Tesla’s been hard at work improving their Full Self-Driving beta software and just dropped a huge update for testers. According to Elon Musk, v11.4.1 is such a massive overhaul of the system that it could’ve been called version 12.0. But they’re saving that number for when the software’s fully autonomous.
Musk has expressed that this is no small update, and has publicly stated that V12.0 is an end-to-end AI system from image input to vehicle steering, braking, and acceleration output.
Musk Retweet, “ As mentioned earlier, v11.4.1 has major architectural improvements. It’s actually much more than a point release. Should arguably be v12.0, but that’s reserved for when FSD is fully AI from video in to control out. ”
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Previous updates have focused on improving things like lane guidance, object detection and handling pedestrians. But version 11.4.1 makes foundational changes to how the software understands the world around it. With a bigger training set and revamped systems, it has gotten way better at seeing and navigating city streets. We’re talking 36% better at spotting lanes, 44% at handling intersections and a 27% improvement with mergers.
The update also makes the software more confident around pedestrians, so it can navigate safely around them. It’s 8% better at detecting motorcycles too, which reduces false alarms and makes it work even when the camera frame rate changes. Tesla created a new system that cuts down on interventions needed when other vehicles change into your lane by 43%. The software can now predict when vehicles might cut in and adjust speed to handle it.
Cutting into lanes and handling high-speed lane changes is 40-50% improved. The software is also 20% better at catching when a lane is encroached, 40% better with sharp turns and 26% better at handling full lane changes. Adding 68,000 new videos to train the network even helped fix issues with slowing down too much for distant objects on highways.
The update also makes subtle improvements to how the software handles drifting in lanes, approaching merges and maneuvering large vehicles. While the full promise of a fully autonomous Tesla is still on the horizon, version 11.4.1 is a major leap towards Elon Musk’s vision of an AI that can handle any driving scenario. For those lucky enough to get the beta, their commute just got a whole lot more relaxing.