Tesla gives 'Full Self-Driving' to a new crop of users, takes it away after apparent software bugs

[Zorro]

Source: Washington Post

SAN FRANCISCO — Tesla is dialing back its Full Self-Driving software, CEO Elon Musk said Sunday, after discovering software bugs in the new batch of the software beta.

The company had rolled out a new version of its driver-assistance software to an expanded group of users over the weekend, but Musk said that it proved problematic and that the company was working on fixes.

“Seeing some issues with [version] 10.3, so rolling back to 10.2 temporarily,” he wrote in a tweet. “Please note, this is to be expected with beta software. It is impossible to test all hardware configs in all conditions with internal [quality assurance], hence public beta.”

The update had already proven troublesome earlier in the weekend, as Tesla delayed its initial release Saturday morning because of what Musk wrote was “regression in some left turns at traffic lights” found by internal quality inspectors. But he said Sunday that the company has proceeded with the rollout, noting that it leans on the public to gather more data on driving conditions and parameters.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/10/24/tesla-full-self-driving-musk/

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I think I'll sit back and let others beta test this software...

[ZZenith]

1. The lawsuits are going to destroy the self-driving pioneers.

I know driver fallibility is a huge issue but software fallibility ain’t far behind.

[Evolve Dammit]

2. Just plain stupid. And there are stupid drivers but this is not a good idea.

[paleotn]

3. Not ready for prime time.

Hardware and software hasn't evolved to the point where self driving vehicles are relatively low risk. Existing technology can't yet handle the enormous variability of real world situations.

[rickford66]

4. Most of us encounter a unique situation once a week or so.

You can't program for that until AI is fool proof. Ain't gonna happen. Aircraft can takeoff and land automatically, but the pilot still manually operates the flaps and gear. There's a good reason for that I suppose.

[Kablooie]

5. I've had the FSD software for the past 2 weeks.

This morning they uploaded the new version but it was really problematic so removed it after a few hours.
We are now all on the same software version as the non FSD drivers.
Once they fix the problems they should be sending the new version out to the customers who have been approved to try it.

[NurseJackie]

12. There's an additional monthly fee for the use of that software, right?

Or am I mistaken about that?

[Miguelito Loveless]

15. Depends

on when you bought the car. At the beginning (2016-2018) it was a $3K fee and it was for life of car. The fee gradually increased to $10K, but then they offered a monthly subscription model.

I personally think the price is too high ($3K-$5K was reasonable), and I am not as optimistic as Musk about the timeline for the software. That said, the basic AP software that comes with the car is pretty robust, very safe, and would cut down on a LOT of accidents if adopted en mass by other car makers.

[Miguelito Loveless]

6. Had the software this morning for first time

And it worked pretty well for two trips and then began to sense potential collisions when cars pulled into my lane in front of me. It disengaged and then appears to have been deactivated by Tesla. I am waiting for it to rollback to the earlier version before using it again.

Up to now, software has been very reliable.

[OnlinePoker]

7. A question on this from someone who doesn't have a mobile device.

If you have no cell service, will Tesla still be able to communicate with your car to update the software?

[Kablooie]

9. Yes. It only sends updates when you are connected to WiFi.

You have to connect to WiFi for about an hour to get the software updates.
I don't have cell service at my home either but I had to install a WiFi extender to get a strong signal to my car. Only cost about $30.

The updates come randomly. Sometimes after a couple of weeks other times every few days. Often it will have a new feature or functionality and the screen will tell you about it. The Tesla is constantly being improved the longer you own it.

[Miguelito Loveless]

14. Updates can still be made via your home (or any) wifi connection

Routine communication between your car and your phone, your car and Tesla's computer (jokingly called the "mother Ship&quot occur through Bluetooth, the cellular network, or wifi. Even cut off from the Mother Ship the car still functions, though if for some reason it was unable to communicate at all, you would have problems with GPS computer being able to download new maps for areas outside your normal driving area.

[cstanleytech]

8. Robotic controlled vehicles.....what could go wrong?

Well, other than hackers using them as weapons to kill people such as using them to ram into trucks carrying things like gas or using them to crash into crowds of people potentially killing and or harming innocent men, women and children.

[Kablooie]

10. Perhaps but...

Once the systems have been fully developed they will drive better than most humans and will save many lives. It will be like having a professional expert driver with 360 degree vision and cat like reflexes who never gets tired.

[cstanleytech]

11. Sure, they probably would drive better but the problem is preventing them from being

turned into weapons remotely by people intent on harming others.

[Miguelito Loveless]

16. That problem exists with any internet connected device

It is an issue that humanity is going to have to plan for and defend against. At the moment, regular run of the mill drivers worry me far more than superhackers acting out their version of a Stephen King/Michael Crichton novel.

[marie999]

13. Did they take out the software that told the car to attack police cars with their lights on?

[Miguelito Loveless]

17. ?

If you are referring to the handful of cases where inattentive/drunk Tesla drivers plowed into police cars/fire trucks you will have to show me the numbers proving that it happens statistically more often to Tesla's as opposed to other cars, based on miles driven.

Cars striking emergency vehicles on the road is not an uncommon occurrence. Tesla just gets a lot more attention because of their software and newness.

Last Spring the news ran with a story about a "driverless" Tesla running amok off a road at high speed and crashing into a tree, then bursting into flames killing two people. The police on the scene swore the car had no driver, yet video from the driver's own security camera showed him getting into the car a minute before the crash and driving away at high speed. The cars was never on AP and was never "driverless". This part of the story has gotten far less coverage than the initial sensationalist click-bait.

[marie999]

19. The difference is you can't reprogram people to stop hitting police cars,

but you can reprogram the car. And that is the question I asked.

[Miguelito Loveless]

20. They are trying to do that

They just pushed an update last week that increased the AI sensitivity to emergency lights. The regulators then had a hissy fit and called it a "stealth recall", despite the fact that Tesla updates its software all the time (several times a month).

[Miguelito Loveless]

21. And my apolgies for sounding snarky

I re-read my response and it was not the tone I intended.

From my personal experience this past weekend, I can say that the car, when using Traffic Aware Cruise Control (TACC) or AutoPilot (AP), does slow down for police cars, as I encountered a number of them doing traffic control for "Trunk or Treat" events. No opportunity yet to see how it performs around firetrucks and ambulances.

[marie999]

23. I didn't see anything wrong with any of your posts.

[Miguelito Loveless]

24. Just re-reading it and thought it might come across that way

[Johnny2X2X]

18. It's going to be complicated

So, self driving cars will be safer than human driven cars, but there are still going to be accidents by self driving cars that humans could have avoided. It's going to be a tough sell to tell people, "yes, 40 people died last week in accidents that humans would have avoided, but 500 deaths were avoided by self driving cars who are as a whole safer than human driven cars." 40 people will still be dead and their families will want to sue, the 500 people who aren't dead because self driving cars are safer won't care to have a voice in the matter. because they won't know they would have died if humans were driving.

[Miguelito Loveless]

22. Correct,

not helped by the fact that humans can be very bad at assessing risk in the best of circumstances. When you get it right, no one really notices, but when you get it wrong, everybody is in line to blame you and seek their pound of flesh.

AP has caught me making a few mistakes that had circs been different could have been an accident with unknown consequences.