MIT Study: Tesla Autopilot Drivers "Maintain Functional Vigilance" (mit.edu)

Long-time Slashdot reader Rei writes: Friday, the results of a study by the MIT Center for Transport and Logistics on autonomous system driver attentiveness were released, and the results were conclusive: "drivers do not appear to over-trust the system to a degree that results in significant functional vigilance degradation in their supervisory role of system operation".

The study, involving 323,384 miles driven (34,8% on autopilot) and 8682 "tricky situations" identified. Of the "tricky situations", 0% of incidents involved slow driver responses or missed detections; 4,5% rapid/timely responses; 90,6% anticipatory reaction (preventing the situation from occurring); and 4,9% "other". The study suggests that this is the result of two effects: 1) drivers effectively learn the limits of the system through usage; and 2) "tricky situations" are common enough so as to prevent excess trust by the driver in the system — creating the counterintuitive result that the better the systems become, the worse the driver may become.

While the study is limited by the age of the vehicles (under a quarter were even running HW2, vs HW3 which is being released now — and due to the length of the study, most of the miles were accumulated on older software versions), it offers positive conclusions — but also a precaution — about the integration of humans and driver assist systems.

In other news, Tesla has announced an April 22 Autonomy Investor Day to showcase the capability of its development versions of the software in city driving, and has started rolling out stoplight detection, no-confirmation automated lane changes and exits, and a limited rollout of advanced summon (navigates through parking lots without a driver).

Comments

It's not autonomous driving then

[magzteel]

When it comes to cruise control I know I'm driving and I have to make sure the cruise control doesn't run me into another car.

With "autopilot" I'm supposed to be fully aware at all times of what going on while I'm not actually doing anything. Basically it is a neat toy that I can play with to see what it will do. No thanks.

Re:It's not autonomous driving then

[friedmud]

You obviously haven't tried any of the more advanced systems. They are much more than "toys".

I have two cars that both have adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist. While they are not full autonomy... they are _very_ useful. Adaptive cruise control in particular (where you set a desired speed - and a desired follow distance if you come up on another car) is a godsend on long trips. It removes all of the frustration involved with normal cruise control and people going slightly slower than you...

Lane keep assist is similarly great on long trips... just for helping you stay in your lane that little extra bit. It's also good in town where sometimes I might be adjusting the radio or picking up my coffee or something and I feel the slight tug of the system as it makes sure I don't cross over into oncoming traffic.

Both of these systems could make you more "complacent"... but what I find they do is make me more _relaxed_ instead. Instead of worrying over every detail of driving I can relax and enjoy the ride more. I actually find that this leads me to being _more_ alert on long trips because I don't get as tired or road hypnotized.

Anyway - now that I've had a taste of computer assisted driving I definitely want more. A car that could at least drive itself (with me still paying attention) on the highway would be great!

I was Studied

[crow]

I am one of the drivers in the study. They equipped my car with three cameras, one for my face, one for my hands, and one out front. They also record data directly from the car and audio. When I look at the animation of the various trips, I can recognize my drive to work.

I generally turn on Autopilot (AP1) anytime the road has paint on both sides of the lane. I've learned that there are some situations it handles poorly, such as coming over the crest of a rise, so that accounts for a lot of the disconnects. On highways, we're on Autopilot most of the time, and it's really quite good, though I watch for stopped cars, construction zones, and exits (it used to be bad about following the right paint into the exit).

If you have any questions about my experience, I would be happy to answer. (I'm not seeing messages from Slashdot on post replies recently; I'm not sure if something broke, but I'll try to check back.)

I signed a release for video clips of disconnects for release with this paper, so there will probably be some videos of me somewhere.

Re:I was Studied

[crow]

There were flyers at the Tesla service center in Watertown, and I contacted them. We had the cameras installed in September of 2016. Occasionally I remember the cameras and pay extra attention, but that's rare, probably 1% of the time. We pretty much ignore them.

Re:what did you expect?

[fluffernutter]

Here, have a flamethrower.

You don't know what the word anecdote means.

[Brannon]

It's not really possible to have an intelligent conversation with someone who doesn't know what words mean.