Tesla’s revolutionary self-driving technology has received a brand new update, although it is still in its beta stage. The real-world application of this “fully functioning” Full Self Driving (FSD) has been captured by a drone and this footage is a feast-for-the-eye for any Tesla enthusiast. Upon release only a few owners currently have access to the beta software in the “early access program,” but Tesla has given them permission to share videos of their experience. One of the owners is a person who goes by the name Brandon M on YouTube and he has been sharing a couple of his experiences on his channel.
Spectacular Drone Footage Captures Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Performance
The one that has particularly captured our interest is drone footage filmed using Skydio 2 in a continuous filming style. The video was recorded to show the improvements of the new Tesla FSD BETA software version 2020.40.8.11.
In the video there a few scary moments as the car encounters a few near-misses, the video starts off with a shocking near-miss where Model 3 seemed to want to drive into a parked car.
The car was parked in a diagonal parking space, it almost looked like the FSD wanted to follow the car due to the angle in which the other car was parked and the Model 3’s FSD showed no signs of stopping. If it hadn’t been for the driver’s quick intervention by braking it would’ve most probably resulted in an accident. There is another example where the Model 3 goes through an odd-shaped intersection with no give way lines but stops anyway and another corner where it doesn’t stop where there is a stop sign, only slowing down. It seems as if the self-driving AI has to becoming more accustomed to real-world scenarios.
The FSD beta was caught off-guard a few more times during the eight-minute test, but it also performed well at some tasks. It was astonishing to see the car’s computers maneuvering the vehicle through a series of residential streets.
Another point that was equally as impressive to the FSD if not more is the self-flying capability of the Skydio drone which was pretty insane. That being said, navigating a 3D world with the freedom of moving up and down is completely different than moving on a 2D surface with traffic rules, but it’s nonetheless impressive to see the drone effortlessly avoid trees and power lines.
From his experience over the past few weeks, Mr. Brandon comments that the FSD software is an improvement of what went before. It no longer bounces between cars as it did initially when driving down a residential street with no lane markings, and turns, in general, are smoother.
Tesla has attracted a fair share of criticism for allowing untrained drivers to test its beta software, there have been instances where inexperienced drivers who relayed completely on their car’s FSD system ignored the shortcomings of the software and have caused accidents. Tesla however has been sending positive reactions to the drivers who have shared such footages of the FSD in action.
The company’s CEO Elon Musk himself thanked beta drivers in a response to one such driver, James Locke, saying all the content being shared is very helpful.
Huge thank you to @elonmusk and @tesla allowing beta testers for FSD to share the experience. @elonmusk is the content being shared by early access FSD testers going well in your view?
Is there anything you'd like us all to do differently? #FSDBeta pic.twitter.com/StG4pZl2m8
— James Locke (@arctechinc) October 25, 2020
Musk also commented via Twitter that personal Tesla had the latest version of the software a few days ahead of beta testers.
Mine is a few days ahead
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 24, 2020
