Hey! I Went to CES!
I guess I'd better think about some reportage. As soon as I recruit a crowd to stand behind me and watch me type, I'll get right on it.
Bonus! Tesla Full Self Driving(Supervised) Report
That's how I got to Las Vegas. My weary driving finger is recovering even as I write. Encouraging progress!
Thus ended "Yesterday's" blog, thus begins today's, by a simple flick of the mouse.
What's New? AI, of Course
But first, does Mr. Sphere have a message for us?
How could I resist?
I'm a Big Desk Guy
If I didn't already have a big desk, this motorized monster from Three-D desk in Korea would be on my shopping list. (Those are my sneakers peaking out from the bottom.) Look at all that space for blogging! And it has its own controller. Nobody was crushed during their demos, as far as I know.
What About the Future?
A constant theme of CES is "the future of." Here we have the wall of Panasonic visitors who are on the way there.
As are those below...
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Nooooooooo! Don't turn up the temperature! Please turn out that bright light.
I'll talk! I'll talk! |
Q: Richard, are you ever going to get serious about your CES report?
A:Maybe a bit. I actually go to CES for professional reasons, and had some valuable discussions with Geodnet, Nichicon, and some not-so-valuable discussions with others, including AARP and Neakasa.
Q: You've barely mentioned AI!
A: Maybe I will in a subsequent blog.
Q: What about Tesla's Full Self Driving(Supervised) report? You promised!
A: Don't go whiny on me! Here it is:
Tesla Full Self Driving(Supervised)
Please consider this an update to my January 2022 blog which contained my review of FSD on a previous trip to CES. Tesla has done an excellent job of improving FSD in the intervening two years! It's so improved in so many ways that subscribing to it may be in my future! Let me bulletpoint the ways.
The Improvements:
- Lane change, which I already liked, has now become automatic, somewhat adjustable, and surprisingly polite.
- It handles traffic lights and signs much better.
- It handles roundabouts well, something I didn't dare to try last time.
- It seems to handle some complicated left turns with greater sophistication.
- It's learned not to slow down for no apparent reason, so fewer angry drivers* behind me.
- It made me feel more confident in its AI goodness.
The Deprovements:
- There seems to be no way to tell it to NOT make lane changes.
- It will sometimes drive at an uncomfortable speed, fast or slow.
- It's not quite as clever as it thinks it is. It tried to back into a supercharger stall in the wrong location.
To Elaborate:
By far, the best thing about Full Self Driving(Supervised) is this: Even if I had NOT been paying attention, I believe it would have taken me from my driveway to my Las Vegas hotel and back without my intervention except for the necessity of charging. The corollary, and worst thing about it: I don't feel confident enough to not pay attention and, of course, the car—wisely—doesn't permit driver inattention.
Sometimes on long stretches of highway I get behind a car going just a little bit slower than I would like. I often prefer to not pass just because there's no point in saving a few seconds over a hundred miles even if the situation is static. And it never is. There isn't any way to tell the FSD computer "don't change lanes automatically." It changes lanes gracefully and safely, and far more smoothly than I do. Even so, there should be a "lane chill" setting. Here in Arizona on the interstate the speed limit is mostly 75, and I'm content to stay at 80 or below. Sometimes the Tesla decides** I should be going 85, which I find uncomfortable. Likewise, sometimes we're uncomfortably slow for no obvious reason, and it takes minutes to speed up. Neither situation is common, but should easily be avoidable with a software modification.
On the first leg of my trip to Las Vegas, it drove unerringly from my driveway to the Flagstaff supercharger (which I used to have difficulty finding!) and—all by itself—negotiated a somewhat complicated route to get to the superchargers from the street. It then attempted to back into a charger only to fail by backing between a pair of them! (I offered to help.) Notwithstanding that tiny glitch and unlike my previous experience, FSD(S) seems a lot more confident and smooth.
Bugs
Tesla is remarkably uncommunicative, given their loquacious fearless leader. I would report these bugs but they have no email address and getting someone on the telephone is too challenging.
With the elevation in my driving range varying from 1000 to 8000 feet with significant temperature changes as well, I occasionally like to check the tire pressure while parked and while driving. Pressing the microphone button and saying "Display Tire Pressure" often brings up a tire pressure display showing all four numbers on an outline of the car. Except when it doesn't, and tells me that feature isn't implemented.
One road on which I drive frequently has a speed limit that varies from 45 to 55 to 65 and back down again. For some reason the 65mph signs are invisible to the car! It has no trouble with other, lower and higher speeds or 65 at different locations. Map update should fix it? It's been over a year!
Money
I've been using FSD for much of last year and this one. Between Tesla's free-trial months and the referral points I earned recommending the car to friends I've gotten a swaglet in the form of a "Powered By The Sun" license plate frame and some free FSD months. Tesla has reduced the subscription price to $100/month from $200, which is a good start. I'd happily pay it if I could nap or read while the car drives, but we're not there yet. I suspect that, as other manufacturers catch up to Tesla, the price will decrease still further as a matter of commercial necessity. At the current state of the art, my pain threshold is still below their offer. But there's good progress in the software and the economics!
* Fewer, but not none. Some drivers are just angry people; I'm not one of them.
** Yes, I do anthromorphize Mr. Tesla accidentally or deliberately, and I'm not sure he's comfortable with that. He hasn't sued me yet. |
