A scent of déjà vu floats over the American manufacturer. After the big problems of last year concerning Autopilot, the deadly accident involving FSD (Full Self-Driving), the NHTSA, the American road safety policeman, has just opened a new investigation concerning more than 2.5 million Tesla vehicles.

In question: the autonomous parking function called “Actual Smart Summon” (ASS), supposed to allow cars to automatically join their owners simply order via smartphone.

An accumulation of incidents which alarms the authorities

The number of accidents has increased since the launch of the ASS last September. NHTSA identified four separate cases : one complaint directly filed with its services and three incidents reported by the media. In each situation, the scenario repeats itself: the car, controlled remotely, hits a fixed obstacle – pole or parked vehicle – that the system was unable to detect.

Twelve similar cases had been reported with the previous version of the device, the “Smart Summon”. What is special about these accidents? The brutality of their occurrenceleaving no chance for owners to intervene to avoid the impact.

Camera vision: a contested technological bet

Tesla’s technical approach to the autonomous functions of its vehicles is a bit outside of industry standards. In fact, the manufacturer has abandoned ultrasonic sensors, LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging) in favor of a system based solely on camera vision. A more minimalist architecture and necessarily less expensive to produce.

However, can these cameras, as sophisticated as they are, match the reliability of a multi-sensor system? The first feedback casts doubt. Static obstacles seem to be the big weak point of the ASS: it’s a bit paradoxical, especially since the latest versions of the FSD work quite well and manage to make the vehicle move in complex environments.

The removal of ultrasonic sensors, which offered much more precise proximity detection, therefore appears to be a rather questionable technical choice in the face of security requirements. of such a precise automated maneuver.

In any case, the NHTSA will not stop thereas she explains in his report : “ ODI (Editor’s note : Office of Defects Investigation, office responsible for investigating potential safety problems related to automobiles) launches a preliminary investigation to analyze the operation of the ASS and its role in reported accidents, particularly on vehicles equipped with FSD mode or offered as a free trial. NHTSA will review the maximum speed allowed when this function is activated, the limitations provided for use on public roads, as well as the necessary visibility conditions “. This should clarify the state of maturation a little of this system, barely five months old.

  • NHTSA is investigating more than 2.5 million Teslas after accidents related to ASS functionality.
  • The system, based solely on cameras, struggles to detect fixed obstacles, raising questions about its reliability.
  • The authorities will examine the technical and security limits of this technology to assess its safety.

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