[msb-alumni] Tesla working on Autopilot radar changes after crash
- From: Steve <pipeguy920@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <msb-alumni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2016 14:25:14 -0400
BlankTesla working on Autopilot radar changes after crash Tom Krisher,
Associated Press Tesla Motors is working on modifications to its Autopilot
system after
it failed to stop for a tractor-trailer rig in a Florida crash that killed the
driver of a Model S sedan. CEO Elon Musk, in a Twitter post Thursday night
, said Tesla is working on improvements to the radar system. Autopilot uses
cameras, radar and computers to detect objects and automatically brake if a
Tesla vehicle is about to hit something. But in the May 7 crash that killed
Joshua D. Brown, 40, of Canton, Ohio, cameras in his Tesla Model S failed to
distinguish the white side of a turning tractor-trailer from a brightly lit
sky,
and the car didn't automatically brake, the company has said. Signals
from radar sensors also didn't stop the car, and Brown didn't take control
either. ? Graphic: How the Tesla Autopilot system works ? Related: Tesla
autopilot
death highlights autonomous risks Tesla wouldn't comment Friday on Musk's
tweets
or possible changes to Autopilot, which is being scrutinized by two U.S.
government agencies. Whatever changes are made have broad implications for
Tesla
and other automakers, who either have similar technology in place or are
about ready to put it on the road as they move toward fully autonomous driving
within the next decade. Just after the crash was made public June 30, Musk
gave an indication in a tweet that the radar was discounted in the Florida
crash. His tweet, which since has been removed from Twitter, said that radar
"tunes out" objects like an overhead road sign to avoid stopping the car for no
reason. Experts say this means that the radar likely overlooked the
tractor-trailer
in the Florida crash. Thursday, Musk tweeted that the company is working on
changes that would "decouple" the Autopilot's radar from its cameras and allow
the radar to spot objects with fewer data points. Car sensors produce so much
data that computers can't process it all. So fewer data points are needed
for self-driving systems to work. Experts contacted by The Associated Press say
it's clear that Musk is focusing on the radar so his cars spot tractor-trailers
in similar circumstances. "It kind of strikes me that they're figuring out how
to solve that problem," said Timothy Carone, an information technology and
analytics professor at the University of Notre Dame business school. Radar can
see through bright sunlight, rain, snow and other things that can block
the sight of cameras, so it makes sense that Tesla would try to emphasize radar
more after the Florida crash, said Raj Rajkumar, a computer engineering
professor at Carnegie Mellon University who leads its autonomous vehicle
research. The cars' software would have to be updated so it considers the radar
data and determines if obstacles are in the way, Rajkumar said. Tesla has said
that it constantly updates the Autopilot system as the company takes in
data from cars that are on the road.
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