Tesla to replace parking sensors with vision

[CheesecakeRunner]

Much as I think my Model 3 is great, this now rules out another or a Y as a replacement. I just don’t trust them to get this right after the recent mess of vision with adaptive cruise and forcing in auto high beams that don’t work very well.

https://www.tesla.com/support/transitioning-tesla-...

[CheesecakeRunner]

GLS said:

Let me get this right, you're not planning on purchasing another Tesla because of the tech they use for parking sensors?

Have you forgotten how to drive without driver aids?

I knew there’d be one. Of course not.

I’m potentially not buying another very expensive car from Tesla, because they’re proving, based on my current one, to be rolling out substandard features. Their goal of using vision for everything is making them blind (sorry!) to existing, proven, working ways of doing things. I want the features of my car, whatever they are, to work. Not to be a software engineer’s playground. And I write that as a software engineer!

[CheesecakeRunner]

Funkstar De Luxe said:

It's not about cost saving - well not in parts, anyway. It's about trying to reduce the complexity of systems and the complexity of the electrical platform.

Thing is, they’re replacing it with incredibly complex software, and it’s a fallacy that software is cheaper to create than hardware.

Feels to me like it’s a philosophical decision by Tesla, rather than a cost one. “Human work fine with binocular vision, therefore machine can to”. Ignoring the idea that perhaps it would be better to use more senses than a human has, for improved performance in tricky conditions.

[CheesecakeRunner]

gangzoom said:

DJP31 said:

You and me both, but I'm struggling to find a different car that delivers the whole package as well as the Model S does.

Is there a 'need' to change?

Can’t speak for DJP31 but my Model 3 is a lease and is up next December so I do have a ‘need’ to change. I imagine I’m not the only one.

Also, this change to vision only is going to be retro active to cars that have radar, including your X. And then the radar will be disabled. So unless you stop doing software updates, you’re getting it too.

[CheesecakeRunner]

That’s not the point. Why not make it safer by providing the car more more abilities to ‘see’ than a human can?

[CheesecakeRunner]

A well built system wouldn’t be deciding between two system inputs. All data would be coming in, aggregated, and the system making a decision based on all the data it has. This is how machine learning, that Tesla are a proponent of, works.

[CheesecakeRunner]

budgie smuggler said:

I thought Tesla's (now removed) parking sensors were ultrasonic (i.e. echo-location) rather than RADAR?

Correct, parking sensors were ultrasonic. Tesla also removed the radar that was used for adaptive cruise control as well.

[CheesecakeRunner]

I believe the fundamental problem with removing the parking sensors, is the cameras have loads of blind spots around the car. This is all very well when you’re moving, as pointed out above, a binocular image can be used to work out where things are. The problem with this, is that when the car is parked, things in the cameras blinds spot can change and there’s no way the car can know about it until it moves.

Chances are it can then move into something. Yes, the driver should be aware and use their own eyes, but the point of parking sensors in the first place was to augment the drivers eyes for the areas around the car that they couldn’t see.

But the people at Tesla are obviously smarter than me, so I’m sure it’ll be fine. Just like the wipers are fine. And the cruise control that panics at trucks.

My Tesla is a great EV, but a st car. BMW i4 next.

[CheesecakeRunner]

No one is taking the bait Charles, there’s no need to post it once a week.