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real autopilot on an airplane is just keeping it in a straight line and constant speed - much less advanced than tesla's autopilot features. autopilot is notor

real autopilot on an airplane is just keeping it in a straight line and constant speed - much less advanced than tesla's autopilot features. autopilot is notoriously stupid, that's why "operating on autopilot" is a metaphor for the mindset that causes careless mistakes. as a name, it's a pretty good descriptor for what the system actually does. the misleading part is all the other marketing telsa does around it, and the muddying of the line between autopilot and full self-driving.

beckingz 4y ago
Modern autopilots can autoland a plane. The systems have enough limitations that they are usually not used except in extreme low visibility situations.
mulmen 4y ago
> real autopilot on an airplane is just keeping it in a straight line and constant speed - much less advanced than tesla's autopilot features The fact you think this is exactly why Tesla’s naming choice is so dangerous. Even antiquated general aviation autopilots can intercept headings and change elevation. This is capability that has existed for decades. GA planes are getting the capability to land now. Airliners have been able to land themselves for decades.
- jhgb 4y ago
  Whether "[intercepting] headings and [changing] elevation" is meaningful improvement when the real issue is situational awareness of the automated system (which is obviously the problem with Tesla's system, or any currently existing vehicle automation, really) seems dubious to me. The ability to change altitude instead of just keeping the flight level will not help the automated system avoid an airplane that comes out of nowhere because it's not an environment sensing feature -- it's just a feedback control feature. I strongly suspect that what is controversial about automated car driving systems is not their inability to follow a fixed pre-determined trajectory.
  - mulmen 4y ago
    Well flying and driving don’t have much in common so the comparisons break down fast. Airplanes operate in a completely different environment than cars. Airplanes have radar and radios onboard and rely on ground based information and pre-planning for traffic avoidance. It’s a completely different system. GM’s vision of self driving cars looked a lot more like the air traffic control system than Tesla’s autopilot. https://youtu.be/cPOmuvFostY https://youtu.be/cPOmuvFostY
martin8412 4y ago
Absolutely untrue. They can follow a preprogrammed path and can land themselves if the airport has the correct equipment, which most do.
_moof 4y ago
> real autopilot on an airplane is just keeping it in a straight line and constant speed Not even close. Even light aircraft autopilots can fly a full route from just after takeoff all the way to 200' AGL on final approach. Autopilots in transport category aircraft have full autoland including rollout.
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beckingz 4y ago

Modern autopilots can autoland a plane. The systems have enough limitations that they are usually not used except in extreme low visibility situations.

mulmen 4y ago

> real autopilot on an airplane is just keeping it in a straight line and constant speed - much less advanced than tesla's autopilot features The fact you think this is exactly why Tesla’s naming choice is so dangerous. Even antiquated general aviation autopilots can intercept headings and change elevation. This is capability that has existed for decades. GA planes are getting the capability to land now. Airliners have been able to land themselves for decades.

jhgb 4y ago
Whether "[intercepting] headings and [changing] elevation" is meaningful improvement when the real issue is situational awareness of the automated system (which is obviously the problem with Tesla's system, or any currently existing vehicle automation, really) seems dubious to me. The ability to change altitude instead of just keeping the flight level will not help the automated system avoid an airplane that comes out of nowhere because it's not an environment sensing feature -- it's just a feedback control feature. I strongly suspect that what is controversial about automated car driving systems is not their inability to follow a fixed pre-determined trajectory.
- mulmen 4y ago
  Well flying and driving don’t have much in common so the comparisons break down fast. Airplanes operate in a completely different environment than cars. Airplanes have radar and radios onboard and rely on ground based information and pre-planning for traffic avoidance. It’s a completely different system. GM’s vision of self driving cars looked a lot more like the air traffic control system than Tesla’s autopilot. https://youtu.be/cPOmuvFostY https://youtu.be/cPOmuvFostY

martin8412 4y ago

Absolutely untrue. They can follow a preprogrammed path and can land themselves if the airport has the correct equipment, which most do.

_moof 4y ago

> real autopilot on an airplane is just keeping it in a straight line and constant speed Not even close. Even light aircraft autopilots can fly a full route from just after takeoff all the way to 200' AGL on final approach. Autopilots in transport category aircraft have full autoland including rollout.

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