Rolling out today is the latest build of Tesla software, version 2020.12.10. Users in Australia are reporting that the update now features the much awaited FSD visualisations.
These changes now show Tesla vehicles are able to recognise traffic lights, stop signs and even garbage bins on the side of the road.
The first two are really practical and a big step forward in terms of safety. Before this update, Tesla’s were much like any other car on the road, where the adaptive cruise control would keep you a safe distance from the car ahead, but if you were the first car in the cue, it’d happily let you blast through stop light or stop sign if you weren’t paying attention.
Leveraging their computer vision system, Tesla are able to see not just the traffic light, but even road markings and preparing the vehicle to stop when it detects a red light ahead.
The release notes detail how to access the new FSD Preview.
Driving Visualisations Improvements
The driving visualization can now display additional objects which include stop lights, stop signs and select road markings. The stop sign and stop light visualizations are not a substitute for an attentive driver and will not stop the car. To see these additional objects in your driving visualization, tap Control > Autopilot > Full Self-Driving Visualization Preview.
It is understood that drivers do have to press the accelerator to move forward after the light turns green and the system won’t turn you around the corner, in the event you are at a stop sign. I guess Give Way signs would be next?
The last update released this functionality to the US-only, so it’s great to see that in just a couple of weeks, the system can now accommodate for RHD markets like Australia and for traffic lights that are physically very different than the US.
The rubbish bin visualisation is really just Tesla showing off.
