Tesla working to revise Autopilot, focusing on radar sensors

Tesla is working to update its Autopilot system following recent problems.

Tesla is working to update its Autopilot system following a fatal crash in May, according to media reports and statements that Tesla's CEO Elon Musk posted to his Twitter account recently. In that accident, Tesla has said the system did not recognise a white tractor-trailer that turned in front of the Tesla, so it did not brake. Among Musk's posts are: "Working on using existing Tesla radar by itself (decoupled from camera) w temporal smoothing to create a course point cloud, like lidar," posted 14 July; "Good think about radar is that, unlike lidar (which is visible wavelength), it can see through rain, snow, fog, and dust,” posted 15 July; "Our radar is using a wavelength of 3.9mm. A good size for both decent resolution and rain penetration. Am hopeful …" posted 16 July; "Promising call today with @BoschGlobal, maker of our radar sensor. Looks like significant improvements possible via OTA software update," posted 17 July; and "Btw, want to thank both Bosch and MobilEye for their help and support in making Autopilot better. Please direct all criticism at Tesla," posted 17 July. Relative to the tease that Musk posted last week about Tesla's new Masterplan, he wrote on 17 July, "Have to focus on tonight's @SpaceX launch. Will post Tesla (master) product plan afterwards." The launch is scheduled for 1245 h Eastern Time on 18 July.