Tesla Removes Ultrasonic Sensors From Its Vehicles, Disables Some Features
Tesla has announced(Opens in a new window) that ultrasonic sensors (USS) are being removed from its electric vehicles, with the knock-on effect being some Autopilot features will be temporarily disabled.
Last year, Tesla removed the radar from the Model 3 and Model Y, replacing it with a cameras-only computer vision system built with Nvidia's CUDA parallel computing platform called Tesla Vision. The Model S and Model X made the switch to Tesla Vision this year.
In what Tesla refers to as "the next step in Tesla Vision," USS are no longer a feature of the Model 3 and Model Y rolling off production lines in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Taiwan. The Model S and Model X will stop using them next year. In total, the vehicles used to rely on 12 USS located on the fornt and rear bumpers.
The short-term problem this creates for Tesla is that some Autopilot features won't be available on new Model 3 and Model Y EVs. Notably, Park Assist, Autopark, Summon, and Smart Summon will be disabled, albeit temporarily.
Tesla says, "In the near future, once these features achieve performance parity to today’s vehicles, they will be restored via a series of over-the-air software updates." So it's a case of waiting patiently for new owners and hoping the performance parity is achieved quickly. Tesla also points out the lack of USS in no way affects crash safety ratings.
Alongside removing the sensors, Tesla launched its vision-based occupancy network used in the Full Self-Driving Beta. The network is meant to "replace the inputs generated by USS," and allows Autopilot to enjoy "high-definition spatial positioning, longer range visibility and ability to identify and differentiate between objects." Tesla expects the performance
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