Highway driving in the rain

[STx Cybertruck]

So yesterday was my first experience driving the CT through the rain with FSD. The truck performed extremely well and continues to improve over time. Whenever an 18-wheeler passed me in the left lane upwind from me the blast of water behind the truck blinded my CT so that it required that I take immediate control. That wasn't an issue but unexpected. I understood that the CT could not see momentarily. So I wonder how Tesla will be able to achieve unsupervised FSD in situations like this.

Sponsored

 

[CTOmaha]

Rainx does wonders, it really helps in those situations. I've had the same experience while in FSD but it's done fine. It turns on the wiper on full speed, but now I tend to turn on the wipers to high when I know a semi is about to pass or coming from the other side.

 

[Luigi]

So yesterday was my first experience driving the CT through the rain with FSD. The truck performed extremely well and continues to improve over time. Whenever an 18-wheeler passed me in the left lane upwind from me the blast of water behind the truck blinded my CT so that it required that I take immediate control. That wasn't an issue but unexpected. I understood that the CT could not see momentarily. So I wonder how Tesla will be able to achieve unsupervised FSD in situations like this.

 

[Luigi]

IMO, Tesla never will unless they put LiDAR or at least radar in. Low hanging sun stops my FSD. Dirt on cameras stop FSD. Heavy rain stops FSD.

 

[CyberGus]

IMO, Tesla never will unless they put LiDAR or at least radar in. Low hanging sun stops my FSD. Dirt on cameras stop FSD. Heavy rain stops FSD.

Driving towards a low sun aggravated my FSD until I cleaned behind the glare shield.

Neither LiDAR nor radar can penetrate a wall of water. Even fog/drizzle is problematic for LiDAR.

What would a human do? In this case, we just wait it out, because we understand the blindness is temporary. The CyberCab will probably give it about a "three Mississippi" before it gives up and pulls over.

In sudden-whiteout conditions, it becomes a Game Theory problem; keep moving, and you might rear-end anyone that slowed down. But if you slow down too much, you could get rear-ended.

I think a properly trained AI could handle this better than any human, since it knows the position and vector of every other vehicle at the moment visibility was lost. Then it's just a matter of playing the probabilities.

 

[DJAlan2000]

IMO, Tesla never will unless they put LiDAR or at least radar in. Low hanging sun stops my FSD. Dirt on cameras stop FSD. Heavy rain stops FSD.

LiDAR has it's issues with rain as well... Some people reported that when they were in Waymo cars and it started to rain heavily, the car would start getting 'jerky' by slowing quickly and then speeding back up again... One person even said it made her nauseous...

NOTHING is going to be perfect! Nothing! Even if you had a car equipped with LiDAR, electronic sensors and multiple cameras it won't be perfect... (and would be way too expensive for a 'cab')

The thing we must all remember is that FSD DOES WORK! It IS safer than a 'human' driver no matter how many people make videos trying to 'force' it not to work properly just so they can make money on all the clicks...

Seatbelts aren't perfect either... First they were ONLY lap belts and people still hit their heads on the dashboard and steering wheel... Then they added the shoulder belt and that helped, but has it's issues as well... They even tested 4 way and 5 way belts out which worked REALLY well, but the cost was way too high for the average car, so we don't have them unless we want to ADD them ourselves...

The other problem with adding LiDAR and a lot of sensors is that it just increases more points of FAILURE... More to break down... And you can bet that if it's 'Mandated' then it will mean that if ONE system stops working then so does the CAR!! Can't drive if it's not working... So, yeah, let's put LOTS of different things in and just hope nothing goes wrong when you turn the car on...

I can see it now... "Sorry boss, can't make it in to work today, the cars safety equipment is showing a red 'Do Not Drive' error on it... I called service and they said I can bring it in next Wednesday, so I will be out for a few days."

 

[Gigahorse]

Rainx does wonders, it really helps in those situations. I've had the same experience while in FSD but it's done fine. It turns on the wiper on full speed, but now I tend to turn on the wipers to high when I know a semi is about to pass or coming from the other side.

The camera is pretty sensitive to rain, have you not gotten wiper chatter with rainx? Tried it on a model Y and the wipers chattered like crazy

 

[DJAlan2000]

The camera is pretty sensitive to rain, have you not gotten wiper chatter with rainx? Tried it on a model Y and the wipers chattered like crazy

Yeah, I don't like the chattering either...

BUT, now I wonder if I only put the rainx on that part of the windshield in front of the cameras might work? Or will that also negate or prevent it from using 'auto' wipers because it doesn't see enough rain?

 

[CyberGus]

The camera is pretty sensitive to rain, have you not gotten wiper chatter with rainx? Tried it on a model Y and the wipers chattered like crazy

The RainX doesn't cause chatter per se, but it changes the friction coefficient of the glass.

A squeegee works fine when you pull, but try to push and it will "chatter". A wiper is a squeegee, but it must work in both directions. It's designed to lean over, flipping each time the arm reverses direction. If the resting blade is not perpendicular to the glass, then it will have a harder time leaning over in one direction than the other.

Since RainX reduces the friction, the glass doesn't "grab" as much, and the blade may remain upright, causing the chatter. (This can happen without RainX, too.). Since wiper arms don't really have an adjustment mechanism, the solution is to bend (!!?!) the arm so that the blade is perpendicular to the glass when at rest. If the blade is old, damaged, stiff, or not straight, then it needs replacement.

 

[pricedm]

I've had some very impressive performance from my Model Y driving a snow covered, two-lane mountain pass. But yes, some weather is better for an "experienced" driver who is all about subtle and nuance when negotiating curves with low traction roads.

 

[faithworks]

Yeah, I don't like the chattering either...

BUT, now I wonder if I only put the rainx on that part of the windshield in front of the cameras might work? Or will that also negate or prevent it from using 'auto' wipers because it doesn't see enough rain?

That’s a good question. I wonder if it would screw up the auto wipers. I like that option when they work.

Sponsored