Tesla Motors to Launch Autopilot Update ‘In Weeks’ – Elon Musk

Tesla Motors prepares to launch an update of its partly automated self-driving system “in a few weeks,” Elon Musk tweeted. Improvements to Tesla’s Auto-pilot system, including advanced processing of radar signals, would be detailed in an article on the company’s website later, the tweet stated.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is currently investigating a May 7 death in Florida where a driver using Tesla’s Auto-pilot system crashed into a truck.

Tesla’s Auto-pilot system utilizes cams and radar, however not laser-based LiDAR as some other self-driving systems do. Tesla stated its system would have had problem identifying a white semi-trailer placed throughout a roadway against a bright sky.

Major improvements to Autopilot coming with V8.0 and 8.1 software (std OTA update) primarily through advanced processing of radar signals

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 31, 2016

Musk was asked on Twitter why the automobile’s radar did not identify the truck. Musk tweeted on June 30 that “radar tunes out what looks like an overhead road sign to avoid false braking events”.

In a tweet, Musk stated software application improvements to Autopilot will be delivered wirelessly to owners’ automobiles.