Tesla recently showed off its Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology in a new video, showcasing a seamless, virtually driverless trip across varying terrains in Austin, Texas. The 5-minute clip displayed one of Tesla's electric vehicles (EV) effortlessly manoeuvring through residential areas, bustling traffic, down the highway, through downtown, and back, all without any human intervention.
Promising strides, but long journey ahead
Elon Musk and Tesla have been relentlessly working towards perfecting the FSD technology, with Musk revealing that a launch of a more advanced self-drive technology might be on the horizon this year.
In the abridged version, as shown here from CNET, we see a glimpse of what this autonomous system can do at its best. The full five-minute video is available on social media site X, formerly known as Twitter.
The recent video was a part of Tesla's endeavour to demonstrate its progress, especially after a less impressive live stream on X by Musk a few months ago.
Updates rolling in
The journey to full driving autonomy has depended on continuous updates to the FSD software. Recently, Tesla unveiled FSD Beta V11.4.4, which exhibited notable improvements in auto-steering even on unmarked roads, responding aptly to construction barrels and avoiding obstacles like parked cars and pedestrians. The FSD Beta has seen 11 updates since its inception, each aiming to inch closer to total autonomy.
Vision over sensors
Tesla’s approach leans heavily towards vision-based systems, veering away from the conventional lidar, radar, or sonic sensors. It says its goal is to enable the vehicle to act as a robotaxi in the owner's absence, though the reality of this vision is yet to be realised.
FSD, although remarkable at times, is still a Level 2 system requiring human readiness to take over, a feature that was temporarily disabled for this demo.
But with FSD Beta V11.4.4 showing promise and Elon Musk hinting at a 'mind-blowing' upcoming Full Self-Driving v12 update, Tesla appears ready to take the next step in driverless cars.