Recently, a Tesla driver noticed their Tesla was showing some odd readings when it cruised through the highway. It was later understood that the car was mistaking the moon for an endless string of traffic lights.
The glitch was captured on video and shared on social media, first potted by Interesting Engineering. The video shows Tesla’s Autopilot feature interpreting the moon as yellow traffic light after the actual yellow light on a road was off.
Comical but not fatal
While the glitch might sound funny at first, it shows how difficult it is to make an autonomous vehicle that actually understands and do not misinterpret their surroundings. Fortunately, the glitch did not put the driver’s safety at risk.
The car maintained a steady speed while cruising down the highway, opting to drive through all the perceived yellow traffic lights instead of stopping before they changed to red. Such glitches where an unusual scenario messes up with the Autopilot is what’s called an “edge case” in the car industry. Tesla must surely be aware of this and might soon fix it.
Tesla planning new beginnings
Tesla is believed to use Samsung’s new camera sensor for its Cybertruck that packs cameras in the front fenders instead of rearview mirrors. The ISOCELL Auto 4AC sensor is capable of withstanding temperatures ranging from -40 to 125 degrees Celcius. It can be adapted to both humans and mechanical systems such as autonomous vehicles. It is currently in the production stage and will likely appear on cars that are said to launch soon.
Besides, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that the company will start to open up its Supercharger network to other electric vehicles by the end of 2021. Musk confirmed the news on July 21 while responding to a tweet about Tesla’s technology for rapid charging.
Opening up its Supercharger network to other EVs will create a new revenue source for Tesla with the sales of power and adapters. It could also mean that Tesla owners might have to wait in long queues at Supercharger stations when other EVs start showing up.
