Tesla has a problem with “phantom braking”: the new camera system is giving errors
“Ghost stops,” in which cars slow down or brake for no apparent reason, continue to be a headache for Tesla. Due to this problem, the electric car manufacturer was forced to temporarily withdraw version 10.3 of its Full Self-Driving beta software in October last year, but complaints from owners have skyrocketed since then.
According The Washington Post, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA, for its acronym in English) has received 107 complaints of “phantom braking” in the last 3 months, which translates into a significant increase if one takes into account that in the previous 22 months, only 34 complaints were received in total.
Tesla stops using radars and the problems begin
The NHTSA received the first complaints of “phantom braking” in May of last year, the month in which the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y for the US market they stopped incorporating radars. Instead, a system of cameras, ultrasonic sensors, and neural network processing was implemented to power the driver assistance systems. Model S and Model X, meanwhile, continued to use radar.
The new system, called Tesla Vision, is the consequence of a process of replacing the radars, announced some time ago by the company. “Our AI-based software architecture is becoming more reliant on cameras, so radar is becoming unnecessary sooner than we expected,” He said last year.
However, according to experts consulted by The Washington Post, the use of a camera system instead of radar in Tesla cars it could be responsible for the erratic behavior of some Full Self-Driving beta features, including “phantom braking” mentioned above.
One of the users who complained explains that after installing FSD beta on his car immediately started getting false forward collision warnings. “These warnings involved the standard warning beeps and red indicators on the driving display, and at one point included an unnecessary emergency braking incident when there was no obstacle in front of me,” he said.
From the NHTSA they have said that they are reviewing the complaints received by users based on their risk assessment process. “This process includes discussions with the manufacturer as well as review of additional data sources, including early warning reporting data. If the data shows that there may be a risk, we will act immediately,” they say from the agency.
Cars that don’t stop at stop signs
As if that weren’t enough, there’s also another drawback with the Full Self-Driving beta. Model S, Model X, Model 3 and Model Y equipped with this software do not come to a complete stop at some intersections with STOP signs. This behavior is illegal in most US states, so the NHTSA has urged Tesla to remove that feature because “it can increase the risk of accidents”.
Consequently, the company run by Elon Musk has announced that will comply with the NHTSA mandate and, through a software update, will remove the feature known as “rolling stop” from 53,822 cars. This means the problem will be fixed remotely and owners will not have to take their vehicles to service centers for manual intervention.
Remember that the Full Self-Driving beta program is only available to volunteer testers who have purchased or subscribed to the most complete Tesla driving systems (the Full Self-Driving pack is not available in Europe due to regulatory issues). The test program provides early access to features that are not finished and may have bugs.
In addition, Full Self-Driving beta provides important data that complement Tesla’s internal quality efforts and assist in feature development. Of course, despite its name, the software does not make vehicles autonomous (something that Elon Musk has been promising for years), so drivers are required to have their hands on the wheel and be attentive to the road.
Reference-www.xataka.com