Tesla cars in the US can now read speed limit signs and detect green lights, following a new software update.
The vehicles’ Autopilot system generates a speed limit warning on the dashboard display and sends a notification if the car is sitting still at a green traffic light.
The features were released in the latest update of Tesla’s “full self-driving” version of Autopilot.
Tesla vehicles can already slow down at red lights and stop signs.
Tesla founder Elon Musk has said the firm could build fully self-driving cars without steering wheels or pedals as early as 2021In July 2019, Tesla’s website advertised “full potential for autonomous driving” including automatic driving on motorways – although it has always maintained that its Autopilot is not designed to be a substitute for a human driver.
Meanwhile, Cruise – the self-driving car start-up, majority-owned by General Motors – is using artificial intelligence to train its cars to understand the body language of people on the streets and in the roads.
This could be used to identify somebody holding their hand up to signal stop, or a cyclist extending their left arm to indicate they are turning left, for example.
The firm detailed its methods in an article for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Source: bbc.com
