Tesla scraps ultrasonic sensors for new cars and reverts to cameras
Tesla will stop using ultrasonic sensors in new Model 3 and Y cars. These sensors serve, among other things, as parking assistance to warn drivers of nearby objects. The company sees the use of cameras as the alternative in the long term.
In the coming months, the removal of the affected sensors in the Model 3 and Y will start worldwide, with the S and X to follow from 2023. Removing these sensors will mean that certain features will be limited or unusable for a ‘short period’. This includes parking assistance that warns of obstacles, the automatic parking function, the option to move the car forwards or backwards via the Tesla app and the Smart Summon option that allows the car to navigate to the owner’s location.
Tesla says that these features will be restored via software updates in the future once they perform at a comparable level to today’s cars still equipped with ultrasonic sensors. All other features of Tesla cars related to the Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot and Full Self-Driving capability will still be active as soon as new Model 3 and Y models are delivered, as long as those features are also part of the order. configuration.
The company briefly explains how it will replace the input data from the ultrasonic sensors (USS). The dependence on the neural network is clear. “Along with the removal of the USS, we simultaneously released our vision-based occupancy network. This system is currently being used in Full Self-Driving Beta to replace the inputs generated by USS. With current software, this approach gives the Autopilot high-definition spatial positioning, visibility over a wider range and the ability to identify and distinguish objects.”
Tesla argues that this is the best strategy, given the incremental improvements achieved with Tesla Vision, combined with future Autopilot enhancements and capabilities. With this, Tesla is continuing its strategy that started years ago to only use cameras for self-driving functions. Many other manufacturers opt for a combination, in addition to cameras also the presence of, for example, lidar and radar.
Originally, Tesla’s Autopilot sensors totaled eight cameras, a forward-facing radar, and multiple ultrasonic sensors. The latter category will now disappear with new cars. The company already took a similar step last year. Then Tesla similarly announced that it would scrap the radar for new Model 3 and Y cars, moving to the all-camera-based Tesla Vision. The scraping of the radar will follow this year for the Model S and X.