Tesla has initiated the deployment of a new Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta software update, marked as version 11.4.8, incorporating several incremental enhancements as the company progresses toward the highly anticipated v12 update. The v12 update is anticipated to transition the system out of its beta phase.
FSD Beta, launched in October 2020, empowers Tesla vehicles to autonomously navigate to a predefined destination, requiring the driver to remain vigilant and prepared to assume control when necessary. Tesla has consistently expanded the FSD Beta program to include more vehicles in North America through successive software updates.
The recent 11.4.8 update focuses on refining various aspects of the FSD Beta system, as outlined in the release notes:
- Single-Tap Activation: Users can now activate Autopilot with a single tap, streamlining the activation and disengagement process.
- Efficient Video Module: A new video module has been introduced to enhance vehicle detection semantic, velocity, and attributes networks, improving performance at lower latency.
- Enhanced Object Detections: The update has improved distant crossing object detections by an additional 6%, precision of vehicle detection, and cut-in vehicle detection.
- Reduced Errors: Vehicle velocity error has been reduced by 3%, and vehicle acceleration error by 10%, achieved through improvements in autolabeled datasets and the introduction of the new video module.
- Latency Reduction: The latency of the vehicle semantics network has been reduced by 15% through the new video module architecture.
- Pedestrian and Bicycle Rotation: Error reduction of over 8% has been achieved by leveraging object kinematics more extensively in autolabeled datasets.
- Geometric Accuracy: Vision Park Assist predictions have seen a 16% improvement in geometric accuracy, driven by increased data, resolution, and stability of measurements.
- Lane Change Accuracy: Path blockage lane change accuracy has been boosted by 10%, thanks to updates in static object detection networks.
While the 11.4.8 update showcases notable improvements, it falls short of the anticipated v12, which is expected to introduce neural net-based vehicle controls. Despite ongoing advancements, the ultimate goal of achieving true full self-driving, as outlined by CEO Elon Musk, remains a work in progress, with an ambitious target of realization by the end of the year.
