Tesla’s Autopilot was engaged when Model 3 crashed into truck, report states

Re:Tesla’s Autopilot was engaged when Model 3 crashed into t... by _ph_ on Thursday May 16, 2019 @12:40PM (#19930532)

I don't think we can conclude that cameras are inadequate for forward object detection. Only that the processing systems used so far were. This can be a matter of training of the neural networks and the amount of processing power used in the computing units. Radar is limited, as long as trailers in the US are allowed to have such high gaps to the ground. A lower bar on the sides would both help the collision detection systems as well as reduce the crash itself.

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Re:Tesla’s Autopilot was engaged when Model 3 crashed into t... by simion314 on Thursday May 16, 2019 @12:56PM (#19930689)

>A lower bar on the sides would both help the collision detection systems as well as reduce the crash itself.

The Neural Network should be capable to recognize a truck from any angle and even if parts are obstructed. I hope we will get the details public and see if it actually tagged the obstacle but ignored it or it detect it as something else like maybe a side road advertising panel

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Re:Tesla’s Autopilot was engaged when Model 3 crashed into t... by darkpuma on Thursday May 16, 2019 @12:58PM (#19930697)

> "Radar is limited, as long as trailers in the US are allowed to have such high gaps to the ground."

One of these crashes involved a firetruck, which unlike a semi-trailer, does not have a large gap underneath it.

Radars are limited period. The radars used by Tesla lack the angular resolution to distinguish between a stationary object next to the road (e.g. a building or parked car) with a stationary object parked right in the middle of the road.

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Re:Tesla’s Autopilot was engaged when Model 3 crashed into t... by _ph_ on Thursday May 16, 2019 @01:26PM (#19930945)

One of these crashes involved a firetruck, which unlike a semi-trailer, does not have a large gap underneath it.

That fire truck wasn't crossing the road, it was at the road side, which creates a different situation. The problem with high trailers is, that they very much look like a bridge to a radar. In any case, a proper side bareer can prevent deadly accidents.

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Re:Tesla’s Autopilot was engaged when Model 3 crashed into t... by darkpuma on Thursday May 16, 2019 @03:33PM (#19932228)

If the radar cannot distinguish between a bridge with five meters of clearance and a "bridge"(trailer) with a single meter of clearance, then the radar simply lacks the angular resolution to be effective. It's the same exact issue as it being unable to distinguish objects on the side of the road and objects in the middle of the road.

It's insufficient angular resolution for the application, no matter which way you slice it.

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Re:Tesla’s Autopilot was engaged when Model 3 crashed into t... by mzs on Thursday May 16, 2019 @01:55PM (#19931195)

It doesn't look that way, seems to have been in a lane, but any report on whether the autopilot was in fact engaged?

https://twitter.com/CC_Firefighters/status/95552999131956019...

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Re:Tesla’s Autopilot was engaged when Model 3 crashed into t... by dsfyu404ed on Thursday May 16, 2019 @01:17PM (#19930876)

The radar Tesla spec'd is quite limited.

The radar that companies people on HN don't think highly of sell to the government is "scary good" and that's just the decade+ old tech that I'm familiar with.

I'm sure there's reasons Tesla doesn't/can't put that in cars though.

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Re:Tesla’s Autopilot was engaged when Model 3 crashed into t... by darkpuma on Thursday May 16, 2019 @08:03PM (#19934759)

It's nice and all that the military has such cool radars, but how much do those systems cost? How large are they? What sort of power requirements do they have? What sort of duty cycles do they have? And can they legally be exported?

Elon caving and adopting Lidar is probably more likely.

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Re:Tesla’s Autopilot was engaged when Model 3 crashed into t... by JohnJamesRambo on Thursday May 16, 2019 @01:01PM (#19930719)

But Elon told me I will be able to rent my Tesla out as an autonomous cab by the end of this year or so.

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Re:Tesla’s Autopilot was engaged when Model 3 crashed into t... by jdc on Thursday May 16, 2019 @12:53PM (#19930649)

They could probably solve the problem by mounting the radar on a trunion so it can sweep up and down (over say ~30 degrees).

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