Tesla CEO and co-founder Elon Musk has said that the upcoming Full Self-Driving (FSD) release will show what has been referred to as a “mind of car” view and will enable them to recognise digital speed signs.
A new image of what exactly this view, apparently based on the new Plaid user interface (UI), will look like has also emerged on Twitter (and it has been under our noses all this time, used as Musk’s most recent Twitter avatar).
When you hit Plaid! 🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/LpEDBQFu4O
— Tesla Raj (@tesla_raj) July 7, 2021
In a series of tweets on Tuesday (US time), Musk gave another update on the anticipated V9.0 release of the EV maker’s fully autonomous software, which is being used by a small number of beta testers in the US prior to a wider rollout.
In response to a question about whether a new UI that can be customised would be coming to the Model 3 and Model Y, after it was teased at the Model S Plaid launch in June, Musk said: “Yes, updated UI coming with FSD wide release. All cars with FSD computer will have new “mind of car” view. All 3/Y can be upgraded to have FSD computer.”
Yes, updated UI coming with FSD wide release. All cars with FSD computer will have new “mind of car” view. All 3/Y can be upgraded to have FSD computer.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 6, 2021
It’s not entirely clear if Musk is purely referring to the “mind of view” when he says cars will require the FSD hardware upgrade which comes as part of a post-purchase add-on of the EV maker’s autonomous driving package (currently $A10,100).
The customisable interface was seen during the Plaid launch (see the video with timestamp below). In it, users can move elements of the screen from left to right, or swap out icons on the bottom bar to include favourite apps.
But Musk’s answer implies that customisable screens may be something that Tesla keeps as a premium feature, only available to those who have purchased the FSD package.
What is certain is that the “mind of view” is for FSD only – it has been mentioned previously by Musk as a “true mind’s eye of the neural net“, conveying to drivers a visualisation of how the FSD is perceiving and extrapolating real-world objects.
In a second tweet, Musk has said that the next FSD build will also include the ability to recognise digital speed signs, which presumably have caused issues because low-cost LED lights modulate incoming AC power to save on energy, causing imperceptible dimming (except of course to computers).
Musk says this problem has been solved by a variety of tweaks to Tesla Vision cameras, including improved frame rates and exposure settings.
Caused by switching frequency of light source. Surround video (multiple cameras, across several frames), improving fps & exposure setting tweaks solves this. All in FSD build.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 6, 2021
But when will FSD v9.0 arrive, you may ask? In true “Elon Time”, its release date has been pushed back multiple times, with Musk most recently admitting the task of getting its artificial intelligence software to handle real-world situations is much harder than at first appreciated.
In early July he responded to a follower who had changed his car’s name to “Two Weeks” in a jest to the Tesla boss, saying, “Haha, FSD 9 beta is shipping soon, I swear! Generalized self-driving is a hard problem, as it requires solving a large part of real-world AI. Didn’t expect it to be so hard, but the difficulty is obvious in retrospect.
“Nothing has more degrees of freedom than reality.”
Haha, FSD 9 beta is shipping soon, I swear!
Generalized self-driving is a hard problem, as it requires solving a large part of real-world AI. Didn’t expect it to be so hard, but the difficulty is obvious in retrospect.
Nothing has more degrees of freedom than reality.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 3, 2021
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.