Cars may not be smart enough to drive themselves in all environments just yet but Tesla has announced that will equip all Tesla cars being produced (including the Model-3) with “Full Self-Driving Hardware“!
“All Tesla Cars Being Produced Now Have Full Self-Driving Hardware” – Tesla Team
Preparing for the Self-Driving Car Era
“… Eight surround cameras provide 360 degree visibility around the car at up to 250 meters of range. Twelve updated ultrasonic sensors complement this vision, allowing for detection of both hard and soft objects at nearly twice the distance of the prior system. A forward-facing radar with enhanced processing provides additional data about the world on a redundant wavelength, capable of seeing through heavy rain, fog, dust and even the car ahead.” – Tesla Team
Tesla is arguably the leader (currently) in self-driving car tech, thanks mainly in part to its customers who have been helping test one AutoPilot feature improvement after the other. But one has to also give credit to Elon Musk and Tesla for thinking ahead and equipping every single Tesla car sold earlier with the tech required for building maps for self-driving cars (Related: Tesla enters map making business. What does it mean for the industry?).
Elon has upped the ante by having all future Tesla cars equipped with “Full Self-Driving Hardware“. At the beginning, Teslas fitted with the new hardware will not have all the current AutoPilot features but this is expected to change as the new software that will used with it is validated.
Should mention that retrofitting to full self-driving hardware is very difficult. Cost delta is more than buying a new car. Wish it weren't.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 20, 2016
Shadow Mode
While the rest of the Automotive industry will have to be contend with testing their self-driving car software and sensors using a limited fleet or simulations, Tesla is going to be collecting millions of hours worth of real-world driving data! Tesla isn’t just stopping at collecting the data, they are planning to keep the AutoPilot feature running in the shadows so that they gather data to evaluate the performance of the software. (Related: Tesla’s new Autopilot will run in ‘shadow mode’ to prove that it’s safer than human driving).
Tesla is planning to demonstrate its progress by having its self-driving car to do a road trip from LA to New York (autonomously of course)!
Tesla expects to demonstrate self-driven cross-country trip next year https://t.co/YTxMUT3hWq via @WSJ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 20, 2016
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Metro maps are beautiful. Do you also get hypnotized by public transit maps when waiting for a metro? There is something in them… They push geographic accuracy aside but somehow they are more understandable than topographic maps. The harmonic strings are put together in logical and balanced order. The simple rainbow colors marking each line are so familiar and easy to read that you can’t take your eyes out of it…
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