Tesla started the week with its announcement that it will upgrade the software for its Autopilot so that their radar technology can be improved upon.
The CEO and founder of Tesla, Elon Musk, during a teleconference, said the software upgrade download will be made available for models that were made and delivers from November 2014 in the next two weeks. Musk added that had the software being in place, the Florida driver may not have died after it crashed into a truck.
Musk noted that the upgrade will enable the cars to be able to detect when there is a large metal object that is across the road.
It was as a result of low luminosity and poor weather that the Florida tragedy occurred, which was said to be the first crash the car recorded for the Autopilot.
With the new radar technology coming on board, total reliance will not be on the camera only as the control sensor as the radar has the ability to see through snow, fog, rain and dust.
The cars will now be able to step on the brakes more promptly with the radar technology even if the object it detected is not harmful, the company said.
The self-driven cars with the radar technology will be able to give some gap from a vehicle it is trailing should the vehicle in question encounter crash.
According to Musk during his explanations on the new safety measures the company was putting in place said achieving perfect safety was not obtainable. He noted that although the company has put so much to work, that they, however, cannot assure that there will never be zero accidents or zero injuries.
He noted that the safety improvement was a major threefold attempt at ensuring better safety. He, however, did not state if the update will be taking into consideration some of the old systems they made use of.
