Tesla's Autopilot system showed what it could do in an incredible video that featured the Model 3 slowing down when it identified a pedestrian walking across a street. The system had successfully reduced the car's speed without any intervention from the driver.
Tesla Model 3 owner ALL Electric on YouTube posted a video featuring the car's impressive ability to identify pedestrians on the road. In the clip, the Model 3 quickly recognized a person about to cross the street and decelerated despite the significant distance between the car and the pedestrian.
The Model 3 vehicle being used in the video was running on a version 2020.20.12 software, which Tesla rolled out earlier in June. According to the automaker's release notes, the update included additions to its entertainment and GPS features, along with minor bug fixes and enhancements to the vehicle's overall functionality.
Running at a speed of 35 mph while on Autopilot mode, ALL Electric's Model 3 slowed down to a speed of 19 mph, giving the pedestrian ample time to cross. The car did not accelerate until the person had fully crossed the road. This was shown through Tesla's Driving Visualization in the Model 3's infotainment display.
Model 3's Driving Visualization feature was added in the software version 2020.16.2, which had rolled out in May. The feature shows drivers an accurate visualization of pedestrians on the road.
Tesla's decision to add Driving Visualization is one of those things that people take lightly, being a small update. However, it does point toward the company's progress when it comes to feeding its neural networks with knowledge. This knowledge will eventually lead to a complete version of Tesla's Full Self-Driving suite, which remains controversial to this day.
Tesla has argued time and time again that its goal is to offer people a safer driving environment, which it hopes to achieve using FSD and Autopilot. The road will be much safer for both pedestrians and drivers in a way similar to what ALL Electric's video had shown.
A report by CDC reveals that nearly 6,000 pedestrians were killed in road accidents in 2017, which means for every 88 minutes, one person dies due to vehicular incidents. Tesla's Autopilot is one way of minimizing such accidents, given it has the ability to identify people crossing the road and slow down before the car gets too close.
Below is the video of the Tesla Model 3 Autopilot in action. Enjoy!
