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The same way traditional cruise control reduces the strain of driving by allowing you to not constantly exert force on the accelerator pedal using your leg/foot

by cynix 8y ago

The same way traditional cruise control reduces the strain of driving by allowing you to not constantly exert force on the accelerator pedal using your leg/foot, Autopilot reduces the strain of driving by allowing you to not constantly exert force on the steering wheel using your arms/hands.

abalone 8y ago
But you don’t “constantly” exert force on the steering wheel. You only exert force when turning. Otherwise you are just resting your hands on it, same as autopilot. It’s not like the accelerator pedal at all. Again the only significant reduction would seem to be in the mental load of paying attention.
- cynix 8y ago
  > But you don’t “constantly” exert force on the steering wheel. You only exert force when turning. Otherwise you are just resting your hands on it Even if you're driving on a perfectly straight road, you're not just resting your hands on the steering wheel, you're constantly adjusting it to keep the car travelling straight. Most roads aren't even that straight to begin with, so even more constant adjustments are required.
  - abalone 8y ago
    Ok, so micro-adjustments are automated. But those don’t require much force and it’s certainly not constant. The only constant load is the attention required. I.e. paying attention to straying from the lane. Thus if you’re feeling a big relief, it’s because you’re paying less attention to the road. No?
- syrrim 8y ago
  Roads naturally go through turns and bends. You need to manually turn the wheel through these bends. You also have lane switching to avoid a slower driver, which tesla does automatically.
chrismorgan 8y ago
I find the benefit of cruise control is that in normal situations in country driving (over 90% of my driving) I can now completely ignore the speedometer, and consequently the entire dashboard, and don’t need to worry about adjusting my foot on the accelerator pedal to match the speed limit. Cruise control thus allowed me to focus more fully on the road, and increased my perceived safety.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
bjelkeman-again 8y ago
Indeed, you can concentrate on the overall traffic whilst being aware of exactly what the car is doing through the feedback in the wheel. I think of it as overseeing the work. Also there are long stretches of driving which are with no or few cars around, where the car doesn’t do much interaction with other traffic, and stop and go queues where the speed is very slow. In both those situations not much happens where you would need to intervene. It is less effort driving.
- abalone 8y ago
  How is “concentrating on the overall traffic” substantially different than concentrating during regular driving, unless it is less focused or attentive somehow? Aren’t you taking your attention away to a degree from the nitty gritty of tracking the obstacles in front of you and staying in lane? Citing the “long stretches with no cars” case really worries me that you are in fact paying less attention. It is not only traffic that you need to worry about hitting.
  - bjelkeman-again 8y ago
    In my experience the answer to the second question is: no. Part of the brain, which would otherwise be occupied with the details of physically driving can now supervise instead. You should try it.
mjevans 8y ago
The only thing I've ever found Cruise Control useful for is avoiding a traffic ticket. If I see a police officer patrolling it's a tool I can use to go at slightly under the posted speed and only worry about traffic around me. When using the cruise control I find I actually have to pay /more/ attention to the vehicle actively, as I need to be aware of when to cut off an external (otherwise) uncontrolled system. If I'm controlling acceleration it's handled by more unconscious portions of my mind. I'm also a much more alert driver and far more aware of my present state of tiredness when I have to maintain interaction with the vehicle directly, including minute adjustments in speed with the accelerator.
- SriniK 8y ago
  There is a huge difference between Adaptive Cruise Control and regular Cruise Control. I agree completely with you on Cruise Control, however with adaptive, stress level is low there is no comparison. I use it pretty much every single day in my commute.
234998234 8y ago
>allowing you to not constantly exert force on the steering wheel using your arms/hands. This is not the benefit of autopilot because this task requires virtually no effort to begin with and you still need your hands on the wheel anyway. The real strain in driving is the mental strain, and that is why people turn it on. The reality is that Telsa is using humans to iron out the bugs in their fully autonomous vehicles and legal clauses to get them out of the fact that they are killing people. I have a car with all of those new safety features like warnings about cars to your side as you change lanes, warnings about cars driving past as you reverse out of a car park and so on. The reality is that you stop performing the roles that the car starts performing. You stop looking as much when you reverse out of a car park because you trust the beeping noise will occur if a car is coming along, and so on. It is just human nature to start relying on something that works every time you use it. I don't really feel sorry for anyone driving a tesla though. They are the ones choosing to be Tesla's bug testers.
- imh 8y ago
  >I don't really feel sorry for anyone driving a tesla though. They are the ones choosing to be Tesla's bug testers. They're only doing that if it's an informed choice. I think Tesla's marketing is to blame, and think it's not an informed choice, so I do feel bad for the people getting in accidents (and the few dying) because of it.
  - 234998234 8y ago
    A lot of users seem to know what they are getting into though. https://youtu.be/QM5z0dW60KE?t=279 https://youtu.be/QM5z0dW60KE?t=279
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- ddoolin 8y ago
  If your car is outfitted with all of those same features, why is Tesla different? This exact news and discussion has popped up enough times among "ordinary folk" that nobody is really fooled (and I don't agree that was Tesla's motive) about the capabilities. If they are, I'm chalking it up to negligence. Tesla drivers are given ample warning from Tesla themselves, their cars, the news, and our social circles.

by cynix 8y ago

abalone 8y ago

But you don’t “constantly” exert force on the steering wheel. You only exert force when turning. Otherwise you are just resting your hands on it, same as autopilot. It’s not like the accelerator pedal at all. Again the only significant reduction would seem to be in the mental load of paying attention.

cynix 8y ago
> But you don’t “constantly” exert force on the steering wheel. You only exert force when turning. Otherwise you are just resting your hands on it Even if you're driving on a perfectly straight road, you're not just resting your hands on the steering wheel, you're constantly adjusting it to keep the car travelling straight. Most roads aren't even that straight to begin with, so even more constant adjustments are required.
- abalone 8y ago
  Ok, so micro-adjustments are automated. But those don’t require much force and it’s certainly not constant. The only constant load is the attention required. I.e. paying attention to straying from the lane. Thus if you’re feeling a big relief, it’s because you’re paying less attention to the road. No?
syrrim 8y ago
Roads naturally go through turns and bends. You need to manually turn the wheel through these bends. You also have lane switching to avoid a slower driver, which tesla does automatically.

chrismorgan 8y ago

I find the benefit of cruise control is that in normal situations in country driving (over 90% of my driving) I can now completely ignore the speedometer, and consequently the entire dashboard, and don’t need to worry about adjusting my foot on the accelerator pedal to match the speed limit. Cruise control thus allowed me to focus more fully on the road, and increased my perceived safety.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

bjelkeman-again 8y ago

Indeed, you can concentrate on the overall traffic whilst being aware of exactly what the car is doing through the feedback in the wheel. I think of it as overseeing the work. Also there are long stretches of driving which are with no or few cars around, where the car doesn’t do much interaction with other traffic, and stop and go queues where the speed is very slow. In both those situations not much happens where you would need to intervene. It is less effort driving.

abalone 8y ago
How is “concentrating on the overall traffic” substantially different than concentrating during regular driving, unless it is less focused or attentive somehow? Aren’t you taking your attention away to a degree from the nitty gritty of tracking the obstacles in front of you and staying in lane? Citing the “long stretches with no cars” case really worries me that you are in fact paying less attention. It is not only traffic that you need to worry about hitting.
- bjelkeman-again 8y ago
  In my experience the answer to the second question is: no. Part of the brain, which would otherwise be occupied with the details of physically driving can now supervise instead. You should try it.

mjevans 8y ago

The only thing I've ever found Cruise Control useful for is avoiding a traffic ticket. If I see a police officer patrolling it's a tool I can use to go at slightly under the posted speed and only worry about traffic around me. When using the cruise control I find I actually have to pay /more/ attention to the vehicle actively, as I need to be aware of when to cut off an external (otherwise) uncontrolled system. If I'm controlling acceleration it's handled by more unconscious portions of my mind. I'm also a much more alert driver and far more aware of my present state of tiredness when I have to maintain interaction with the vehicle directly, including minute adjustments in speed with the accelerator.

SriniK 8y ago
There is a huge difference between Adaptive Cruise Control and regular Cruise Control. I agree completely with you on Cruise Control, however with adaptive, stress level is low there is no comparison. I use it pretty much every single day in my commute.

234998234 8y ago

>allowing you to not constantly exert force on the steering wheel using your arms/hands. This is not the benefit of autopilot because this task requires virtually no effort to begin with and you still need your hands on the wheel anyway. The real strain in driving is the mental strain, and that is why people turn it on. The reality is that Telsa is using humans to iron out the bugs in their fully autonomous vehicles and legal clauses to get them out of the fact that they are killing people. I have a car with all of those new safety features like warnings about cars to your side as you change lanes, warnings about cars driving past as you reverse out of a car park and so on. The reality is that you stop performing the roles that the car starts performing. You stop looking as much when you reverse out of a car park because you trust the beeping noise will occur if a car is coming along, and so on. It is just human nature to start relying on something that works every time you use it. I don't really feel sorry for anyone driving a tesla though. They are the ones choosing to be Tesla's bug testers.

imh 8y ago
>I don't really feel sorry for anyone driving a tesla though. They are the ones choosing to be Tesla's bug testers. They're only doing that if it's an informed choice. I think Tesla's marketing is to blame, and think it's not an informed choice, so I do feel bad for the people getting in accidents (and the few dying) because of it.
- 234998234 8y ago
  A lot of users seem to know what they are getting into though. https://youtu.be/QM5z0dW60KE?t=279 https://youtu.be/QM5z0dW60KE?t=279
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
ddoolin 8y ago
If your car is outfitted with all of those same features, why is Tesla different? This exact news and discussion has popped up enough times among "ordinary folk" that nobody is really fooled (and I don't agree that was Tesla's motive) about the capabilities. If they are, I'm chalking it up to negligence. Tesla drivers are given ample warning from Tesla themselves, their cars, the news, and our social circles.