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Home » Science & Technology » Tesla on the verge of creating a self driven car
 

Tesla on the verge of creating a self driven car

Sachin Sharma | Updated on: 15 December 2017, 19:25 IST
Tesla's full-fledged autonomous driving system
In October 2016 Tesla CEO Elon Musk predicted that by the end of 2017, a Tesla car would be driving from Los Angeles to New York on Autopilot, without any human driver assisting it. A slight change in this highly anticipated prediction came in August this year, when Musk said that the much-anticipated road trip of an autonomous Tesla car may shift to early 2018 if the company is not able to meet the earlier deadline.
 
According to the company, each and every car manufactured in their factories are fully equipped with a full-fledged autonomous driving system, which can be activated as soon as clearance from the government is made and necessary software is brought in place.
 
Although it remains to be seen if this loftiest prediction of Musk for his company proves to be true, but the Tesla cars are already winning hearts with their class apart self-driving capabilities. In recent years, a number of tech majors are working on the self-driven car projects which include the likes of Apple and Google. However, it is the Tesla cars which are way ahead of their competitors in terms of technical sophistication of autopilot mode. Here are some of the much-appreciated autopilot features of Tesla that make it stand tall amidst other self-driven car projects.

Enhanced Autopilot

Tesla Self-driving Capabilities (Tesla)
The enhanced autopilot, introduced by Tesla in the year 2015, adds new capabilities to the autopilot cars of the company, taking the driving experience to another level. The enhancement in capabilities comes in terms of adjusting the speed to traffic conditions, keeping the car within a lane and changing lanes without a driver's input, self-park and much more.
 

360 Degree Camera Range

360 Degree Camera Range (Tesla)

Since October 2016, the Tesla cars are rolled-out equipped with 8 highly efficient camera's that provide a 360-degree range vision. The visibility range of each of these cameras is 250 meters.

12 Ultrasonic Sensors

These highly sophisticated sensors have enhanced the visibility by almost 100 per cent in comparison to the previous system. Both hard and soft objects can be detected by these sensors from nearly twice a distance as covered by the prior system.

Efficient Radar System

What further adds to the efficiency of the sensors is a forward facing radar that not only enhances processing but also provides additional data to see through the dust, fog, heavy rain or even a car moving ahead.

Speed Control Based On Traffic

Speed Control Based On Traffic (Tesla)

The enhanced autopilot can prove very handy while driving on a highway by controlling the vehicle's speed in accordance with the traffic around. The car's system can itself take informed decisions on changing lanes, moving between freeways and taking exits.

Makes Sure Driver Keeps Hands on Wheels

As the Tesla cars are yet to be fully autonomous, the autopilot system makes sure the hands of the driver stays on the wheels. In case the driver's hands are not on the steering for long, the system makes the driver pull over and park. It only reactivates the system when the driver's hands are back on the steering wheel.

Identifying Open Parking Spots

Identifying Open Parking Spots (Tesla)
Once the driver reaches his destination, the autopilot system of Tesla can identify open parking spots and can even control both parallel and perpendicular parking.
GPS to find Optimal Route

GPS to find Optimal Route

The full autopilot Tesla cars will be using highly sophisticated GPS technology to find the optimum routes of a destination assigned to it. And if there is no destination given to the car, it can determine the best destination as per the owner's calendar, or it can take the owner to his / her home.

According to Musk, the existing Tesla cars have the hardware for fully autonomous driving and as soon as the regulatory conditions and software are available, these cars can be converted into fully self-driven cars. The full self-driving capability can be bought for $8,000 at the time of purchase or by paying $10,000 to turn on the autonomous system later on.

First published: 15 December 2017, 19:25 IST
 
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