[SystemSafety] What Tesla says about its autopilot
Les Chambers
Les at chambers.com.au
Mon Dec 17 22:17:45 CET 2018
I recently had the pleasure of driving a friends very expensive Mercedes-Benz. On the freeway
it maintains a safe distance from the car in front automatically. I was Surprised at how this
reduces stress on a long drive. But was also horrified having to wake myself up when we
approached the offramp. This is a minor issue that we can adapt to over time. I believe that
eventually we will evolve into self driving but I am against the step change of putting a manual
driver cold turkey into a self driving car. The major automakers will get us there in graduated
steps, I hope.
As for Tesla, if the recent article on Teslas manufacturing hell in Wired magazine is truthful,
there could be no chance of having an effective functional safety management program in that
company. In the heat of their recent production ramp up anyone opposing Elon Musk gets fired
in a fit of rage.
> I went to the cinema with my son some time ago to see "Napping Princess", also known as
"Ancien and the Magic Tablet". It is a classic fairy tale with King (CEO), Grand Vizier (Executive
Director), Princess, and, of course, autonomous vehicles. The film contains a line that may be
pertinent here, the engineer is talking to one of his Customers and says something like, "At least
pretend you are driving, or you will get us all arrested"â¦
>
> From: systemsafety [mailto:systemsafety-bounces at lists.techfak.uni-bielefeld.de] On Behalf
Of Peter Bernard Ladkin
> Sent: 04 December 2018 06:18
> To: The System Safety List
> Subject: [SystemSafety] What Tesla says about its autopilot
>
> A businessman was arrested on DUI after travelling with his Tesla along freeway 101 in the
South Bay
> (Redwood City and Palo Alto, just north of Silicon Valley) at 70mph on "autopilot".
> https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2018/11/30/los-altos-planning-commissioner-arrested-
for-tesla-dui<https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2018/11/30/los-altos-planning-commissioner-
arrested-for-tesla-dui>
>
> Apparently Tesla is claiming great things for its technology:
>
> [begin quote]
> Palo Alto-based Tesla's website states that "all Tesla vehicles produced in our factory,
including
> Model 3, have the hardware needed for full self-driving capability at a safety level substantially
> greater than that of a human driver."
> [end quote]
>
> I wonder how they come to that conclusion?
>
> As the article notes, it is not the first time that someone too inebriated to drive legally has
> climbed into his Tesla and turned on the autopilot. I doubt the safety claim above takes into
> account that people otherwise unable to drive are going to try to do so on "autopilot".
>
> PBL
>
> Prof. Peter Bernard Ladkin, Bielefeld, Germany
> MoreInCommon
> Je suis Charlie
> Tel+msg +49 (0)521 880 7319 www.rvs-bi.de<http://www.rvs-bi.de>
>
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--
Les Chambers
les at chambers.com.au
+61 (0)412 648 992
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