Hardware 3

[Video] Traffic light and stop sign detection

A few days ago, Tesla started rolling out a new version 2020.12.5.6 (EAP only) introducing the expected new Traffic light and stop sign control feature. It’s looking pretty good although it’s still not a final product e.g. it will stop at all traffic lights, no matter if green or red, unless you override it. In our opinion, Tesla is being conservative with the rollout which is good because it’s a matter of safety. In case you missed this, check out these videos we shared to see it in action.

Announcements from the Tesla Q2 2018 results conference call

We don’t cover Tesla’s stock, financial results, or other stuff that isn’t their product but this time during the Q2 call, they made really cool product announcements:

• v9 would include on-ramp off-ramp AP with automatic lane change when possible
• Hardware 3 will be introduced next year. According to the announcement, the new hardware is a chip designed in-house. This chip is designed explicitly for neural network processing. There are drop-in replacements for the Model S, Model X, and Model 3. According to Elon, the current Nvidia hardware can process 200fps while this new one can process over 2000fps.
• The coast-to-coast trip on AP won’t happen soon. The AP team is focused on “safety features” like recognizing stop signs and traffic lights in a super reliable way. They don’t want to distract the team or do it with a predefined hardcoded route, so it’s going to have to wait.

Elon estimates Q4 for HW3 retrofits

Elon has said multiple times that they won’t start retrofiting the AP processor to the new FSD computer (also known as HW3) until the software needs it. If you have purchased FSD, it’s possible that you get it this year, since earlier this week Elon said on Twitter that it’s likely going to happen in Q4 this year. Yay!

Read more: Twitter

First look at Autopilot stopping at red lights 📹

This is the beta that we just mentioned in the previous article, in action. Check out this Model 3 stopping at traffic lights and take a look at the message when approaching an intersection. Only available to a really small group folks in the Early Access program for now.

First look at Model X with Autopilot 3 Hardware

HW2.5 vs HW3 photo comparison

HW3 retrofit will be possible with MCU1

You may have heard rumors that the Hardware 3 (FSD) retrofit is not going to be possible without MCU2. According to Bonnie Norman- well known for having reliable sources at Tesla- the rumors are not true. She has confirmed with Tesla that it is going to be possible. It’s just not available at the moment.

We’ve been in touch with our Service Center and they told us they’re prioritizing Hardware 3 (FSD) + MCU2 upgrade at the moment. No dates shared for Hardware 3 (FSD) +MCU1 yet.

Read more: Twitter

Image quality is so much better with HW3

Look at the differences of the Dashcam images from with HW2.5 and HW3, the new computer is powerful enough to be able to process uncompressed (minimally compressed) video. Some folks are saying the image got worst with HW2.5 when the fourth camera was introduced. In any case, it’s only looking better and I can’t wait to get my upgrade!

Read more: Reddit

Intersection handling is coming but it will require HW3

According to Greentheonly, the Autopilot code today shows hints of the upcoming “intersections handling” functionality, but it will require Hardware 3. To be honest, it only makes sense that this kind of functionality will be part of FSD which requires HW3.

Read more: Twitter

MS & MX with Hardware 3 for Full Self-Driving, now in production

Teslarati was able to see inventory cars with HW3 inspecting the options from Tesla’s web page.

Read more: Teslarati

News on HW2 to HW3 retrofits

Greentheonly has discovered there’s been some recent progress in the HW2 to HW3 retrofit, which makes us think it’s actually going to happen. According to him, it’s probably going to be a degraded experience compared to the HW2.5 to HW3 retrofit, and looking at the changes in the latest firmware versions, it seems they don’t plan on changing the radar or the steering rack.

Read more: Twitter

Tesla detects stop sign held by a person

According to the author, the signal also moved on the screen as the person holding it helped others to cross the street.

Read more: Twitter

Tesla owner upgrades Autopilot 2.5 to 3.0 Hardware: Cost, results, and more

Afaik this is the first report of Mobile Service performing the Autopilot upgrade from HW2.5 to HW3. Here is the process:

• Replacement of the computer, one hour and a half
• Installation of the necessary firmware, two hours
• Updated the card to the latest software, another hour or an hour and a half

Read more: Teslarati

Tesla turned on redundancy in HW3

According to Greentheonly, in the version 2019.40.50.1, the B node in the HW3 board starts the full copy of the Autopilot software. This is important because if one node crashes, the car can immediately start using the other one for redundancy.

Read more: Twitter

Updates on the new Hardware 3 chip

Elon has shared some updates about the new Hardware 3 chip and FSD features:

• The new chip will be ready in 4-6 months
• Tesla owners who bought FSD will get the upgrade at no cost
• At the same time, they will start releasing FSD features
• The new Hardware 3 is not needed for EAP

Read more: Twitter

What does the Autopilot rewrite really mean?

Interesting thread about the FSD rewrite. The main thing is without the rewrite, FSD cannot take unprotected turns in an intersection because it cannot build an accurate representation of the layout. Karpathy shared all about it earlier this year, I’m re-sharing the video here in case you missed it.