Tesla Autopilot feature is not only based on navigating the car on its own. There are other convenient features involved like Lane Keeping, Collision Avoidance, TACC, Autosteer, Auto Braking, Auto Acceleration, Lane Changing, Summoning, Auto Parking, etc.
Although not each feature was added to the Autopilot feature altogether. In 2017, the Autosteer feature was added and an independent analysis stated that accidents have increased since it was introduced. After that Tesla added Auto Braking and Auto Acceleration in order to stabilize the situation.
And to operate a Tesla properly on Autopilot mode, we need to learn what is Tesla Autopilot with convenience features. Each feature has its own credits in Autopilot navigation, so we cannot neglect any of those.
What is Autopilot in Tesla
Before we jump into the main real deal, let’s see what the Autopilot feature is in Tesla.
Autopilot is typically the feature that allows a car to obtain self-driving ability. Generally, this idea was invented in the late 1980s for cars. Airplanes have had this feature for a long time. The most successful implementation of this idea was done by none other than Tesla Motors back in September 2014.
All four models of Tesla Motors have this feature. The Autopilot can take you to your designated destination ramp by ramp without taking any human help. Through Tesla Live Traffic Visualization purchased through Premium Connectivity, it can scan which route is going to have less traffic and the shortest time to reach the destination.
This is basically what an Autopilot feature is in Tesla. Later we have what possibly Autopilot convenience features could mean for Tesla.
What does Autopilot convenience feature mean
Tesla Autopilot cannot work without specific convenient features. It takes the help of a lot of features in order to fulfill its duty. All of these convenient features make the Autopilot feature what it should be. Let’s see what those features are and how they work.
Lane Keeping for Lane Departure Warnings and Avoidance
There are a total of eight cameras installed in a Tesla. It’s the same for all of their models. Autopilot uses all of these cameras to navigate to the destination avoiding any sort of road accident.
Lane Keeping features help the proximity sensors to understand the car’s position in a lane comparative to the lane slash. This feature is only available for Tesla cars.
Earlier versions of the Autopilot feature used to read painted lane strokes and processed that information to get an idea of the lane. But now, Tesla has developed it to understand what a drivable space is, which is not depending on clearly spotted lane lines.
Front and Side Collision Avoidance
You might be a little surprised to know that the Tesla cameras and proximity sensors can differentiate between objects in real time in the environment to avoid any kind of collision to both the front and the side.
It can detect other cars and pedestrians with its sensors and cameras, and further, it takes action by pulling off the brakes or steering away from the obstacles.
Not only that, but when there is less time for the Collision Avoidance system to take action, it can also shake or chime the steering wheel in a slight motion to alert the driver that there is a potential threat ahead of him.
Traffic-Aware Cruise Control
Many cars have the TACC (Traffic-Aware Cruise Control) installed on them. But it’s clear that Tesla has the most advanced and sophisticated TACC system of all. It’s because it’s tied in inputs or data from the whole system to make determinations about the car’s spacing.
The basic work for TACC to do is that it maintains a proper distance between your Tesla and other vehicles on the road in front of you. Often people tailgate the cars in front of them. But the Tesla TACC cannot make a mistake like that.
Autosteer, Auto Braking, Auto Acceleration
The Tesla Autopilot system is truly amazing. It can do a lot more than just avoiding collisions, maintaining proper distance between two cars, lane keeping, etc.
While monitoring with all eight cameras, Tesla cars can steer the car by themselves, brake when it’s necessary, and accelerate the speed automatically when it’s needed.
Although there were some problems with the Tesla Model S, where people often get a Robotic Feeling. It felt like a light delay in steering and braking, which was unnecessary. Fortunately, they fixed the problems when they introduced version HW2 and you can actually feel a human driver driving the car.
Auto Lane Changing
The Tesla drivers often get scared when their car suddenly changes lanes without any confirmation from the driver. It’s something that was developed in Tesla cars through software development.
Don’t worry, it isn’t as risky as it sounds. The previous versions of Autopilot needed input from the driver, whereas now it can change lanes automatically. Previously, this wasn’t considered an Autopilot convenient feature as it required the driver’s input. But now, it’s being included with the Autopilot features.
Summoning
It just feels like when you call a horse in the Witchers game. With Tesla Mobile App, you can call out your Tesla to come right in front of you from parking.
It really is a great innovation for mankind, isn’t it? Normally, we can’t trust Autopilot without a driver sitting in the driving seat. But for Tesla, it’s no big deal. You can summon your car from a limited range of distance via the Tesla Mobile App.
Auto Parking
Although it’s originally a part of Summoning, still it’s related to Auto Parking. Reverse Summoning is a feature that lets your car park itself once you get out of your car.
It’s hard for other cars to properly scan and read for the parking lot area, whereas Tesla doesn’t even have the slightest problem with it because of the Auto Parking feature.
Conclusion
Many people might not agree with that, but Tesla Autopilot with convenience features is surely helpful in certain situations like attending a call in the middle of the road, managing work while driving, and taking care of the passengers while driving.
We know that accidents often occur due to these specific reasons, so, the Tesla Autopilot mode might be able to reduce the number of accidents in the near future.
