Tesla Autopilot used to remotely switch parking spots

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A Tesla owner used the current autonomous driving and parking capabilities to remotely change parking spots.

With Smart Summon, the Tesla car can navigate more complex environments and parking spaces, maneuvering around objects as necessary to come find you.

The summon feature is engaged through the Tesla mobile app or through the Model S and X key fob. It activates the vehicle and moves at a maximum of 39 feet in a straight line.

Advanced summon should be rolled out in 6 weeks. This will enable moving around some obstacles and making some turns.

In 2019, Summon should allow vehicles to drive around a parking lot, locate an empty spot, recognize and read signs to confirm that a parking spot is valid, and initiate a parking sequence.

You will be able to control a Tesla car similar to control of current remote control toy cars.

Updated Summon versions will use Autopilot cameras. Summon have only been using the vehicles’ ultrasonic sensors to maneuver in and out of parking spaces.

All Tesla vehicles produced in our factory, including Model 3, have the hardware needed for full self-driving capability at a safety level substantially greater than that of a human driver.

20 thoughts on “Tesla Autopilot used to remotely switch parking spots”

  1. For quite a few years, Palo Alto’s downtown parking rules have divided the area into several zones, and reparking in the the same zone within the same day is prohibited. Instituting such a rule would be easy and would make the strategy you describe not legal. Whether violations of the rule could be detected easily is another question. (I have no idea whether Palo Alto has a way to detect violations of its rule.)

  2. For quite a few years, Palo Alto’s downtown parking rules have divided the area into several zones, and reparking in the the same zone within the same day is prohibited. Instituting such a rule would be easy and would make the strategy you describe not legal. Whether violations of the rule could be detected easily is another question. (I have no idea whether Palo Alto has a way to detect violations of its rule.)

  3. What a bunch of staged BS.Or…this Tesla owner is a complete morÔn. You choose:Tesla owner in reality pulls that stunt and risks causing an accident given how a car could try to park in that very same spot at the same time — too fast for the Tesla car to auto-stop in time.So, it was staged. Or the owner is an idiôt. You decide.

  4. What a bunch of staged BS.

    Or…this Tesla owner is a complete morÔn.

    You choose:

    Tesla owner in reality pulls that stunt and risks causing an accident given how a car could try to park in that very same spot at the same time — too fast for the Tesla car to auto-stop in time.

    So, it was staged. Or the owner is an idiôt. You decide.

  5. I’ve been informed that cameras with optical character recognition licence plate readers are already in use for drive-by parking checks in Sydney.Mind you, the guy who informed me of this isn’t entirely trustworthy… about 80% reliable.

  6. Some people have been claiming for literally decades that using taxis and rental cars is cheaper than owning a car. And for decades anyone who actually tries this finds that it is only true for people living very constrained lifestyles and/or living in a handful of major city centers. Everyone else finds a private car to work out better.So sure, it might eventually work out that the new tech will enlarge the pool of people that do actually find it works out better to use rental cars. But I suspect the pool will grow a lot slower than SDV enthusiasts think it will.

  7. Car could just orbit around the block at low speed, parking orbit around an block is an old concept as in role-playing Michael Collins. This however require an operator. Note that in cities with limited parking options cars hunting for parking spots is an significant part of the cars on the road increasing the traffic jams. I can not see this as anything else than to force users to shopping mails with free parking.

  8. Hard to enforce… the “meter maids” use chalk markers on the tires, most expeditiously. I suppose smarter “drone” meter-maid-o-bots would just use license plate numbers. However, it really isn’t clear to me — legally — the difference between MOVING one’s car, and perhaps driving off, doing an errand or three, then driving back to nearly the same parking spot on the same street and reparking the car would somehow be illegal. Indeed — it is the spirit of the law itself — which is why parking-time limitations exist at all. The spirit of the law is, “let cars park, limit parking time, so that other shoppers and visitors might have a chance at parking too”. Thing is, while the idea of moving-one’s-parking spot to avoid the maximum-parking-limit idea seems against the law, the other exactly equal case — moving one’s car to do errands, then coming back to find another parking spot — seems to fit legality just fine. So, then, the intent-of-the-move seems critical. Just as there are stiff-penalty laws on the books in most cities that forbid people to drive into a corner filling station, convenience store, or any parking lot in order to drive around the stopped traffic, to turn right onto the intersecting road. There’s a name for it. Its illegal. But it is entirely legal to drive into the same parking lot, with the same driveway, find a parking spot (or pick someone up), then leave by exactly the driveway that our illegal case would have used. Entirely legal. Because there was a “stop to do something”, not just drive through. To me the area grows pretty grey when the activity between deparking and reparking need be assessed for its validity of purpose. I think the same goes for self-driving cars. Leaving, going around the block, not stopping, but coming back 10 minutes later… to an external observer is temporally identical to leaving, doing errands for 10 minutes and coming back. Just saying.I think the self driving cars will prevail. GoatGuy

  9. I’ve been informed that cameras with optical character recognition licence plate readers are already in use for drive-by parking checks in Sydney.

    Mind you, the guy who informed me of this isn’t entirely trustworthy… about 80% reliable.

  10. Why would you want to own a car if you can have whatever type of vehicle you want on demand and not have to worry about maintaining, cleaning, storing, insuring, charging/fueling etc. it all at a lower cost than owning?When SDCs take off and enable large scale car sharing, planning mandates for parking are going to be relaxed and it will become more difficult/costly to find parking, even for SDCs.

  11. SDCs could jump over that restriction easily. Of course, the goalpost con go up too, but not much after it becomes ridiculous and looks vindictive against SDC owners. Eventually, SDCs should be able to drop you and drive to a safe parking, even back home, do other chores and pick you up at the end of the day.And no, I don’t think people will massively drop car ownership because of this. Even if a consequent population might.

  12. Some people have been claiming for literally decades that using taxis and rental cars is cheaper than owning a car. And for decades anyone who actually tries this finds that it is only true for people living very constrained lifestyles and/or living in a handful of major city centers. Everyone else finds a private car to work out better.

    So sure, it might eventually work out that the new tech will enlarge the pool of people that do actually find it works out better to use rental cars. But I suspect the pool will grow a lot slower than SDV enthusiasts think it will.

  14. All I can think about is the episode of Seinfeld where George takes the job to move cars from one side of the street to the other and completely messes it up.These pretzels are making me thirsty!

  15. Car could just orbit around the block at low speed, parking orbit around an block is an old concept as in role-playing Michael Collins. This however require an operator.
    Note that in cities with limited parking options cars hunting for parking spots is an significant part of the cars on the road increasing the traffic jams. I can not see this as anything else than to force users to shopping mails with free parking.

  16. Hard to enforce… the “meter maids” use chalk markers on the tires, most expeditiously. I suppose smarter “drone” meter-maid-o-bots would just use license plate numbers. However, it really isn’t clear to me — legally — the difference between MOVING one’s car, and perhaps driving off, doing an errand or three, then driving back to nearly the same parking spot on the same street and reparking the car would somehow be illegal. Indeed — it is the spirit of the law itself — which is why parking-time limitations exist at all.

    The spirit of the law is, “let cars park, limit parking time, so that other shoppers and visitors might have a chance at parking too”.

    Thing is, while the idea of moving-one’s-parking spot to avoid the maximum-parking-limit idea seems against the law, the other exactly equal case — moving one’s car to do errands, then coming back to find another parking spot — seems to fit legality just fine. So, then, the intent-of-the-move seems critical.

    Just as there are stiff-penalty laws on the books in most cities that forbid people to drive into a corner filling station, convenience store, or any parking lot in order to drive around the stopped traffic, to turn right onto the intersecting road. There’s a name for it. Its illegal. But it is entirely legal to drive into the same parking lot, with the same driveway, find a parking spot (or pick someone up), then leave by exactly the driveway that our illegal case would have used. Entirely legal. Because there was a “stop to do something”, not just drive through.

    To me the area grows pretty grey when the activity between deparking and reparking need be assessed for its validity of purpose. I think the same goes for self-driving cars. Leaving, going around the block, not stopping, but coming back 10 minutes later… to an external observer is temporally identical to leaving, doing errands for 10 minutes and coming back.

    Just saying.
    I think the self driving cars will prevail.

    GoatGuy

  17. Why would you want to own a car if you can have whatever type of vehicle you want on demand and not have to worry about maintaining, cleaning, storing, insuring, charging/fueling etc. it all at a lower cost than owning?

    When SDCs take off and enable large scale car sharing, planning mandates for parking are going to be relaxed and it will become more difficult/costly to find parking, even for SDCs.

  18. SDCs could jump over that restriction easily. Of course, the goalpost con go up too, but not much after it becomes ridiculous and looks vindictive against SDC owners.

    Eventually, SDCs should be able to drop you and drive to a safe parking, even back home, do other chores and pick you up at the end of the day.

    And no, I don’t think people will massively drop car ownership because of this. Even if a consequent population might.

  20. All I can think about is the episode of Seinfeld where George takes the job to move cars from one side of the street to the other and completely messes it up.

    These pretzels are making me thirsty!

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