Tesla's latest self-driving video shows how its autonomous system sees the world

[Shawn Knight]

Tesla last month published a video demonstrating the capabilities of its current-generation autonomous driving system. While impressive, the clip only showed what the system could do, not how it goes about doing it.

With its latest video, Tesla provides an inside look at how its self-driving platform views and interprets the many obstacles it encounters during a typical outing.

The original clip straight from Tesla (embedded above) is set to Paint It, Black by The Rolling Stones and sped up a bit (as to not bore viewers, I suppose). Fortunately, Electrek came across a version on YouTube in which the footage has been slowed down to near real-time which makes things a bit easier to digest.

Found is a TechSpot feature where we share clever, funny or otherwise interesting stuff from around the web.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/67113-tesla-latest-self-driving-video-shows-how-autonomous.html

 

[Bigtruckseries]

Someday it will get smart and the HUD will show: kill all humans.

 

[pbgben]

Someday it will get smart and the HUD will show: kill all humans.

KillHumans = false (0)

All it takes is a software bug or a solar flair and boom.. KillHumans = true (1)

I guess the Humans will need to be on the road, like Sharks in the water... Stay on the boat and your safe.

http://I.giphy.com/McqbbrDuy9olO.gif

 

[Kenrick]

Great video! I was really impressed and believe that they are the leader in autonomous driving as of now.

 

[Uncle Al]

I did notice in the video that on several occasions the car executed a 90 degree turn, then stopped, then returned to normal operations. I played it backwards but could not distinguish why it stopped. Can't agree with them being the leader in autonomous driving since there are a number of other companies ahead of them and don't even get me started talking about the stuff that DARPA has funded....of course, we don't get to see a lot of it .... LOL

 

[Slidexx01]

I agree with Uncle Al, very unpredictable stops. Why would you want to stop if there are pedestrians on sidewalk. Now imagine some human driving behind and not being aware, he will bump in to Tesla car.
To handle these kind of situations all vehicles will need to be self driven.
Oh and don't get me started with sensor failures. One busted camera and your Tesla is blind and I bet fixing it, will not be cheap.
And then there are system updates. Just like NVIDIA driver updates, you will get an update and system will stop working or KillAllHumans will be set to true. And a day later they will post a hotfix. Very interesting way to live a life.
I lose my mind when my computer is not working as it should and I can not imagine having that level of frustration with a car.
Happy "driving" to all Tesla owners, I will stick with manual mode forever because I want to be in control.

 

[trgz]

The pausing for runners at around 1:30 was a trifle over-cautious and could cause a 'drivered' car behind to have a moment.

 

[Nobina]

Someday it will get smart and the HUD will show: kill all humans.

Someday you will get funny.

 

[wastedkill]

I agree with Uncle Al, very unpredictable stops. Why would you want to stop if there are pedestrians on sidewalk. Now imagine some human driving behind and not being aware, he will bump in to Tesla car.
To handle these kind of situations all vehicles will need to be self driven.
Oh and don't get me started with sensor failures. One busted camera and your Tesla is blind and I bet fixing it, will not be cheap.
And then there are system updates. Just like NVIDIA driver updates, you will get an update and system will stop working or KillAllHumans will be set to true. And a day later they will post a hotfix. Very interesting way to live a life.
I lose my mind when my computer is not working as it should and I can not imagine having that level of frustration with a car.
Happy "driving" to all Tesla owners, I will stick with manual mode forever because I want to be in control.

You seem to have a hard time grasping things... Like how AI kills humans already and how our nuclear arsenal is controlled by AI effectively...

 

[DLBU1]

Very very cool. skynet is right behind the corner.

 

[stewi0001]

Couple Observations:

1:38 The front camera did not recognize the orange cones as objects. I don't know if this is intentional or not since they were on the double yellow line.

2:19 The front camera did not recognize the dogs as objects, which would be concerning if the dogs or something equivalent jumped out. It could be possible that it referred them to the human object as well.

Please note I'm not expecting it to be perfect already. I was very impressed.
I'm hoping this will be stuff to improve on.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

I have so many questions about this stuff...

Can it predict things? Like the proverbial ball bouncing down a driveway followed by a chasing child - can it predict that it will be in your path in 2 seconds, or will it not know to stop until there's something in the way? (this actually happened to me the other day)

The dreaded 4-way stop sign... Everyone has experienced that joy when you get to a 4-way stop at the nearly the same time as someone else and you do that thing where you look at each other like *****s and then one of you waves the other person to go first.

Or what about freeway merging... will a Tesla slow down and let someone in if it sees someone in the next lane with a blinker on? If so - what's to stop people from just watching for an autonomous car when they want to cruise down the exit lane in traffic and then merge at the last second? People with autonomous cars will just be cut off all the time because it'll be easy to do.

 

[ckLee]

Great video! I was really impressed and believe that they are the leader in autonomous driving as of now.

I think google still has a leg up on tesla. They have much more time logged with their autonomous cars. all that extra data + their intimate knowledge of mapping and road topography give them a clear edge.

 

[Bigtruckseries]

Someday you will get funny.

My post has more likes than yours.

So what you got to say about that?

Bow down to President Trump...

 

[Bigtruckseries]

I think google still has a leg up on tesla. They have much more time logged with their autonomous cars. all that extra data + their intimate knowledge of mapping and road topography give them a clear edge.

Google car = a ridiculous looking "mouse" of a car.

Tesla = A Jaguar XF on steroids.

Call me when Google actually builds a car worthy of actually looking in the general direction of.

What they really ought to do is offer a Google automation package in cars with adequate sensors, electric steering and collision avoidance technology so they can have autonomous driving without getting stuck in a sh***y EV.

I'd love to see my Hellcat Charger pass someone on its own - at 105 mph.

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

I agree with Uncle Al, very unpredictable stops. Why would you want to stop if there are pedestrians on sidewalk. Now imagine some human driving behind and not being aware, he will bump in to Tesla car.

The Tesla is I believe breaking the law as stopping in the middle of the road for no reason would be considered blocking traffic. Unpredictability, such as this, is what causes a lot of vehicle collisions. Now that being said, it is every drivers responsibility to have a safe following distance and to of course be paying attention to what is going on. So if you are a good driver you wouldn't bump into the Tesla even if it does make unpredictable actions. However the Tesla would still, I imagine, likely be found at fault if such an incident went to court.

On another note why are these videos at like 10x speed? Are they trying to make it difficult for you to analyze and them point out all the flaws? ...because there are plenty of them. It is impressive the progress they are making but there are still a lot of things that need improved. One thing in particular I think will be a constant annoyance is the vehicle sticking right on that speed limit. Lane placement when coming to an intersection also seems to be an issue for their software, as it doesn't even appear to see lane separations a lot of the time. Honestly this thing is all over the place, I wouldn't trust it yet. I know it can only improve with actual use but I'd keep it in slow-moving environments. I don't want this thing in control on a two lane highway where speeds are over 45 MPH.

 

[cartera]

I think google still has a leg up on tesla. They have much more time logged with their autonomous cars. all that extra data + their intimate knowledge of mapping and road topography give them a clear edge.

Google car = a ridiculous looking "mouse" of a car.

Tesla = A Jaguar XF on steroids.

Call me when Google actually builds a car worthy of actually looking in the general direction of.

What they really ought to do is offer a Google automation package in cars with adequate sensors, electric steering and collision avoidance technology so they can have autonomous driving without getting stuck in a sh***y EV.

I'd love to see my Hellcat Charger pass someone on its own - at 105 mph.

Tesla are doing very well don't get me wrong but a Jag XF on steroids? It looks like a old Ford Mondeo with an upgraded interior. You can pull a clueless blonde in a Jag, in a Tesla however you wouldn't get a second look. Excuse the stereotype internet police, I think you know where I'm going.

 

[jimmy.j]

Great technology, I can see so much potential for elderly, blind people, party people with too much alcohol consumed, people too tired to drive but continue, those who wish to text while eating... I didn't see any indication of overhead detection when trees were coming up. Are there currently active sensors to keep cars from driving under 16 wheelers, parking garages with obstruction overhead...? I would like to see how it handles heavy rain and high winds with materials blowing around ( something like a gallon plastic container or larger, tumble weed... a large but empty garbage bag coming out of a truck bed ).

This will give freedom to so many who can not drive safely but still retain their license.

 

[JamesSWD]

I did notice in the video that on several occasions the car executed a 90 degree turn, then stopped, then returned to normal operations. I played it backwards but could not distinguish why it stopped. Can't agree with them being the leader in autonomous driving since there are a number of other companies ahead of them and don't even get me started talking about the stuff that DARPA has funded....of course, we don't get to see a lot of it .... LOL

I noticed that too.

 

[JamesSWD]

I agree with Uncle Al, very unpredictable stops. Why would you want to stop if there are pedestrians on sidewalk. Now imagine some human driving behind and not being aware, he will bump in to Tesla car.
To handle these kind of situations all vehicles will need to be self driven.
Oh and don't get me started with sensor failures. One busted camera and your Tesla is blind and I bet fixing it, will not be cheap.
And then there are system updates. Just like NVIDIA driver updates, you will get an update and system will stop working or KillAllHumans will be set to true. And a day later they will post a hotfix. Very interesting way to live a life.
I lose my mind when my computer is not working as it should and I can not imagine having that level of frustration with a car.
Happy "driving" to all Tesla owners, I will stick with manual mode forever because I want to be in control.

You seem to have a hard time grasping things... Like how AI kills humans already and how our nuclear arsenal is controlled by AI effectively...

You're failing to grasp the realities that he's pointing out and that concern us all. What he said is absolutely true and on a more significant level. A bad video driver update for a PC won't kill anyone. A bad update for an autonomous driving system can kill someone. And your uncited examples of AI killing people already, creating some sort of relativism that makes it ok, isn't a way to defend your position.