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The late launch of a new feature of its semi-autonomous driving system called Tesla's "Navigate on Autopilot" puzzled me, if only because it had been introduced to the world, but also by the functionality itself. tells you in which way you should be, when he is not going to drive entirely alone?
Tesla invited us to New Jersey last week to plead his case, and now, I can say, I understood him well. It's good. But if Navigate on Autopilot is a useful step for commuters, it highlights how long it will take for full autonomy to be achieved.
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Yes, the Google Waymo today carries passengers in driverless cars in Arizona (and soon to California), and the low-speed driverless shuttles are now operating in very limited capacities. But while 2017 has been a year of tech hype, this past year has shown how slow and difficult the transition would be for companies trying to develop it – even if it reached a gigantic level.
According to Tesla's approach, reaching the theoretical day of full autonomy will be done in stages, and that's what Navigate on Autopilot is: a small step forward.
How it works
My assistant editor, Mike Ballaban, made the trip with me to New Jersey, which is good because we are both in the office who usually wonder if the autopilot needs to be developed in a more conservative system, like the GM Super Cruise. would suggest – or, as Ballaban would like, to keep things as they are, leaving the driver the responsibility to pay attention, as has always been the case.
After spending an hour in a model 3 testing functionality, I am convinced that this is an improvement on both fronts.
Take, for example, the notification that appears when you try to launch Navigate with Autopilot. It indicates that your car will not be transformed into a totally autonomous system: "Navigating the autopilot does not make your model 3 standalone. As with other features of the autopilot, the driver is always responsible for the car at all times. Very clear and straightforward, contrary to the somewhat fuzzy description of the options she had marketed and sold by Tesla in the past.
First, you must enable the feature in the settings menu, where four settings are chosen for lane-based lane changes, including Mild, Average, or Mad Max. There is an option for "disabled", which is fine if you simply want to use the system feature that suggests the path in which you should find yourself. On my route, we used Mad Max, but it was not as aggressive as it looks.
Once you have specified a route to a destination, a button appears in the detailed instruction list that says Navigate with autopilot. Once used, the collection of eight cameras, 12 ultrasonic sensors, a car computer and a car radar works with Tesla map data. The central screen of the car displays a single blue line.
One of the most important changes here is how the car makes a lane change. With Autopilot Navigate, the vehicle will automatically enter a recommended lane change suggested by the system, as long as the driver confirms it by activating the turn signal. Tesla asks the driver to check if the lane is clear and the vehicle itself will determine if it is safe to change lanes. Consumer Reports has encountered a problem on this front, claiming that the system "sometimes recommended the driver to initiate a passing maneuver that would prevent a vehicle traveling faster from getting closer – a common situation that drivers might encounter when driving. they are stuck behind a slower vehicle. "
How did it go?
We did not experience such a situation on our record, but the system worked both gracefully and in the manner of a student pilot, depending on the situation.
With little traffic, the car easily changes lanes and that's the value of the updated system. It's easier to get from point A to point B, whether it's a highway or a road, thanks to the system that guides you through the traffic.
But there will always be congestion, and when we have more loaded problems, this is where the limitations of Navigate on Autopilot will become obvious. At one point, during a demonstration with a representative of Tesla at the wheel, the system asked us to change lanes, but a car was in our blind spot. This caused the car to oscillate several times and the representative regained control of the steering wheel.
In another case, we drove about 60 mph on the highway, as we approached a dump truck trying to merge from the right. The truck tried to merge, but the system told us that we had to stay that way. The truck was moving slowly and, for some reason, was causing the activation of the model 3 automatic brakes. It was strange. But Tesla warns, as always, that the feature is in "beta" mode and indicates that the system is designed to improve as more data is collected.
As Tesla indicates that the system will eventually make changes automatically without pilot intervention, it is important to point out that it is already reported as a possible problem. (In addition, Ballaban and I found that the auto-track function of the autopilot was much more choppy than we had been able to recall in previous Tesla tests.)
Lane changes based on speed are designed to help drivers maintain a steady flow on the road. So, if your adaptive cruise control speed is set to 70 mph and the car in front of you is set to 65 km / h, the system will suggest you to go to the left lane. In a blog post, Tesla explains in the Soft parameter, lane change suggestions occur when traveling at a much slower speed, while Mad Max launches a suggested lane change when you fall a few kilometers under your regulator. of speed. Consumer Reports rightly pointed out that the system was not proposing to get you back to your original track, which made terrible pilots like terrible pigs in the left lane, but Tesla told the point of sale that future bets would suggest that drivers return to the departure lane.
The system is also designed to automatically take outputs, arguably the most impressive addition here, in terms of technological capabilities in a commercially available care service today. At these times, the system warns the driver in the center of the dashboard that it's time to regain control of the car.
And after
Ending a trip with Autopilot Navigator is quite simple because it is designed to operate only in locations defined by the Tesla system. There is an automated function higher than normal at this point: if there is a fork in the exit, the car will automatically go in the right way, which, honestly, passed quickly and threw me for a loop at first, but it was seamless transition.
Once you get off the highway, it goes off and the driver is supposed to regain control of the wheel.
For me, the addition of lane change suggestions should, in theory, facilitate travel in unknown terrain. When you approach a motorway exit, for example, it's more than welcome. Model 3, at least on our driveway, is in the right lane with enough time in front of us to go out, which makes driving much easier.
Although I fully agree with Ballaban that the system – used as described by Tesla – works perfectly and that part of the question is idiotic idle drivers, Tesla's owners have shown so far that, regardless of the type of warning issued by Tesla, they will continue to push the autopilot beyond its limits.
That said, clear warnings about Navigate by Autopilot's limitations are a welcome addition, and Tesla says the system will become more efficient as more cars hit the road, allowing it to collect more data. This is a step in the right direction for the builder.
But even though Tesla continues to offer a $ 3,000 total auto-drive capability option to homeowners who request it, our test drive has shown how far automakers need to get away from driving to fully autonomous driving. a reality in the United States.
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