It's not just Tesla: Report claims all semi-autonomous cars are easily fooled

Information technology's not just Tesla: Written report claims all semi-autonomous cars are easily fooled

(Image credit: Tesla)

Tesla gets a lot of flak for how easy it is to fox its Autopilot driver-assistance system into thinking in that location's an attentive commuter when at that place isn't. Every bit deserving equally that criticism is, it'south worth remembering that Tesla isn't the only automaker with this problem.

Motorcar and Driver put 17 different cars, all equipped with semi-autonomous driving systems, to the test to encounter just how easy information technology was to fool them. As it turns out, they tin all exist fooled pretty easily, proving that the auto manufacture has a lot of explaining to practise.

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It's all very apropos, especially since Machine and Driver's get-go ii tests were to unbuckle the seat belt and take the hands off the steering wheel while adaptive prowl control and lane centering were switched on.

A number of cars, including two Teslas and a Cadillac, immediately slowed to a gentle halt. Others, like a Subaru, warned the driver to cut that out. Nearly of the cars did absolutely nothing.

Car and Driver did find that cars would eventually slow down if the driver took their easily off the wheel for a certain amount of time. However, that fourth dimension differed from car to car. In the most extreme instance, a Hyundai drove for 91 seconds (covering a mile and a one-half at highway speeds) without hands on the wheel.

The hands-off test was repeated using two.5-lb. ankle weights strapped to the steering wheel to try to trick the car into thinking a driver was touching the bike. That's a trick we've heard about before.

In most cases, it appears that the cars were easily fooled, since they measured torque on the steering cycle as a way to gauge driver attentiveness. Some cars didn't, including a BMW and a Mercedes, since their systems rely on touch instead. Those cars also couldn't be tricked with tape or zip ties touching the wheels.

GM Super Cruise, considered by many the best democratic driving organisation on the marketplace, does allow for hands-complimentary driving on pre-mapped stretches of road for extended periods of time. You can't pull a fast one on a system that has been designed to let y'all sit around with your hands off the wheel. Or can y'all?

Super Prowl uses an infrared camera pointed at the driver'south face to cheque whether the driver is actually looking at the road ahead. So Car and Driver altered their test by taking their eyes off the road — and the car responded by coming to a stop.

Even so, the testers found that GM's Super Cruise could easily be fooled with a pair of gag glasses with printed-on eyes. That's right — the kind of matter you'd look to see in a Simpsons gag tin can fool ane of the well-nigh advanced driver-assistance systems around, even when there's no one in the driver's seat.

In fact, every car tested was able to bulldoze effectually past itself without a human in the driver's seat. Some of them required a weight on the steering bicycle to keep driving, but they would otherwise go along indefinitely without an actual commuter.

So what does this mean?

We've already seen instances in which drivers are willing to plough on a semi-autonomous arrangement and use information technology as an excuse to not pay attention to the road. People keep getting arrested for doing simply this in Teslas, and even accept been caught literally sleeping in the passenger seat while the automobile drove effectually by itself.

Every bit Car and Commuter points out, drivers are willing to share tips on how to fool their auto'due south safety systems, in a moving ridge of irresponsibility that is beyond idiotic. The fact that these systems are so easily fooled is a problem that really needs addressing — especially, as the video points out, because a lot of basic precautions are missing.

Not a single 1 of the 17 cars tested had any sort of sensor to discover whether someone was actually in the driver'due south seat or not. This is weird, because that passenger seats have to include a weight sensor and then the machine knows whether to deploy an airbag in the effect of a crash.

A weight sensor in the driver'south seat wouldn't finish drivers from intentionally disregarding basic road safety, but it would stop them climbing out of the seat.

Plus, as Jalopnik points out, the fact that some cars brake to a halt when the driver takes hands off the cycle is unsafe in itself. Stopping in the middle of the highway is a pretty bad thought, peculiarly if information technology'southward considering the driver fell asleep.

Jalopnik points out that teaching a arrangement to pull over to the side of the road, and so coming to a halt, would be a much safer option — although that may non be possible until Level 3 democratic systems become more commonplace.

This is clearly an event facing the entire auto industry rather than merely one or two manufacturers. And just because everyone is doing information technology, doesn't excuse the likes of Tesla who become the most negative attending.

Just remember that the limited autonomy your auto has is designed to assist the commuter, not take over. You can't buy a fully-autonomous car just however, and for the safety of you and everyone around yous, it'south essential you familiarize yourself with the limitations of your ain car's democratic-driving capabilities.

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Tom is the Tom'southward Guide's Automotive Editor, which means he can usually be found knee joint deep in stats the latest and best electric cars, or checking out some sort of driving gadget. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland, when pretty much everything was on the table. He'southward unremarkably found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of java, or complaining that Ikea won't allow him buy the stuff he really needs online.