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All Tesla Vehicles Being Produced Now Have Full Self-Driving Hardware (jalopnik.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Jalopnik: All current Tesla models that will be produced in its Fremont, California factory will come with self-driving hardware built-in capable of Level 5 autonomy, including the upcoming Tesla Model 3, the company announced tonight. According to the announcement, Tesla will manufacture all of its cars with the hardware necessary for Level 5 self-driving systems going forward, including the Model S, Model X and new Model 3. At the introduction of the Model 3, it wasn't clear whether or not every Model 3 package would come standard with the hardware and software to handle Autopilot and any other self-driving features. That's been cleared up now, but there's a kicker. Just like on current Model S and Model X models, you can purchase the cars with the self-driving hardware included. But, in order to activate the software and actually use the Autopilot or upcoming advanced self-driving safety features, you will have to option it when you order the car, or pay more for it later. Elon Musk stated that the new hardware in all of Tesla's cars going forward are Tesla's own vision software, with a Tesla-developed neural net. The new hardware and software capabilities still need to undergo all of the testing required by Tesla's own standards, as well as government approval before unleashing Level 5 autonomous cars onto the streets.
The claim in the press release is "full class 5 driving", which means fully autonomous. I'll believe it when I see it. It seems like a strong claim to make that "we don't know how to do full class 5 driving yet, but we know this hardware is enough to meet the requirements of the thing we don't know".
The point I was making, that if a human can interpret the visual information it's given, then a car with a bigger sensor set can in theory do it too. It's all about software at that point, but there's no limitation on hardware here that a human doesn't have.
Humans don't require that. In theory the only sensors a self driving car needs is two cameras at driver head height in the diver seat with the ability to swivel around. Everything else is 'just software'.
Even if you had a heat sensor you'd still have to educate the car. It could be a hot bag or cold animal. Sensors aren't the issue, you need EXCELLENT software.