As FSD has improved over the years, Tesla has added additional visualizations to the car's display. The car display shows what the car can see and react to in its surroundings.
In early 2018 Tesla showed only certain types of vehicles and lane markings using only the front-facing cameras.
Tesla slowly started processing data from additional cameras and showed more types of vehicles, pedestrians, and traffic cones.
They now show a large variety of objects from trash cans, traffic lights, dogs, speed bumps, and even dynamically resize vehicle models to match their real-life size.
Tesla only shows a fraction of the objects it detects in their visualizations. For example, Tesla's FSD Beta can detect open car doors, emergency vehicles, and more, but these objects are currently not shown on the display, they likely will be in the future.
Although the car does not use the visualizations for Autopilot, the visualizations still play a crucial part in helping the person behind the wheel understand how well the vehicle understands its environment.
Understanding lane markings, road edges, and the curvature of the road is only a portion of what Tesla’s FSD system needs to understand.
To properly understand a curve in the road the car also needs to understand elevation changes.
It looks like Tesla is starting to do just that. According to GreenTheOnly, who analyzes Tesla code, he says that Tesla is “preparing to do some sort of a 3d terrain on the viz.”
It's not clear whether FSD may already understand terrain elevations while navigating, but it looks like Tesla will now add elevation changes to their visualizations as well.
Tesla likes to keep the visualizations simple with a sketch-like, gray-tone feel, so we may see roads and surrounding terrain take on a shading effect to visualize hills and valleys.
GreenTheOnly isn’t sure what the visualization will look like either, but we may know more soon as Tesla starts to add more information and assets in upcoming firmware builds to support 3D terrains.
they are preparing to do some sort of a 3d terrain on the viz. not sure what form it'll take
Elon Musk has also talked about Tesla trying to find a way to display objects it detects but doesn’t completely understand what they are. It could be almost anything; a strange object on the sidewalk, lumber hanging out the back of a pickup truck, or a newspaper vending machine.
The car understands there's an object there, but trying to visualize this object in a way that makes sense for humans is tricky.
In the future, we may even see a more complex 3D environment that will display static objects such as buildings, trees, sidewalk curbs, and more.
We could also see different colors and textures based on the type of terrain (flat gray pavement or textured greenery).
Tesla's MCU chip is already capable of rendering 3D video games, so it's conceivable that it could render a more accurate image of its surroundings.
Tesla initially planned for all FSD visualizations to be rolled out to everyone, even if they didn't have the FSD Beta.
Elon first mentioned visualizations being available in Europe in October of last year, so we’re hopeful Tesla is still planning for this.
Good point, we could enable visualization before control. Will enable that option hopefully next month.
Tesla has begun to reach out to customers in the United States and is offering demo drives of the Cybertruck on an invite-only basis. @brandonhd on X shared the first invite image, and it looks like it's going out quite quickly to multiple locations that have Cybertrucks on display.
Up until now, display vehicles have been for just that – looking, but no touching. Some Tesla delivery centers and showrooms have also allowed viewers to take a seat inside and open it up, but most are still locked away behind the velvet rope.
It’s exciting to see that Tesla has begun to demo them – and it can only be so long until demo drives open up to everyone.
Advisor-led Demo
This Demo Drive is led by a Tesla Advisor – while you’re driving, the advisor will be in the passenger seat, walking you through the experience. They’ll explain steer-by-wire, off-road controls, and will introduce new-to-Tesla buyers to all the features that are currently available.
The list of locations so far for demo drives appears to be fairly limited, but we will hopefully see demo drives roll out throughout the United States, and eventually Canada too. Here is the current list of city/state locations that have seen demo drive invites.
Actually Smart Summon, the successor to Tesla’s Smart Summon feature, has been confirmed to be coming as soon as next month as per Elon Musk. Colloquially known as “ASS”, Actually Smart Summon is supposed to improve on the regular Smart Summon capabilities, which have historically used ultrasonic sensors (USS) to navigate parking lots.
We’re looking forward to Actually Smart Summon, and we’re quite excited about what other features will be unlocked once it finally shows up at our doorstep.
Vision-based Improvements
ASS is supposed to bring Smart Summon to vehicles that don’t have USS – using Tesla Vision. Most recently, Tesla has brought Autopark to vehicles without USS, and Vision-based Autopark has been a huge success. It is faster, more reliable, and smoother than the older USS-based solution. It can also park and maneuver in tighter locations.
Today, Smart Summon is sometimes useful at best, usually a party trick, or downright dangerous at worst. It’s excellent and best used in straight lines, where you have a clear line of sight of the vehicle, and can stop it if doesn’t see an obstacle.
I used Smart Summon today, just before writing this article – my 2022 Model Y (with USS) – did manage to show up just fine – in a straight-line location from where I was parked, after exiting the parking spot fairly cleanly. However, I’ve previously used Smart Summon and have had the vehicle turn towards obstacles, such as cart returns or curbs. Overall, it’s a sometimes-useful feature that has a lot of drawbacks right now.
Smart Summon is also restricted to a certain distance – and it's pretty small. The max distance is shorter than most parking lots, being only about 215 ft (65m). If you’re lucky enough to park close, it's very useful to bring your car right to you.
Actually Smart Summon
ASS will bring FSD V12-like capabilities to Smart Summon – the vehicle will primarily use Vision to drive toward you (or the location you’ve indicated). ASS has been supposed to be coming since about September 2022 and has seen many delays – we’re almost at the 2-year point today.
We’re looking forward to Actually Smart Summon being able to bring the vehicle – safely – right to you. ASS is also one of the key steps towards bringing some other cool features that Elon Musk has previously mentioned – Park Seek and Banish Autopark.
We’re also hopeful that Actually Smart Summon will increase the maximum range a vehicle can be summoned, because the current range is fairly small. Alongside Park Seek and Banish Autopark, we’re closing in on a Robotaxi-based future.
Park Seek and Banish Autopark
When the FSD v12.4 showed up, Elon also mentioned that going forward, vehicles would automatically park themselves when arriving in a parking lot – Park Seek – and that if you got out of the car at the entrance to a business, you could get it to automatically park itself in the parking lot – Banish Autopark. These are two features that are needed for Robotaxi to work – which itself is delayed to October 10th of this year. We’re looking quite forward to them – as in combination with Actually Smart Summon, Tesla has reached the cusp of vehicle autonomy.
A vehicle that arrives, driverless, at the location you’re at, then drives somewhere, parks itself there, and waits for you – is the definition of a Robotaxi.
While we’re likely to have to wait for Banish Autopark and Park Seek just a bit longer, Actually Smart Summon being around the corner is exciting! Gone will be the days of having to run out to your car when you forgot your umbrella – your car will just come right to you instead.
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