Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta software is rapidly improving and showing off its new abilities as beta testers have been putting it through its paces over the past few weeks.
We got our first hint of a promised pothole avoidance feature recently when beta tester James Locke noticed his car was able to detect and map some debris on the side of the road.
At the time of that incident, Autopilot was not engaged (and the debris was outside of its path) so we didn’t know if the car would have reacted to avoid it. We now have that answer as Locke came across a similar scenario today with the self-driving software engaged.
While travelling at about 45mph (72km/h) on a multi-lane stretch of road, the car in front of the Model 3 begins to slow down as it approached an intersection. It isn’t until the last moment at 31mph (50km/h) when the car in front moves to the side that we first see the road debris.
With just moments to react, the self-driving Tesla nimbly and safely moves to the left to drive around the debris, all the time maintaining speed and staying within its lane. It also appears the debris was again mapped on the visualization.
Just being able to detect and react to the road debris is impressive by itself. But given the fact it was hidden by the vehicle in front until the last moment, and the car was still able to avoid it, makes this example even more impressive.
Check out the full video below.
