Tesla Owner Found A Bug In Full Self-Driving Beta Release, Related To Speed Limit Detection

Tesla released the beta version of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) suite last week and got a lot of positive reactions. The beta test version has been released for a handful of “cautious” drivers initially, as Tesla is proceeding with caution for this new version. They also stated that this version was been completely rewritten from scratch, as Tesla aims to make some serious progress in the self-driving sector. The first week remained more or less unscathed for the Californian automaker. Some people had also uploaded videos, saying that this technology is going to revolutionize the industry. Now, a small bug has come up with a few of the cars using this beta version.

Speed Limit Detection Bug Found In FSD Beta Release

The Issue

A Twitter account by the name of “Tesla Joy” reported the issue on the social media platform. She mentioned that her car has started reading speed limit signs so well, that it is switching to the speed limits meant for slower cars, like trucks and towing vehicles. Instead of keeping the higher speed limit meant for the car, it suddenly slows down, which can create problems.

I discovered a bug in 40.8 while on a road trip. Tesla camera reads speed signs too well on freeways now. It keeps switching to slower speed limit applicable for trucks and towing instead of keeping higher speed limit displayed for regular vehicles. Please fix. @elonmusk @tesla pic.twitter.com/d6fuQhee6l

— Tesla Joy (@TeslaJoy) October 24, 2020

The raising of this issue seemed to open the floodgates, as many Tesla owners joined the protest. One of the owners mentioned that it is quite crazy that the speed sign recognition cannot be deactivated. Another mentioned that his car kept going at 55 mph (89 kph) because that was the speed limit for trucks. The speed limit for the lightweight vehicles was 65 mph (104 kph), but the car refused.

One curious problem was reported by a driver, saying that his car read a mile marker as a speeding sign. The car was being driven on Route 28, and it was a 40 mph (64 kph) zone. But the car detected the mile marker as a speeding sign and dropped the speed to 25 mph (40 kph). This can cause a bit of confusion for the cars behind our car, and can even cause accidents.

One of the solutions to this problem is having font size control while detecting the signs. Mile markers and speeding signs have different font sizes, and Tesla needs to fine-tune this bit of code. One customer also said that the autopilot engaged indicator was getting blocked from his vision, especially when his hands are in the 10 and 2 position. Due to this, it sometimes comes as a surprise to him that the Autopilot has been activated.

The Solution

Of course, Tesla, or Elon Musk, is yet to comment on this issue. This is going to be a bit of a hassle for the company though. Giving the drivers a way to override this detection cannot work, because it will not be passed by the authorities. The software consists of artificial intelligence, and there is a limit to its accuracy. When a sign indicates the change in speed limit from 45 mph to 55 mph by saying “45 MPH ENDS”, the system only reads the number 45 and keeps the car at that pace, which is technically wrong. A German customer also stated an issue, saying that the car takes time to reduce speed when it enters a low-speed zone, giving the driver a lot of speeding tickets.

Now, this is exactly why Tesla released the beta version for a few customers initially. These customers can properly review all aspects of the new system and report the bugs. This early release has been a good idea from Tesla, but it has thrown up a rather uncomfortable issue to deal with. It is good to see some negative feedback as well, as this is only going to improve the system.