Artificial Intelligence in Tesla Vehicles

Tesla being a tech pioneer has become a leading name in the world of electric vehicles. The usage of the latest artificial intelligence technologies likes autopilot in cars has created curiosity among passionate automobile enthusiasts. Tesla has made use of the customer datasets for data analytics to predict and gather information about customer requirements and used it to improve the features of its vehicles. The current AI technologies that Tesla is using in its cars are based on unsupervised machine learning.

AI features in Tesla vehicles-

1. AI integrated chips

Tesla aims to create AI integrated chips that will enable cars to navigate through freeways and even traffic. Approximately 6 billion transistors constitute the circuit of each Tesla chip. These Tesla chips are 21 times faster than the original Nvidia chips and 20% cheaper too. They have 32 megabytes of high-speed SRAM memory on the chip because of which fetching data is faster and easier compared to DRAM.

For better performance, Tesla automobile systems have two AI chips. Both the chips make separate assessments of the traffic and danger situation around the cars. The assessments are then matched and the car is guided accordingly if the outputs are the same. If there is ambiguity in the outputs obtained from the chips, then revaluation is done until a safe and suitable decision is taken. Thus, dual chips will enable better control over the navigation in self-driving Tesla cars.

2. Autopilot

Autopilot features enable cars to steer, accelerate, and brake automatically in the lane. All new Tesla cars since 2016 come with Autopilot which includes Traffic-Aware Cruise Control and Autosteer features.

Working of Autopilot

It is built on the principles of deep neural network. It uses cameras, ultrasonic sensors, and radar to perceive the environment around the vehicle.  The sensors and cameras provide the drivers with an awareness of the surroundings which are later processed in a matter of milliseconds to help make the driving safer and less stressful. Radar is used to see and measure the distance around the cars in light, dark, and different weather conditions. Ultraviolet techniques measure proximity in all the cases and the passive video recognizes objects around the car and ensures safe drive. Also, autopilot is made for the driver’s assistance and this feature does not turn Tesla into a self-driving car. Drivers are frequently reminded to keep their hands on the steering wheel. Failure to do so triggers a set of warnings to take hold of the wheel. If ignored further, the car starts to slow down and finally stops. Drivers can always override autopilot features by steering, applying brakes, or using cruise control stalk to deactivate.

Other distinct features in Tesla cars:

• Design of AI chips– A Tesla AI chip has a very fast processor. It runs at 2GHz frequency and can perform up to 36 trillion operations per second.
• Software version 10.0 – Following are the features of the latest software version of Tesla, Version 10.0:
  • Tesla Theatre – The new version allows access latest OTT platforms and Tesla tutorial videos for learning more about the Tesla cars. A karaoke feature has also been added to the system.
  • Smart summon – This version enables customers to purchase Full self-driving capability or Enhanced Autopilot to navigate during parking or reach a particular destination as long as the car is in the line of sight of the customer.
  • Security – The sentry mode adds a unique protection layer to Tesla vehicles by monitoring the environment around the car when it is unattended. And the video clips taken while the vehicle is in sentry mode are also stored in the USB drive automatically.
  • Browser access on Model 3 vehicles – Browsers and various apps can be accessed on Model 3 Standard Range and Standard Range Plus vehicles using Wi-Fi.
• 360-degree visualisation -Tesla cars use a neural network to process 8 cameras placed in the system. They provide a 360-degree visualization of surrounding vehicles at up to 250 metres. These cameras provide a deeper understanding of objects around the automobile by giving access to views from different angles thus enabling a safer drive. Twelve updated ultrasonic sensors improve the vision by detecting both hard and soft objects around the vehicle.
• How do the 8 cameras work? When a vehicle is detected in the blind spot of a Tesla car, the lane line shown in the on-screen visualization turns red. Along with the information of the vehicles in the adjacent lanes, the vehicle types like bikes and trucks are also displayed to provide a better understanding of the surroundings. Other than this, Model S, Model X, Model 3 vehicles can also record videos from the forward-facing camera and store them.

• Batteries and propulsion system – Tesla cars use lithium-ion batteries. The nickel-cobalt-aluminum-lithium chemistry accounts for Tesla’s long-range performance as these cylindrical batteries made of these expensive metals provide more energy density than the batteries in other battery-electric vehicles. And as far as the engines, these cars use electric motors that have two moving parts and single-speed transmissions that have no gears. Their drivetrains have 17 moving parts as compared to other BEVs which have about 200, thus making the Tesla cars unique.

Source: https://xaltius.tech/artificial-intelligence-in-tesla-vehicles/