Close 4K look at Tesla "Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control (Beta)" used safely on public roads

4K 60fps video below, or skip right to when I actually start driving here.

Backstory

Despite obvious challenges this unusual year, on Saturday April 25 2020 Tesla still managed to deliver a major new milestone in Autopilot software's somewhat-misnamed "Full Self Driving" feature set. Apparently even Ford's upcoming Mach-E EV is getting some work-from-home done these days.

For anybody who purchased the Full Self Driving option and a recent Tesla vehicle, they have the prerequisite hardware and software. In my video, I used my 2018 Tesla Model 3 Long Range All Wheel Drive, but it's been upgraded to the same HW3 FSD Computer that now comes in all Model 3 and Model Y Teslas.

I went into detail about my FSD upgrade experience back in February here:

• Model 3 HW3 brain replacement caused temporary amnesia but Tesla quickly restored settings, Autopilot improvement demonstrated with new FSD Computer
  Feb 27 2020

and shared some recent fun footage of heavy-rain driving visualizations here:

• Tesla 2020.12.5 FSD visualization of tipped trash cans/blowing lights, mailboxes, cones in wind/rain.
  Apr 14 2020

So when I got a push notification on my phone last night about an upgrade to 2020.12.6 was available for my car over my garage's WiFi, I was happy to accept the offer. I proceeded to do a little "heck yeah" to myself and others. I knew what would be waiting for me the next morning for my trip to the market to get some essential groceries for my extended family, equipped with a mask and gloves, of course. Having covered nearly 29,000 in my Model these past 16 months, and having done on average two software upgrades per month, the car has earned my trust. I know it's limitations, first-and-foremost is ensuring I keep myself and my family safe, in the safest car available, with Autopilot making it safer and safer with each passing year. I had also already read all about this firmware and seen several other videos about it too, including on @dirtytesla's YouTube channel.

First legitimate surface road automation now widely available

This new upgrade enables those ever-improving visualizations to not only approximate what the car can see, but to allow the car to start acting upon what it sees. Not just on the highway as it's done for years, but on surface roads too. While you are not supposed to be using Autopilot's Autosteer+ on such roads around town, you've always been able to use TACC (Traffic Aware Cruise Control) all the way down to 0 mph for quite some time, dialing in your preferred speed using the steering wheel's right thumbwheel. Note, TACC used to let you go to 5 mph above the posted speed limit, but those extra 5 mph are now gone.

So if you have cruise control engaged, but you are doing the steering, the car can now do the braking and (most of) the accelerating for signal lights and stop signs.

During these early days, Tesla has taken a very cautious approach, and requires you to explicitly opt-in to this beta. Tesla makes sure you see the detailed warnings on what the "Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control (Beta)" feature can and cannot do, right there in your car in the middle of the screen as soon as you get in after this firmware upgrade. It essentially admits it will be a bit more work proceeding through green lights if you set this feature on, as the car will ask you to tap on the right-stalk or tap on the accelerator pedal to confirm whether its safe to proceed through any intersections. The intent here is to make the fleet smarter through the collection of this crucial real-world data, and of course eventually offer a cruise control that handles ALL braking and accelerating up to the speed limit around town.

Join me on my very first time trying this camera arrangement and software out today, and please feel free to leave me constructive feedback below this article, or below the video. It's quite challenging to get sound, image stabilization, and multiple camera angles just right before setting out for a drive, so please go a little easy on me.

Free Supercharging: If you find this article of value and decide to order a Tesla, please consider using this ts.la/paul68544 referral link when placing your order so you and I both get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging. If you order Solar, it's a $250 award after system activation.

Disclosure: My family owns no stock in Tesla. Tesla doesn't advertise at TinkerTry, or anywhere else, and this is not a sponsored post. We financed the purchase of two Tesla Model 3s, replacing my 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid in December of 2018 and replacing my wife's 2005 Honda Civic EX in December of 2019. These big moves to an all electric household were an expression of our mutual desire to go green, avoid gasoline, be safe, have fun, and save money in the long run. Mostly for my job, I drive a lot, 25,000 miles in 2019 for example, and I thoroughly enjoy sharing what I've learned with you. I hope you can tell!

Video

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Jun 27 2020 Update - Consider reading Teslarati's Tesla explains Autopilot’s automatic green light response for US market, then enjoy this newews video listed below. You may notice I forgot to mention that the value of the new live side views includes the new ability to see your entire blind-spot, partially compensating for the relatively poor rearward visibility in current Tesla models including Model Y. This may reduce the need for a wide-angle mirror accessory, for example, and the trade-off for leaving these rearward views on your Model 3/Model Y 15" screen is that your GPS view is obscured.

See also at TinkerTry

All Tesla related articles:

• TinkerTry.com/Tesla

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See also

• Watch Tesla drivers train Autopilot’s new traffic light and stop-sign feature
  Apr 27 2020 by Fred Lambert at Electrek

  Electrek’s Take
  Like I previously stated, while the feature shows Tesla’s impressive computer vision system, it is not very useful to drivers under its current form.

  It could change in the coming months as Tesla gathers more data and allows automated intersection crossing at lower speeds, which could be useful in heavy traffic.

  I am particularly impressed by Tesla’s detection of yellow lights and how it can still make the car stop after the driver confirms to move forward while the light is green.
  ...

Now that you've read about Fred's thoughts on yellow light detection, you can see an example of exactly that at this spot in my video. I'm delighted to see that my video was actually one of the three videos featured in the article!

• Tesla owners with the new Traffic Light update are revealing some interesting experiences
  Apr 26 2020 by Joey Klender at Teslarati

  Tesla owners with the latest Full Self-Driving feature are getting their first taste at the newly released Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control feature, and the results are certainly compelling.

  Tesla officially rolled out the feature to U.S. Tesla drivers on April 24 with software update 2020.12.6, which comes roughly a week after Early Access Program members revealed first experiences with the new Autopilot response.
  ...

• 10 Top Picks of 2020: Best Cars of the Year
  These exceptional new cars shine in CR’s tests and surveys, and each comes standard with key advanced safety features
  Feb 20 2020 by Jeff S. Barlett at Consumer Reports

  The Model 3 proves that EVs can challenge conventional upscale sedans by offering invigorating performance with a high-tech vibe. It boasts rapid acceleration that’s delivered in near silence, with instant passing power available at any speed and enough thrust to push the driver back into the seat.
  ...

• Autopilot, Processors and Hardware – MCU & HW Demystified
  TeslaTap

  ...
  Hardware Specifications for new cars (no retrofits) HW3
  Front Cameras - 3 – Narrow 35°, Main 50°, Wide angle 120°
  Side Cameras - 2 – 90°
  Side Rearward Cameras - 2 – 60°
  Rear – 150°, RGGB*
  Radar - Continental, 558 ft range
  Core Processors - 2 – Tesla chips, each including 12 Exynos 64-bit ARM cores, 2 GPUs, 2 neural network processors and 1 lockstep CPU
  Frames per second - 2300
  Estimated Power - 220W
  ...