by Michael Ballaban
Joshua D. Brown was killed earlier this year when his Tesla Model S, cruising on Tesla’s Autopilot system, crashed into the broad side of a truck after confusing it for a road sign. With Tesla’s newest update of its system to version 8.0, the company aims to change that sort of outcome with radar and machine learning.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced a raft of changes to Autopilot on a conference call to reporters today, including expanded use of radar. The system should also now be able to take highway off ramps, and it should better detect when someone wants to change into your lane thanks to an increased ability to see another car’s directional signal.