration at a critical moment on the road.
- farhanhubble 10y ago
  If a radar system mistakes a mammoth trailer for an overhead sign, there's clearly something wrong with it.
  - gargravarr 10y ago
    On the surface, yes, but what actually differentiates one large angular piece of metal from another to radar? Not much. The best option, as others have suggested, may well be for Tesla to incorporate LIDAR, but that means hardware changes to all its cars.

by tpatke 10y ago

Jaruzel 10y ago

They don't even have to do a recall; All Teslas can be updated (or in this case, downgraded) over the air. All they need to do is either learn from this and fix the 'white vehicle against a white sky' problem, or remove the 'auto-pilot' feature completely, until they actually develop proper auto-pilot. Paraphrasing from JFK: We choose to make auto-driving cars, not because it is easy, but because it is hard. There will be casulties along the way. Deaths are not a reason to stifle development. If we'd done that, we'd never have spaceflight or Vaccines (or Nuclear Weapons for that matter...) .

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

Aoyagi 10y ago

>When it became clear from early youtube videos that people were not using the technology 'correctly' Tesla did nothing more than issuing a statement. Is personal responsibility something that's completely taboo nowadays?

gargravarr 10y ago

Tesla actually use the correct term for it, the fundamental problem is a mass misunderstanding of what aircraft autopilot does. Autopilot in an airliner is capable of flying the plane on a set course in ideal conditions. This means good weather, no other air traffic in the vicinity and full feedback from its various sensors. As soon as the plane enters a scenario outside of which it's designed to operate, control is reverted to the human pilots. That's exactly how Tesla's system is designed. So long as the computers can account for the current scenario, the car drives itself, but it explicitly falls back on the human (who, like a pilot, must be ready to take command at any time). A trucker pulling out on a driver and blind-siding them falls outside the definition of 'ideal condition' in my book. I live in Europe where underrun guards are mandatory on all trailers. Sounds like one wasn't fitted here. That's likely more to blame for the fatality than Tesla's software or a distracted driver - let's face it, anyone could suffer a lapse in concentration at a critical moment on the road.

farhanhubble 10y ago
If a radar system mistakes a mammoth trailer for an overhead sign, there's clearly something wrong with it.
- gargravarr 10y ago
  On the surface, yes, but what actually differentiates one large angular piece of metal from another to radar? Not much. The best option, as others have suggested, may well be for Tesla to incorporate LIDAR, but that means hardware changes to all its cars.