US agency opens formal probe into Tesla Autopilot system
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began an official safety review of Tesla’s autopilot system after several electric car crashes. Today we take a look at this issue and try to figure it out!
Tesla shares are down 1.8% in U.S. premarket trading. U.S.-based Tesla Motors was founded in 2003 as a developer and manufacturer of electric cars and related technologies. The company is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. In addition to electric cars, the company produces batteries and electric motors using its own technology and sells to other car companies, in particular Toyota and Daimler.
Tesla
Autonomous cars are no longer something fantastic. We have all witnessed the arrival of a real revolution in the world of automated cars, and Tesla, at this stage, is the brand that is closest to achieving the ultimate goal.
While Mercedes-Benz and other automakers have been experimenting with autonomous vehicles since the 1980s, it was the suddenly emerging Tesla startup that became the first automaker to make a commercially available system that came closest to realizing the dream of millions of visionaries of the past that would allow cars to drive themselves, even without the driver having to keep his hands on the wheel.
For example, on advanced Mercedes-Benz models with similar systems available, the person behind the wheel has to keep their hands on the wheel while the feature is on, just in case of emergencies. Tesla as we can see has gone further, made the dream a reality…, and almost immediately took a step back. Although Tesla’s autonomous system didn’t initially need it, the company had to enforce the standard position in the driver’s seat, with hands on the steering wheel. Engineers had to make the retreat because of hooligans behind the wheel, what not only did people do, including this feature on the Model S, filming the outrageousness on video and posting their shenanigans on the Internet.
Autopilot
The lightning-fast transition from entry-level to advanced was made possible by the fact that the car initially already had a wide range of sensors and unified equipment on board. Most of the organs were controlled electronically, so it was much easier to adapt the system to computer control. As in the aviation industry, every system is duplicated, so the car’s autopilot is a very reliable circuit that can almost never fail. It is likely that the duplication strategy will be used by every automaker creating autonomous vehicles in the future.
For now, Tesla can’t completely eliminate human presence behind the wheel, but Elon Musk has big plans for the evolving system. It is even claimed that a little time will pass and a version of the car will be made capable of driving independently from one U.S. coast to another and even recharging itself along the way.
What the Autopilot Feature Is Capable of Doing?
Any of the Tesla models on which Autopilot is installed can stay within its lane, moving autonomously on the road, avoiding collisions by braking and steering, finding a parking spot and parking, regulating its speed depending on the traffic, including until the vehicle stops and rearranging itself at the driver’s request, just turn on the turn signal. What makes the Tesla unique is that it can already do this whole set of functions, whereas some cars on the market can only do certain things from the list.
Another really smart thing about the autopilot system is its learning function. Every model equipped with an autopilot system maintains real-time feedback from the Tesla cloud, through which the company is constantly improving the system and improving each car’s behavior. Other automakers don’t have this important link in their cars with semi-autonomous capabilities.
What Tesla Plans to Do with Autopilot?
According to statements by Elon Musk, Tesla is three years away from offering a “Summon” feature that would allow an electric car to drive from the West Coast to the East Coast and vice versa. Since this American company has shown impressive progress compared to other automakers, we believe that there is a high probability that the conceived plan will be implemented, but not necessarily in the time frame mentioned by Musk.
Tesla will be able to provide a car capable of driving not only in the United States or Europe, it is quite possible that a little time will pass and this autonomous electric car will be able to travel all the way from Karelia to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The only feature that will not yet be available on the Russian route is the car’s automatic recharging. Russian users will have to make do with power outlets, because even in the U.S., the development of the network of charging stations leaves much to be desired. The development of super-fast electric charging stations will be the next most important step in the promotion of the brand’s electric cars, especially for the high-powered versions of the Model S and X.
That’s It!
A car with autopilot is considered to be the next generation of transport and the dream of many motorists: after all, to get to the right place, it will not be necessary to turn the steering wheel. Sit in the cabin and sleep, the car will get to the right place by itself. In fact, autopilot for civilian cars already exists. But as we can see, autopilot does not always save the lives of passengers.