>Cars have been dependent on software for a long time (literally decades). This isn't something new. Even combustion engine cars have had software inside of them that controls the operation of the engine, and this software is vigorously tested for safety issues (because most car manufacturers understand a fault with such software could result in someone's death). Tesla seems to be the only major car manufacturer that has a problem with this.
The TACC offered by most (if not all) manufacturers can't differentiate between the surroundings and stopped vehicles. I wouldn't be surprised if their Lane Keeping Assist (LKA) systems have similar problems.
>WARNING
When Pilot Assist follows another vehicle at speeds overapprox. 30 km/h (20 mph) and changes target vehicle – from a moving vehicle to a stationary one – Pilot Assist will ignore the stationary vehicle and instead accelerate to the stored speed.
>The driver must then intervene and apply the brakes.
This comparison just sold me on how morally wrong it is what Tesla is doing. Intentionally misleading and marketing to customers a feature called Autopilot that is only a marginal improvement on what other cars already offer. What if Volvo started calling their (clearly not independent) feature Autopilot and saying it was the future of hands-free driving? Seems inexcusable.
>Super Cruise is not a crash avoidance system and will not steer or brake to avoid a crash. Super Cruise does not steer to prevent a crash with stopped or slow-moving vehicles. You must supervise the driving task and may need to steer and brake to prevent a crash, especially in stop-and-go traffic or when a vehicle suddenly enters your lane. Always pay attention when using Super Cruise. Failure to do so could result in a crash involving serious injury or death.
Riffing off the parallel thread about Google AI and how "corporations are controlled by humans" and can have moral values - no, corporations are controlled primarily by the market forces. When Tesla started branding line assist as autopilot, it put market pressure on others to follow suit. Hence, I'm absolutely not surprised about this ad and the associated warning in the manual.
Ideally, yeah, every manufacturer would have to take all the puffery out of their marketing, or better yet, talk about all the negatives of their product/service first, but I doubt I'll ever see that.
This article portrayed Super Cruise as something qualitatively different, based on the maps of existing roadways. I'm not sure if they've also considered integrating the multiple systems involved in driver assistance. I'm curious if Tesla has either for that matter.
I’m opposed to over-regulation of any sort, however it seems obvious that vehicle manufacturers need to do a better job informing consumers of the driver assistance capabilities of modern vehicles. Something similar to the health warnings on cigarette packs.
> The TACC offered by most (if not all) manufacturers can't differentiate between the surroundings and stopped vehicles.
Software should not be driving a car into any of them. I think that LIDAR would see the obstacle, but as I understand, the crashed Tesla car didn't have it.
LIDAR probably would have seen the obstacle and avoided it, but so would a human driver who was operating the vehicle responsibly and correctly. It sucks that people treat level 2 systems and level 3 or 4, but the same thing applies to many convenience features in a car (cruise control, power brakes, etc...). There's always going to be some bozo doing what they shouldn't be doing with something.
I'd love to see LIDAR on consumer vehicles, but AFAIK it's prohibitively expensive. And to be fair, even Level 4 autonomous vehicles still crash into things and kill people.
Last but not least, every semi-autonomous system all the way back to Chrysler's "AUTO-PILOT" has had similar criticisms. People in the past even said similar things about high speed highways compared to other roads WRT attention.
> The TACC offered by most (if not all) manufacturers can't differentiate between the surroundings and stopped vehicles.
Literally every car I have driven equipped with Cruise Control and Collision Avoidance (TACC) hits the brakes and slows down to 20-ish km/h if it senses ANYTHING moving slower (including stationary) in front of the car at possible collision path.
The TACC offered by most (if not all) manufacturers can't differentiate between the surroundings and stopped vehicles. I wouldn't be surprised if their Lane Keeping Assist (LKA) systems have similar problems.
https://support.volvocars.com/en-CA/cars/Pages/owners-manual...
>WARNING When Pilot Assist follows another vehicle at speeds overapprox. 30 km/h (20 mph) and changes target vehicle – from a moving vehicle to a stationary one – Pilot Assist will ignore the stationary vehicle and instead accelerate to the stored speed.
>The driver must then intervene and apply the brakes.