Tesla announced in October that all its new electric vehicles would be outfitted with equipment that would enable them to drive on their own and also launched a video showing off the technology. Now the automaker has launched some additional footage showing what the vehicle “sees” as it drives without human input.
What automated vehicles actually see on the road
Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted the demonstration on Twitter, showing off a passenger sitting in the driver’s seat (who was required to be there by law) as the vehicle navigated to its destination in traffic, stopped at lights and encountered other road condition before parking itself, notes The Verge.
Longer version of self-driving demo with Paint It Black soundtrack https://t.co/YuUmyEaCgR
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 19, 2016
The video shows off what the medium range, right rear and left rear cameras of the car are capturing, in addition to the view from the interior of the car. A whirlwind of colors reveal what the vehicle is “seeing”: motion and lane lines and colored boxes for “in path objects” like road signs, objects, and streetlights. These boxes emphasize people, other cars and other potential hazards that a human driver would ordinarily take into consideration while driving.
Tesla’s new electric cars will be fitted with an onboard computer with around “40 times the computing power of the previous generation” to process the sonar, radar imagery and vision that the car takes in, according to the electric car making giant.
Tesla cars to hit New Zealand
Tesla has also confirmed that its vehicles are set to hit the shores of New Zealand. Last month, the U.S.-based automaker said that people in New Zealand would be able to order electric cars starting in November.
On Monday, the automaker said it is now accepting online orders for the Model X and Model S in New Zealand, with the first vehicles expected to arrive between April and June. The first store will be in Auckland, while the first service center and store and superchargers are planned for the major highway between Auckland and Wellington in 2017, reports Stuff.
The fastest production car, the P100D with a 0-100 kmh time of 2.7 seconds, is included in the Model S product line. The Model X line is packed with all-wheel drive capabilities, five-, six-, and seven-seat configurations, and towing. New Zealand pricing for these models has not been announced yet.
On Friday, Tesla shares closed down 1.93% at $185.02.
