Tesla FSD Beta 10.13: Roundabouts, solving Chazman's turn and navigating without GPS and map data

June 12, 2022

By Alex Jones

Swindon's Magic roundabout in England

Inhabitat.com

While unprotected left turns can be nerve-wracking for novice drivers, many FSD Beta participants still experience anxiety when their car is faced with such a turn.

Unprotected left turns are one of the harder driving maneuvers to make for humans and AI, as they leave your vehicle vulnerable while turning (instead of turning with traffic).

Tesla quickly recognized the difficulties their AI was experiencing in safely executing these turns and has been working diligently to improve the AI’s ability to discern oncoming hazards.

Solve Chazman's Complicated Left Turns

FSD Beta 10.12 improved unprotected left turn issues, but there are still some lingering issues.

Chuck Cook (@Chazman) has been iteratively testing FSD Beta's ability to make unprotected left turns on a busy route.

It's a complicated turn that involved crossing three lanes of traffic before reaching the median and then turning left.

10.13 will solve your left turn most of the time
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2022

Often it involves crossing the three lanes and waiting at the median before finding enough clearance to get into a lane.

It's complicated, even for humans. However, Elon Musk said in a recent tweet that beta 10.13 would solve Chuck's complicated left turns 'most of the time.'

Chazman on FSD Beta 10.12.2

Smoother Intersections

Elon also added that 10.13 would "smooth out intersection control," hopefully reducing the vehicle's hesitation and steering jerkiness that can happen in busy intersections.

Going Deep on Roundabouts

In addition to unprotected left turns, traffic circle/roundabout navigation has become a focus of FSD engineers.

While popular abroad, roundabouts are seldomly used in the US. Although there are estimated to be 2600+ roundabouts across the country, so FSD Beta needs to be able to handle them well.

FSD Beta's navigation of roundabouts has been spotty, although one could argue that multi-lane roundabouts are challenging even for experienced drivers.

With FSD Beta 10.13, Musk says that Tesla is going 'deep on roundabouts,' and that it should be noticeably better in that iteration of FSD Beta.

There are certainly some complicated roundabouts out there that can challenge even the most skilled drivers. Some roundabouts include multiple lanes and may require you to change lanes within the roundabout, some may even include roundabouts leading into or out of the roundabout, such as the 'Magic Roundabout' in Swindon, England.

Magic Roundabout in Swindon, England

Navigate without Map Data

Musk also hinted at another major improvement that may be included in 10.13: the ability for FSD beta to navigate roads with no map data.

The vehicle will be able to navigate to a specific GPS point or pinned location (ex: rural roads), says Musk.

Dead Reckoning Navigation (Navigating without GPS)

In addition, Elon alluded to the fact that Tesla is also working on the AI’s ability to complete 'dead reckoning' navigation (navigating only on “inertial measurements, wheel movement & vision”).

He gave underground parking garages as an example of where FSD would need this ability to navigate without GPS or map data.

The car will be able to do this by using its last known GPS location and then determining its future location using only a compass, wheel movement and speed.

Yes, car will navigate to a pin location, even if in a complex surface parking lot or hotel entrance.

When in covered or underground parking lots, car will have to navigate using only inertial measurement, wheel movement & vision, as GPS signal is no longer available.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 4, 2022

FSD Beta 10.13 Release Date

Elon said that he expects FSD Beta 10.13 to be available in about two weeks.

Why is it always two weeks? Tesla may use an agile approach to software development. In agile development work is planned in 'sprints' that span one or more weeks, with two weeks being a common length.

It's possible Tesla uses two-week sprints when planning and developing upcoming features.

For drivers that have experienced the intense nature of FSD left turns through busy intersections, it looks like they won’t have to wait long for FSD Beta 10.13.

Tesla Increases Price of Model S; Starts Offering Free Lifetime Supercharging

December 14, 2024

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

For the first time in quite a while, Tesla has increased the price of one of its vehicle offerings. The Model S Long Range and the Model S Plaid have both received a hefty price increase. However, not all is bad - as Tesla also added a new benefit for buyers.

Price Increase

The price increase for the Model S is $5,000 - currently only in the United States. This price increase will likely impact other markets, including Canada, in the coming days.

The Model S Long Range now starts at $79,990, while the Model S Plaid now starts at $94,990. The Model S and Model X now have the same starting price. Interestingly, that’s also the same pricing point for the Cybertruck AWD and Cyberbeast Trimotor non-Foundation Series.

The vehicle configuration does not appear to have changed, so the new pricing is simply an increase rather than the addition or removal of features. Tesla previously cut the price of the Model S and Model X by 15% in 2023, so this could simply be an adjustment to ensure that the vehicle pricing stays in line with inflation and other factors.

Free Lifetime Supercharging

For those on the fence about ordering a Model S, Tesla has brought back Free Lifetime Supercharging when you order a new Model S on or after December 13, 2024. As always, Free Lifetime Supercharging is restricted to the buyer’s Tesla account and to that specific vehicle. It cannot be transferred to another vehicle or another owner after ownership transfer. It’s worth noting, that it also doesn’t exclude the owner from receiving Supercharger idle fees or congestion fees. There is currently no end date for this promotion.

There are currently no changes to the Model X, neither a price increase nor the addition of Lifetime Superchargering. However, when Tesla makes changes to one of their premium vehicles, it usually affects the other one as well. So be on the lookout for potential changes to the Model X offering in the coming days.

We’ve seen Tesla value Lifetime Supercharging at $5,000, so this falls in line with the price increase we’re seeing. It’s possible that Tesla will begin to bring back Lifetime Supercharging as a perk for buying into their more premium Model S and Model X cars, or this could be another temporary promotion to get buyers who are on the fence to go ahead and make their purchase while this promotion lasts.

Tesla’s Optimus Robot Learns to Walk Without Vision [VIDEO]

December 13, 2024

By Karan Singh

Optimus Falls - but catches itself!

Not a Tesla App

Tesla recently showed off a demo of Optimus, its humanoid robot, walking around in moderately challenging terrain—not on a flat surface but on dirt and slopes. These things can be difficult for a humanoid robot, especially during the training cycle.

Daily walks help clear your mind pic.twitter.com/dUsW58trS6
— Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) December 9, 2024

A Look Behind the Curtain

Most interestingly, Milan Kovac, VP of Engineering for Optimus, clarified what it takes to get Optimus to this stage. Let’s break down what he said.

Optimus is Blind

Optimus is getting seriously good at walking now - it can keep its balance over uneven ground - even while walking blind. Tesla is currently using just the sensors, all powered by a neural net running on the embedded computer.

Essentially, Tesla is building Optimus from the ground up, relying on as much additional data as possible while it trains vision. This is similar to how they train FSD on vehicles, using LiDAR rigs to validate the vision system’s accuracy. While Optimus doesn’t have LiDAR, it relies on all those other sensors on board, many of which will likely become simplified as vision takes over as the primary sensor.

Today, Optimus is walking blind, but it’s able to react almost instantly to changes in the terrain underneath it, even if it falls or slips.

What’s Next?

Next up, Tesla AI will be adding vision to Optimus - helping complete the neural net. Remember, Optimus runs on the same overall AI stack as FSD - in fact, Optimus uses an FSD computer and an offshoot of the FSD stack for vision-based tasks.

Milan mentions they’re planning on adding vision to help the robot plan ahead and improve its walking gait. While the zombie shuffle is iconic and a little bit amusing, getting humanoid robots to walk like humans is actually difficult.

There’s plenty more, too - including better responsiveness to velocity and direction commands and learning to fall and stand back up. Falling while protecting yourself to minimize damage is something natural to humans - but not exactly natural to something like a robot. Training it to do so is essential in keeping the robot, the environment around it, and the people it is interacting with safe.

We’re excited to see what’s coming with Optimus next because it is already getting started in some fashion in Tesla’s factories.